VOCABULARY
Government
Systems
“Europe Today”
Aristocratic ,
aristocracy –
having to do with
royalty/monarchy
Autocratic, autocracy government in which one
person possesses unlimited
power and the citizen has
little if any role in the
government (Example:
Cuba).
Most dictators maintain their
position through inheritance or
military power (fear, violence), the
citizen has little, if any role in the
government. People who try to
speak out against the government
are often silenced through the use
of power.
Chancellor –
chief executive in
Germany
Chief executive –
the #1 person in
charge of the country;
we call ours PRESIDENT
Confederation –
voluntary associations of
independent states that, to secure
some common purpose, agree to
certain limitations on their
freedom of action and establish
some joint machinery of
consultation or deliberation
(Example: European Union)
Constitution –
document written to
describe the way the
government of a
country will be
organized
Czars –
another spelling of
TSARS: what the
king/emperor was
called in Russia
Democracy, democraticpolitical system in which
a country’s people elect
their leaders and rule by
majority;
a government in which the
supreme power is vested in the
people and exercised by them
directly or indirectly through a
system of representation usually
involving periodically held free
elections. (Examples: United
Kingdom, Germany, Mexico,
Brazil, Canada, Australia)
Dictator –
someone who rules by fear
or force, they have all the
power, they don’t share
power with anybody, has
complete rule
Executive –
branch of government
that includes the head of
state (president, premier,
prime minister, etc)
Federal –
national level, having
to do with the entire
country, not just the
state
Federal (form of government) characterized by or constituting
a form of government in which
power is divided between one
central and several regional
authorities. (Examples:
Australia, Germany, Russia,
Canada, Brazil, and Mexico)
Legislature, legislative –
refers to branch of
government that makes
the LAWS
Monarch –
a king or queen, emperor or
empress, czar or czarina,
usually get their “job” by
inheriting it because of
their birth
Monarchy –
territory ruled by a king
or queen
(emperor/empress,
czar/czarina) who has
total power to govern
Oligarchygovernment by the few,
sometimes a government in
which a small group
exercises control especially
for corrupt and selfish
purposes.
(Oligarchy continued…)
The citizen has a very
limited role. A small group
exercises control.
Communist countries are
mostly oligarchies. The
citizen has a very limited
role in government.
Parliamentary system –
a system of government having
the real executive power
vested in a cabinet composed
of members of the legislature
who are individually and
collectively responsible to the
legislature
(parliamentary continued…)
. May
have a Prime
Minister elected by the
legislature. (Example:
United Kingdom, Canada,
Australia, Germany)
President –
head of the executive
branch of government
in the United States
Presidential system –
a system of government in
which the president is
constitutionally
independent of the
legislature (Example:
Mexico and Brazil)
Prime minister –
the head of the
government in Canada
and United Kingdom
Tsars –
another spelling of the
word CZARS; what the
king/emperor was
called in Russia
Unicameral –
one house; refers to
type of legislative
branch of government
Unitary government –
characterized by or
constituting a form of
government in which power is
held by one central authority
(Examples: Cuba and United
Kingdom)