Purposes and Origins of Government Vocabulary

a state without government and laws

• government

• anarchy

• social contract

• sovereignty

an institution through which leaders exercise power to make and enforce laws affecting the people under its control

• government

• anarchy

• social contract

• sovereignty

theory that by contract, people surrender to the state the power needed to maintain order and the state, in turn, agrees to protect its citizens

• government

• anarchy

• social contract

• sovereignty

the supreme and absolute authority within territorial boundaries

• government

• anarchy

• social contract

• sovereignty

a sizable group of people who believe themselves united by common bonds of race, language, custom, or religion

• nation

• divine right

• state

• country

a political community that occupies a definite territory and has an organized government

• nation

• divine right

• state

• republic

a government in which voters hold sovereign power; elected representatives, responsible to the people, exercise that power.

• nation

• divine right

• state

• republic

a system of government in which rule is by the people, either through representatives or directly

• republic

• confederacy

• democracy

• totalitarian

a loose union of independent and sovereign states

• republic

• confederacy

• democracy

• totalitarian

a system of government in which the government has total control

• republic

• confederacy

• democracy

• totalitarian