AG-Ch1.1 – People and Government – Section 1 – Principles of Government – Flashcards

is a political community that occupies a definite territory and has an organized government with the power to make and enforce laws without approval from any higher authority.

is any sizable group of people who are united by common bonds of race, language, custom, tradition, and, sometimes, religion.

is a country where the territories of both the nation and the state coincide.

Agreement about basic beliefs.

the key characteristic of a state, means that the state has supreme and absolute authority within its territorial boundaries.

is the institution through which each state maintains social order, provides public services, and enforces decisions that are binding on all people living within the state.

says that government emerged when all the people of an area were brought under the authority of one person or group.

Population territory, sovereignty, and government.

is the notion that the gods have chosen certain people to rule.

People need government to maintain social order because they have not yet discovered a way to live in groups without conflict. Without government, civilized life would not be possible. By remaining in the territory controlled by some society, which usually has a government, people give consent to join that society and be governed by its government, if any. This consent is what gives legitimacy to such government. People had to surrender their power to the state in order to maintain order, in exchange for protection provided by the state.

Thomas Hobbes in England was one of the first to theorize that people had a social contract with their leaders. Hobbes believed that people surrendered to the state the power needed to maintain order in exchange for protection provided by the state. John Locke took the social contract a step further when he wrote that the people could justly break the social contract when government failed to preserve the natural rights of the people to life, liberty, and property.

Providing public services, providing for national security and a common defense , providing for and controlling the economic system.

Making and enforcing laws, requiring people to do things like pay taxes and serve in the army, providing structures such as courts to help people resolve disagreements in an orderly manner, and placing limits on what individuals are permitted to do.

Intervene in the economic affairs of other nations in the interest of pass the laws that determine and control the economic environment of the nation, and make choices that distribute benefits and public services among citizens.

Controlling inflation, encouraging trade, and regulating natural resource development.