Political Science in Credo: Terms and Concepts

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

Communism (from the Latin communis, meaning "shared" or "common"); fundamentally, a system of social organization in which property (especially real property and the means of production) is held in common. Advocates public ownership and communal control of the major means of production, distribution, transportation, and communication. Although modern communism is associated with ideas advanced by German political philosophers Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, and Russian Communist leader and theorist Vladimir I. Lenin, its intellectual roots are as old as Plato's republic in the fourth century BCE.

A form of government in which the people govern themselves or elect representatives to govern them. Term originating in ancient Greece to designate a government where the people share in directing the activities of the state, as distinct from governments controlled by a single class, select group, or autocrat.

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.

Government in which a single person holds a varying degree of legislative (law-making) and executive (administrative) power. Where such government has no constitutional checks or limits, it is known as absolutism, or absolute monarchy.

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. Note: socialism is much used, and abused, term. It can be employed to refer to quite different social and political systems.

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. A federation differs from a confederation in that the central power acts directly upon individuals as well as upon states, thus creating the problem of dual allegiance.

Government of town or county affairs by a locally elected authority, as distinct from national or central government. 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.

Organization whose structure and operations are governed to a high degree by written rules and a hierarchy of offices; in its broadest sense, all forms of administration, and in its narrowest, rule by officials. A bureaucracy is commonly 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.

Civil rights are guarantees of equal social opportunities and equal protection under the law regardless of race, religion, sex, sexuality, or other personal characteristics. These personal rights are guaranteed by the country/state to its citizens. Civil rights incorporates the belief that governments should not arbitrarily act to infringe these rights, and that individuals and groups, through political action, have a legitimate role in determining and influencing what constitutes them.

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. In the United States, Article II of the Constitution provides for the office of the presidency, which is held for four-year terms and filled by election through the electoral college.

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. Voting, which can take many forms, influences the allocation of power at many different levels of office. The most prominent form of voting selects politicians and parties contending for national office and provides ordinary citizens with the opportunity to weigh the performance of incumbents and decide whether to reelect them or vote in new officeholders.