Power, Authority, Legitimacy & Sovereignty
This term refers to the ability to make people do what you want, whether or not they agree.
What is power?
This Ancient Greek city-state created direct democracy, where citizens voted in person on laws.
What is Athens?
In his book Leviathan, this philosopher argued that people are naturally selfish and violent, and need a strong, all-powerful ruler to keep order.
Who is Thomas Hobbes?
In this type of government, a single ruler holds total, unchecked power, usually passed down through a family line.
What is an absolute monarchy?
Signed by King John in 1215, this document first established the idea that even a king is subject to the law.
What is the Magna Carta?
This term means the recognized right to use power, usually granted by law, election, or tradition.
What is authority?
Unlike ancient Athens, where citizens voted directly on laws, the United States uses this system, in which citizens elect representatives to make laws for them.
What is a representative democracy (republic)?
In his book The Prince, this Renaissance thinker argued that rulers should do whatever is necessary to hold on to power, even if it means being feared rather than loved.
Who is Machiavelli?
In this type of government, a small, elite group — often based on wealth, class, or military control — holds all the power.
What is an oligarchy?
Passed in 1689, this document limited the power of the British monarch and listed rights of Parliament and citizens, directly inspiring the US Bill of Rights.
What is the English Bill of Rights?
This term describes whether people accept a government's right to rule as proper and fair
What is legitimacy?
This ancient Roman government (509-27 BC) used elected officials and a senate, and directly inspired the American system of elected representatives.
What is the Roman Republic?
These two philosophers disagreed sharply about human nature: one believed people are naturally violent and need a powerful ruler to control them, while the other believed people are reasonable and capable of governing themselves under a government that protects their rights. Name both, in the order described.
Who are Hobbes and Locke?
Both of these government types concentrate power in the hands of a few, but they draw their legitimacy from different sources: one claims religious authority, the other relies on wealth, class, or military control. Name both, in the order described.
What are theocracy and oligarchy?
This British lawmaking body, made up of elected and appointed representatives, inspired the structure of the US Congress.
What is Parliament?
This term refers to a government's supreme, independent control over its own territory, free from outside interference.
What is sovereignty?
This term describes the Roman practice of dividing power among different officials and government bodies, an idea the US Constitution later adopted.
What is separation of powers?
These two philosophers agreed government should be limited, but for different reasons: one focused on government's job to protect natural rights, while the other focused on dividing power among branches so no single group could abuse it. Name both, in the order described.
Who are Locke and Montesquieu?
A nation's ruling council declares that all laws must follow their holy text, and any law that conflicts with it is automatically invalid. Identify this type of government, and explain where its legitimacy comes from.
What is a theocracy? (Legitimacy comes from claimed religious/divine authority, not elections or consent of the governed.)
This system gives each branch of the US government tools to limit the power of the other branches, preventing any one branch from ruling unchecked the way the British king once did.
What are checks and balances?
A general seizes control of a country in a military coup. He now controls the army, the borders, and the laws-but most citizens refuse to accept his right to rule. Name the two PALS terms this situation shows: one he has, and one he lacks.
What are sovereignty (or power) and legitimacy?
Ancient Athens limited citizenship — and the right to participate in government — to free adult men born in Athens. Explain one major way the United States defines political participation differently today.
Open response — e.g., citizenship and voting rights are not restricted by gender, birthplace, or free/enslaved status; they are extended much more broadly under the Constitution and its amendments.
Match each philosopher to the founding document his ideas most directly shaped: the natural-rights language of the Declaration of Independence, and the branch structure of the Constitution.
Who are Locke (Declaration of Independence) and Montesquieu (Constitution)?
A government has one ruler who inherited the throne, an unelected council of nobles, and no written document limiting royal power. Identify this type of government, then name two specific features of the US democratic republic designed to prevent this kind of unchecked power.
What is an absolute monarchy? (Accept any two: free elections/term limits, a written constitution, separation of powers, checks and balances.)
This process, which allows Congress to remove a president or other official for serious misconduct, was adapted directly from a similar practice British Parliament had long used to remove corrupt officials from the king's court.
What is impeachment?