Systems of Government
In this system, most or all government power belongs to the central government.
What is a unitary government?
A government controlled by one person with very little citizen participation.
What is an autocracy?
Citizens personally vote on laws and government decisions in this type of democracy.
What is a direct democracy?
King John signed this document in 1215.
What is the Magna Carta?
He argued that people have natural rights, including life, liberty, and property.
Who is John Locke?
In this system, power is divided between a national government and state or regional governments.
What is a federal government?
A government controlled by a small group of powerful people.
What is an oligarchy?
Citizens elect people to make government decisions for them in this type of democracy.
What is a representative democracy?
This document established the idea that the king was not above the law.
What is the Magna Carta?
He believed government was necessary because life without strong government would be dangerous and chaotic.
Who is Thomas Hobbes?
In this system, independent states hold most of the power and give limited authority to a central government.
What is a confederal government?
A government in which citizens have the power to participate in choosing their leaders.
What is a democracy?
In this system, the executive and legislative branches are separately elected.
What is a presidential system?
This 1628 document challenged King Charles I and argued that the king could not impose taxes without Parliament's consent.
What is the Petition of Right?
He is most closely associated with separation of powers.
Who is Montesquieu?
The United States is an example of this geographic distribution of power.
What is a federal system?
A dictatorship would fall under this broader category of government.
What is an autocracy?
In this system, the executive leader usually comes from the legislature.
What is a parliamentary system?
This 1689 document included protections such as the right to petition the government and freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.
What is the English Bill of Rights?
He emphasized the social contract and the idea that legitimate political authority comes from the people.
Who is Jean-Jacques Rousseau?
The Articles of Confederation created this type of government because the states retained most of the governmental power.
What is a confederal government?
A country is ruled by a small group of wealthy families. Elections are held, but ordinary citizens have no meaningful influence. This government is best classified as this.
What is an oligarchy?
The United States can correctly be described using both of these terms because citizens elect officials and do not have a hereditary monarch.
What are a representative democracy and a republic?
Put these documents in chronological order: English Bill of Rights, Magna Carta, Petition of Right.
What is Magna Carta → Petition of Right → English Bill of Rights?
The Declaration of Independence's claim that people may alter or abolish a government that violates their rights most closely reflects the philosophy of this thinker.
Who is John Locke?