| A | B |
|---|
| Thomas Hobbes | Humans are naturally selfish and prone to a "state of nature" that is greedy. People should surrender to a government that has power. (He wants a strong centralized government.) |
| John Locke | Humans are prone to a state of nature, but they also have the "natural rights" to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He believed that rulers/governments that don't protect people's natural rights can and should be removed. |
| amend | to change or revise |
| bill | an idea or a proposal for a law |
| law | enforceable rules within a society |
| legislature | the group of people who make laws |
| Congress | the official legislature (group of people who make laws) in the US. |
| Preamble | an introduction to something |
| delegate | a representative |
| federal/national (lower case "f") | having to do with the national (entire country) |
| sovereign | supreme ruler or monarch OR an independent state or country |
| sovereignty | having freedom from external control |
| ratify | to sign or make official |
| federalism (lower case "f") | the way our government is shared between the national/federal government and state governments |
| Federalists (upper case "F") | people who believe that the national government should have more power than the state governments |
| dictatorship | one person in complete control |
| government | the organization or group that has the power to make and enforce laws |
| monarchy | one person is in complete control (a king, queen) |
| oligarchy | a small group of people share the control/power |
| direct democracy | every citizen has equal power in matters of government; the power is held by the citizens |
| representative democracy | People are divided into groups, and each group chooses one or more persons to represent them. The representatives then make the decisions, as informed by the people. |
| communism | not a form of government, but an economy, in which all property is owned by the government and distributed to people as they need it |
| capitalism | not a form of government, but an economic system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. |
| veto | to say no or reject something |
| compromise | an agreement in which each side has to give up something |
