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| explanation, evaluation, orientation, political program |
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| a view that democracy requires a rough equality of power or influence for every citizen, which may require, in turn, the redistribution of wealth and/or the social control of resources and property. |
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| the belief that government is a necessary evil that should do nothing but protect the persons and property of its citizens. |
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| generally, the desire to expand the realm of individual liberty. Specifically libertarian is another name for neoclassical liberals, who argue that the only legitimate power of government is to protect the persons and property of its citizen. |
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| the belief that freedom is not simply the absence of restraint but also the power or ability to act to develop one's capacities. |
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| a term from the greek an arcos, meaning "no rule" or "no government". Anarchism aims to abolish the state, replacing political relations with cooperative or voluntary ones. |
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| belief that all governments are illegitimate and immoral. |
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| in the theories of Thomas Hobbes, John locke, and Robert Nozick, among others, the condition in which people live before they create society and government. Everyone is free and equal in this state, and no one has authority over anyone else. |
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| a sweeping or fundamental transformation of a society. Originally used to describe an attempt to restore or revolve back to a previous condition, the word acquired its present meaning with the French revolution. |
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| the policy of requiring everyone in society to follow or acknowledge the same religious beliefs. |
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| a form of liberalism that regards government as a tool to be used to promote individual freedom, welfare, and equality of opportunity. |
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| belief in applying Darwins theory of evolution to social and political life, concluding that the struggle for survival between individuals is a natural feature of human life and government should not intervene. |
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| belief and/or fear that the state could prevent an unpopular viewpoint or silince that person. |
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| the economic policy of promoting a country's wealth at the expence of others by establishing monopolies and regulating foreign trade to favor domestic industry. |
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| an economic system in which the major means of production are privately owned and operated for the profit of the owners or investors. |
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| the condition of earning one's place in society through effort and ability. |
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| a right that everyone has simply by virtue of being human. such a right can neither be granted or taken away by any person or political authority. |
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| an emphasis on the importance of individual rights and liberty, including the right to own private property. |
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| favored by Marxist-Leninist, the view that democracy is government by the communist party in the interests of the working class. |
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| the absence of restraint. you are free, in this view, if no one else is preventing you from doing what you want to do. |
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| the view that individuals and governments should always act to promote utility or, in Jeremy Bentham's terms, the greatest happiness of the greatest number. |
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| the priciple, defended by JS Mill and others, that we should be allowed to do whatever we want unless our actions harm or threaten to harm others. |
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| a person's being born into a particular social status such as a noble or serf, with little opportunity either to raise or lower his/her social standing. |
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| an agreement to form political societies and establish governments, thus creating political authority. how do some people acquire authority over others? some theorists such as Thomas Hobbes and John Locke, have answered that individuals in a state of nature have in some way entered into a social contract. |
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