Chapter 1 Vocabulary

4. process by which government makes and carries out decisions
9. Citizens met regularly in a popular assembly to discuss issues and vote for leaders
12. the people elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf
13. a political unit with the power to make and enforce laws over a group of people living within a clearly defined territory
16. the executive and legislative branches of government are combined
19. system of rule in which one person, a dictator, or a small group of people can hold unlimited power over government
20. independent states join forces by forming a central government
21. rule by a few, or an aristocracy
22. conception of something in its most perfect form
23. the political rights held by groups who make up less than half of the population
24. first governments formed as a result of people agreeing among themselves to submit to the authority of a state. In return, the state would provide people protection and support
25. belief that ordinary people could aspire to rule themselves and do so as political equals
26. Sovereignty, or ultimate authority, rests in a single, national government
27. the individual rights and liberties of all people, including those in the minority, are protected

1. candidate wins an election by a majority
2. government is headed by one person, such as a king or a queen, who exercises supreme authority
3. the ability of people to act and think as they choose, so long as their choices do no harm to the liberty or well-being of others
5. formal institutions and processes through which decisions are made for a group of people.
6. distinguished by having a president that is elected by the people for a limited term of office
7. government divides power over people and territory between a national government and smaller, regional levels of government
8. any decision made by government in pursuit of a particular goal
10. the king was answerable only to God, not to the people he ruled. To disagree with the king was to disagree with God
11. rulers are seen as right and proper by important segments of. a nation's population
14. government's authority and ability to get things done
15. principle that all people possess a fundamental, moral worth that entitles them to fair treatment under the law and equal opportunity in all aspects of life
17. people and businesses to make their own economic choices about how best to produce, distribute, and exchange goods and services with limited interference from government
18. supreme power to act within its territory and to control its external affairs