Governments and Philosophies - GED Social Studies

In the United States Constitution there are certain powers reserved for either the State governments or the Federal government; however, there are also concurrent powers. These are powers shared by both the State and Federal governments: one example is the power to levy taxes.

"Pluralism" is the name given to the theory or belief that political power is divided and shared by several disparate groups within a democratic society. In a society where pluralism is in effect, many different social, ethnic, and ideological groups are accepted and tolerated, and power is (in theory) shared equally among them.

Popular sovereignty is a concept that emerged during the Enlightenment period; it is a core concept of the American political system. It states that the only legitimate authority comes from the consent of the people.

For much of human history and even today in many systems of government and societies, the rights and freedoms of the individual have been suppressed in order to further the goals and/or security of the state. The political theory of individualism, an important tenet of the American political system, states that the freedom of the individual is more important than the power of the government.

Civic responsibility is a core ideal in American political participation. It states that American citizens have a duty to engage with the political process, and especially that they have a responsibility to get out and vote. The idea is that our freedoms and liberties are hard-won and still quite rare in the world, and we have a responsibility to maintain them by engaging with them.

Political socialization is a broad term used to refer to the means by which an individual forms his or her ideas about politics and develops his or her affiliations with certain ideas and political parties. Many factors impact political socialization, including parenting, education, the media, and social life.

One of the core principles of the American political system is Federalism. In Federalism, power and legitimacy is shared by more than one political entity. In the United States, there is the national government, which retains the majority of control over the political arena, but there are also state and local governments, which have their own areas of power and an established legitimacy.

A totalitarian government, also called an autocracy, is defined by an extremely centralized government in which one person, or one group, wields complete and unchallenged control over the rest of the state. Totalitarian governments are increasingly uncommon around the world, but certainly far from nonexistent.

"Rule by the few," an oligarchy is defined as a system of government in which a small group of people have complete control over all functions of government.

A system of government ruled by religious leaders and where law is established according to religious codes is called a theocracy.

Apartheid was a social policy of racial segregation in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s. It was enforced by the government, which reduced the economic and political rights of black people in the country.

Communism is an economic system where all property and the means of production are owned by the state. One of the driving forces of capitalism, ownership of private property, is completely eliminated in favor of (in theory) fairly distributing all property and economic goods.

The United Nations is an international body designed to prevent warfare and represent the collective interests of all the nations of humanity, at least in theory. It was formed after the end of World War Two, in 1945. The League of Nations (the first attempt at such an international organization) was formed in 1918, at the end of World War One, but suffered from a lack of American participation and subsequent ineffectiveness.

The Italian state under Mussolini was a prominent examples of Fascism. In a fascist government, liberal democracy is rejected as being too weak, and a system of totalitarian control over the media and the population is instituted. Fascist philosophy believes that the technological advancements of the early twentieth century rendered the distinction between civilian and military combatant obsolete. In a fascist state, the civilian population is mobilized as part of the war effort and is under complete control of the government. Violent nationalism is an important part of fascist ideology.

The economic and political system of feudalism arose after the fall of the Roman Empire. In the political and military vacuum created by Rome’s fall from power, there was a large number of people and groups contending for power. It was a time of brutal violence and great instability. To try to create stability, various rulers began to offer portions of land, or “fiefdoms,” to lesser rules, who could then have serfs work the land to provide food and income. The system of feudalism was effective because it promoted stability in a very violent time and offered protection in exchange for loyalty and subservience.

A theocracy is a system of government ruled by a priest, or other religious figure, who claims to interpret the word of god when establishing laws and rules in the country. In a theocracy, the government is essentially a conduit for religious belief.

Despotism is another word for Autocracy. A Despot is an autocratic ruler, or a tyrant: someone who rules with absolute authority and who cannot be questioned or removed from power by legal means.

In the British government, the lawmaking body is called Parliament, or the Houses of Parliament. It is made up of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, with the House of Commons directing most of the legislative action.

Britain is governed by a parliamentary system. There is a legislative body, called the Houses of Parliament, where the leader of the majority party, or of the largest coalition, is Prime Minister. This is different to the American system where votes for the legislature and executive are not directly tied to one another.