Principles of Government Study Guide
Section 1: Government and the State
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10.
What is the purpose of the government according the Preamble of the Constitution?
What is a State?
What are the four characteristics of a state? Which one do the 50 states of the United States lack?
Who believed that the state exists to serve the will of the people?
The theory of modern democracies challenged what idea?
Explain the social contract theory
What does the social contract become?
What are public policies?
Politics is a _______, while government is a __________
What does promote the general welfare mean?
Section 2: Forms of Government
11.
12.
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15.
What is a dictatorship?
Why doesn’t the United States have a unitary form of government?
What is a downside to having a presidential style of government?
Explain a federal government?
Explain a parliamentary government?
Section 3: Basic Concepts of Democracy
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In a democracy, each minority has a right to
The worth of the individual is _________ reflected in the free enterprise system
What is the law of supply and demand?
What is the government’s relationship in the free enterprise system?
How could the internet be a problem in a dictatorship?
Explain the concept of equality of opportunity.
Know these terms:
Constitution
Executive power
Unitary government
Parliamentary government
Presidential government
Legislative power
Judicial power
Democracy
Federal Government
Confederation
Principles of Government Study Guide Answers
Section 1: Government and the State
1. What is the purpose of the government according the Preamble of the Constitution?
a. Provide for the justice and the people’s general welfare.
2. What is a State?
a. The most dominant political unit in the world
3. What are the four characteristics of a state? Which one do the 50 states of the United States lack?
a. Population , Territory , Government , and Sovereignty
b. Sovereignty
4. Who believed that the state exists to serve the will of the people?
a. English Enlightenment Thinkers
b. Locke, Harrington, Hobbes, Rousseau
5. The theory of modern democracies challenged what idea?
a. Those of royal birth have absolute authority to rule
6. Explain the social contract theory
a. The state was created voluntarily by a free people.
b. Governmental powers are granted by the people.
c. Governmental powers may be limited by the people.
d. The contract is a CONSTITUTION!
7. What does the social contract become?
a. A constitution
8. What are public policies?
a. The course of action a government decides to take.
9. Politics is a _______, while government is a __________
a. Process, institution
10. What does promote the general welfare mean?
a. Government needs to be a servant to the people
Section 2: Forms of Government
11. What is a dictatorship?
a. Sovereignty rests with a small group or one person
12. Why doesn’t the United States have a unitary form of government?
b. States have powers reserved to them in the constitution
13. What is a downside to having a presidential style of government?
c. The inability to resolve conflicts
14. Explain a federal government?
d. Power is divided between a central government and local government
e. Example: USA
15. Explain a parliamentary government?
a. The executive is chosen by the legislature.
b. The prime minister and cabinet are part of the legislative branch.
c. The prime minister and cabinet must resign if they lose the support of a majority of the legislature.
Section 3: Basic Concepts of Democracy
16. In a democracy, each minority has a right to
a. Criticize the majority
b. be heard
17. The worth of the individual is _________ reflected in the free enterprise system
c. indirectly
18. What is the law of supply and demand?
a. That law states that when supplies of goods and services become plentiful, prices tend to drop. When
supplies become scarcer, prices tend to rise.
b. DEMAND – Price (UP) Quantity Demanded (DOWN) / Price (DOWN) QD (UP)
c. SUPPLY – Price (UP) Quantity Supplied (UP) / Price (Down) QS (DOWN)
19. What is the government’s relationship in the free enterprise system?
a. Government’s participation in the economy serves a two-fold purpose: to protect the public and to
preserve private enterprise.
b. Limited Role for Government
20. How could the internet be a problem in a dictatorship?
a. The Internet might provide a forum through which people could unite and rebel.
b. Example – Twitter in Egypt in 2011
21. Explain the concept of equality of opportunity.
a. to bring fairness to the selection process
Know these terms:
22. Constitution is the body of fundamental laws setting out the principles, structures, and processes of government.
23. Executive power - executes or enforces the law
24. Unitary government often described as a centralized government, is one in which all powers held by the
government belong to a single, central agency.
25. Parliamentary government - a system of government having the real executive power vested in a cabinet
composed of members of the legislature who are individually and collectively responsible to the legislature
26. Presidential government - a system of government in which the president is constitutionally independent of the
legislature
27. Legislative power is the power to make law and frame public policies.
28. Judicial power is the power to interpret laws, determine their meaning, and settle disputes within a society.
29. Democracy - government by the people; especially : rule of the majority
30. Federal Government – power is divided between a state's central and local levels of government.
31. Confederation - independent states that still retain their separate identities.