Principles of Government
This principle ensures that no single branch of government becomes too powerful.
What is Checks and Balances
A system where a King or Queen rules, often inheriting their position
What is a Monarchy
This 1776 document announced that the thirteen colonies were no longer under British rule
What is the Declaration of Independence
In a "Direct" version of this, every citizen votes on every law.
What is a Democracy
What is the "supreme law of the land" in the United States?
What is the Constitution
This theory of the origin of the state suggests that the state evolved naturally out of the early family structure.
the Evolutionary Theory
In this type of government, a single leader has absolute control over citizens' lives.
What is a Dictatorship or Autocracy
This Enlightenment philosopher argued that all people have "natural rights" to life, liberty, and property.
Who is John Locke?
The United States is this type of democracy, where citizens elect leaders to make decisions for them.
What is a Representative Democracy or Republic
The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words?
We the People
This theory argues that the state was born when one person or a small group claimed control over an area and forced all within it to submit.
Force theory
A small group of powerful people, such as a wealthy elite or military officers, hold all the power.
What is an Oligarchy
A social hierarchy exchanging land for military service and labor
Feudalism
Opposing sides adjust their demands to reach a workable agreement.
Compromise
How many amendments does the Constitution have?
27
This philosopher believed that in a "state of nature," life was "nasty, brutish, and short," requiring an absolute leader to keep order.
Thomas Hobbes
A system where there is no government or central authority at all.
What is Anarchy
This was the name of the United States' first, very weak constitution that failed because it gave too much power to the states.
What are the Articles of Confederation
This democratic principle ensures that even if most people want one thing, the rights of the smaller group are still protected.
What is Majority Rule with Minority Rights
What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?
What are the Senate and House of Representatives
Jean-Jacques Rousseau's version of the Social Contract argued that the government should be governed by this—the shared desires of the people as a whole.
the General Will
A government that recognizes God or a divine being as the ultimate authority.
What is a Theocracy?
These were a series of 85 essays written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay to persuade people to support the new Constitution.
the Federalist Papers
Independent organizations and voluntary groups acting outside government to represent citizen interests.
Civil Society
Who was the President during World War I
Woodrow Wilson