Governments & The Rise of Democracy Vocabulary List
1.) Aristocracy: A hereditary and landholding ruling class/elite; nobility.
2.)Democracy: A Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives. Demo = people cracy =government
3.)Oligarchy a government where political power effectively rests with a small, elite segment of society
4.)Theocracy A government in which a God or a deity is recognized as the supreme ruler; a religious government. Theo =God
5.)Monarchy A government in which a king or queen exercises central power
6.)Monotheism Belief in one God Mono =onetheism =God
7.) Morality The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct.
8.)Polytheism: Belief in many gods Poly =many ABOVE: The gods of Olympus include (back row, l. to r.): Poseidon, Zeus, Hades; (middle row, l. to r.): Demeter, Hera, Apollo, Dionysus; (front row, l. to r.): Hermes, Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena, and Hestia; bottom left corner: Heracles, Zeus's son by a mortal woman, Alcmene
9.) City-State: A political unit made up of a city and the surrounding lands.
10.)bureaucracy System of managing government through departments run by appointed officials
11.)philosopher A person in pursuit of wisdom by investigating nature, causes or principles of reality, knowledge, and values.
12.)Socrates 469 BC–399 BC A Greek Athenian philosopher that created the Socratic method (a series of questions to help students to examine the implications of their own answers) and a supported the democratic system.
13.) Plato ( B.C.) A student of Socrates and Greek philosopher that wrote the Republic - describes his vision of the ideal state
14.) Aristotle Plato’s student and Greek philosopher that wrote Politics : his view on the “rule of law” and why it is important.
15.) Legislature An elected lawmaking body of people
16.) tyranny a cruel, unjust, or oppressive government
17.) jury A panel of citizens who have the authority to make the final judgment in a trial.
18.) Republic A government in which officials are chosen by the people.
19.) Roman Senate: Most powerful governing body made up of Senators that made the laws. All members were patricians (aristocrats)
Hierarchy Categorization of a group of people according to ability or status.
20.) veto To block or prevent from becoming law
21.) The Twelve Tables Early Roman written code of laws
22.) Cultural Diffusion: The process of new ideas, customs, and technologies spreading from one people to another.
23.) Feudalism: Powerful lords (nobles) who divided land among lesser lords (knights) who owed military service to powerful lords. Peasants worked on the land
24. Clergy People authorized to perform religious ceremonies