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The Struggle for Democracy: Chapter 1
political science
14
Political Studies
Undergraduate 1
01/21/2012

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Term
democracy
Definition
a system of government in which the people rule; rule by the many
Term
oligarchy
Definition
rule by the few, where a minority group holds power over a majority, as in an aristocracy or a clerical establishment
Term
monarchy
Definition
rule by the one, where power rests in the hands of a king or queen
Term
direct democracy
Definition
a form of political decision making in which the public business is decided by all citizens meeting in small assemblies
Term
representative democracy
Definition
indirect democracy, in which the people rule through elected representatives
Term
popular sovereignty
Definition
the basic principle of democracy that the people are the ultimate source of government authority and of the policies that the government leaders make
Term
majority rule
Definition
the form of political decision making in which policies are decided on the basis of what a majority of the people want
Term
political equality
Definition
the principle that says that each person carries equal weight in the conduct of the public business
Term
civil rights
Definition
guarantees by government of equal citizenship to all social groups
Term
political liberty
Definition
the principle that citizens in a democracy are protected from government interference in the exercise of a range of basic freedoms, such as the freedoms of speech, association, and conscience
Term
social contract
Definition
the idea that government is the result of an agreement among people to form one, and that people have the right to create an entirely new government if the terms of the contract have been violated by the existing one
Term
liberal democracy
Definition
representative democracy characterized by popular sovereignty, liberty, and political equality
Term
majority tyranny
Definition
suppression of the rights and liberties of a minority by the majority
Term
Jim Crow
Definition
popular term for the system of legally sanctioned racial segregation that existed in the American South until the middle of the twentieth century
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