Political Science by Credo Reference: Terms and Concepts

Body politic founded on law for the common ‘weal’ or good.

Fundamentally, a system of social organization in which property (especially real property and the means of production) is held in common.

A form of government in which the people govern themselves or elect representatives to govern them.

Term or office of an absolute ruler, overriding the constitution.

Totalitarian philosophy of government that glorifies the state and nation and assigns to the state control over every aspect of national life.

A form of political and social organization typical of Western Europe from the dissolution of Charlemagne's empire to the rise of the absolute monarchies.

A form of government in which the head of state is a monarch.

Form of government in which the executive (administration) is drawn from and is constitutionally responsible to the legislature (law-making body). This is known as the ‘fusion of powers’ as distinct from the ‘separation of powers’, in which the three branches of government the executive, legislature, and judiciary (courts system) are separated in terms of personnel and constitutional powers

General term for the political and economic theory that advocates a system of collective or government ownership and management of the means of production and distribution of goods.

From Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Political Thought
Literally, ‘government by God’, but often, in common usage, ‘government by priests’.

Urban-based unit of local government in the UK and USA.

The etymological roots of the term lie in the Latin civitas; it is related to the Greek polis, the Latin urbs, the French la cite, la ville, the Italian la città and the German die Stadt.

An independent political unit consisting of a city and surrounding countryside. The first city-states were in Sumer, but they reached their peak in Greece.

A division of local government in the United States, Great Britain, and many Commonwealth countries.

Or federation, government of a union of states in which sovereignty is divided between a central authority and component state authorities.

Local governments are subdivisions of the states, and they provide governance for substate regions and localities.

The framework of the modern nation-state seems to be nowadays the most natural political arrangement one can think of, and it is difficult to imagine an alternative political arrangement. Nevertheless, the state is a relatively new entity in the history of mankind, as it appeared only some 350 years ago.

Territory that forms its own domestic and foreign policy, acting through laws that are typically decided by a government and carried out, by force if necessary, by agents of that government.

Political philosophy that society should have no government, laws, police, or other authority, but should be a free association of all its members.

A bureaucracy is an organization characterized by hierarchy, fixed rules, impersonal relationships, strict adherence to impartial procedures, and specialization based on function.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
The relationship between the religion or religions of a nation and the civil government of that nation, especially the relationship between the Christian church and various civil governments.

Legally, citizenship refers to an individual’s political status, rights, and obligations in a nation, for example, the right to political representation or participation in the judicial process in that nation. Socially, citizenship refers to an individual’s membership in a political organization or community.

The rights guaranteed by the state to its citizens.

Body of fundamental (basic) laws of a state, laying down the system of government and defining the relations of the executive (administration), legislature (law-making body), and judiciary (courts) to each other and to the citizens.

Christian political doctrine that hereditary monarchy is the system approved by God, hereditary right cannot be forfeited, monarchs are accountable to God alone for their actions, and rebellion against the lawful sovereign is therefore blasphemous.

In U.S. government, the body of electors that chooses the president and vice president.

Rules of conduct of any organized society, however simple or small, that are enforced by threat of punishment if they are violated.

In modern republics, the chief executive and, therefore, the highest officer in a government.

The idea that government authority derives originally from an agreement between ruler and ruled in which the former agrees to provide order in return for obedience from the latter.

Sovereignty is a characteristic of a political entity that, within a defined geographical area, possesses and exercises power that is the highest in that area.

Expression of opinion by ballot , show of hands, or other means.