Enlightenment Thinkers
Hobbes described life in the state of nature as “nasty, brutish, and” this.
What is short?
The Declaration states people are endowed with “unalienable Rights” including life, liberty, and this.
What is the pursuit of happiness?
This principle is the belief that government cannot take away certain fundamental freedoms.
What are inalienable rights?
The idea that power originates with the people.
What is popular sovereignty?
American government often balances liberty with the need to establish this.
What is order?
Locke argued that people are born with the natural rights to life, liberty, and this
What is property?
Jefferson listed these against King George III to show British government’s illegitimacy.
What are grievances?
The idea that individuals should be free from unnecessary government interference.
What is liberty?
A government where elected officials exercise limited authority on behalf of the people.
What is a constitutional republic?
A standing army, taxes, and obstruction of justice were seen by colonists as threats to this.
What are their rights / liberty?
Rousseau’s concept of the “general will” emphasized this form of democracy.
What is direct democracy?
The Declaration says governments derive “their just powers” from this.
What is the consent of the governed?
Americans often assert rights based on these “revolutionary ideas” that shaped the nation’s DNA.
What are Enlightenment principles?
This democratic theory emphasizes broad citizen involvement in politics.
What is participatory democracy?
The “freedom from interference” aspect of liberty reflects this political tradition.
What is limited government?
Locke said governments must have this to be legitimate.
What is the consent of the governed?
Jefferson argued people may do this when a government becomes destructive of rights.
What is alter or abolish it?
This phrase describes freedoms such as religion, expression, and pursuit of happiness.
What are social, political, and economic freedoms?
This theory argues elites and wealthy donors dominate political influence.
What is elitist theory?
The “freedom to pursue one’s dreams” often conflicts with this.
What is government-imposed order?
Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau all contributed to this political idea that government authority comes from an agreement with the people.
What is the social contract?
The Declaration is based on this Enlightenment principle that rights come from nature, not government.
What is natural law / natural rights?
Jefferson believed liberty was self-evident under this “law of nature.”
What is natural law?
This theory emphasizes the role of competing interest groups in policymaking.
What is pluralist theory?
The balance between liberty and order is most visible in debates over this area of society (hint: think rights vs. safety).
What are civil liberties?