Democracy and Government Systems Flashcards
Grade 10 · Social Studies · Flashcards
12 essential terms for understanding how governments work, from democracy to totalitarianism.
Flashcards
- Democracy
- Government where supreme power belongs to the people, exercised through free elections and protected civil liberties.
- Republic
- A form of representative democracy where citizens elect officials to govern on their behalf.
- Authoritarianism
- Government that concentrates power, limits political freedoms, and suppresses opposition parties and dissent.
- Totalitarianism
- Extreme authoritarianism that seeks complete control over all aspects of public and private life (e.g., Nazi Germany, North Korea).
- Federalism
- Division of power between a central (national) government and regional (state/provincial) governments.
- Separation of Powers
- Constitutional division of authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches to prevent tyranny.
- Checks and Balances
- Mechanisms allowing each branch of government to limit or oversee the others.
- Constitutional Monarchy
- A system with a hereditary monarch as symbolic head of state, with real power held by elected officials.
- Parliamentary System
- System where the executive government is formed from and accountable to the legislature.
- Theocracy
- Government where religious law or leaders hold political authority (e.g., Iran, Vatican City).
- Civil Liberties
- Fundamental individual rights protected from government interference: speech, religion, press, assembly.
- Proportional Representation
- Electoral system where parties receive seats proportional to their vote share; promotes multi-party representation.
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