| A | B |
|---|
| government | the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies. |
| public policy | All of the goals a government sets and the various courses of action it pursues as it attempts to realize these goals. |
| legislative power | The power to make a law and to frame public policies. |
| executive power | The power to execute, enforce, and administer law. |
| judicial power | The body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of government. |
| constitution | The body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of government. |
| dictatorship | A form of government in which the leader has absolute power and authority. |
| democracy | A form of government in which the supreme authority rests with the people. |
| state | A body of people living in a defined territory who have a government with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority. |
| sovereign | having supreme power within its own territory; neither subordinate nor responsible to any other authority. |
| autocracy | A form of government in which a single person holds unlimited power |
| oligarchy | A form of government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite. |
| unitary government | A centralized government in which all government powers belong to a single, central agency. |
| federal government | A form of government in which powers are divided between a central government and several regional governments |
| division of powers | Basic principle of federalism; the constitutional provisions by which governmental powers are divided on a geographic basis. |
| confederation | A joining of several groups for a common purpose. |
| presidential government | A form of government in which the executive and legislative branches of the government are separate, independent, and coequal. |
| parliamentary government | a form of government in which the executive branch is made up of the prime minister, or premier and that official’s cabinet. |
| compromise | An adjustment of opposing principles or systems by modifying some aspect of each. |
| free enterprise system | An economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods; investments that are determined by private decision rather than by state control, and determined in a free market. |
| law of supply and demand | A law which states that when supplies of goods and services become plentiful, prices tend to drop. When supplies become scarcer, prices tend to rise. |
| mixed economy | An economy in which private enterprise exists in combination with a considerable amount of government regulation and promotion. |
