Chapter 17. Government and Politics
Chapter 17 Resources and Activities
Key Terms
absolute monarchy: A political state in which a monarch has absolute or unmitigated power.
accumulation function: The role of the state in maintaining the economic conditions for sustained capitalist investment and profitability.
anarchism: The political principles and practice of social organization without formal or state leadership
anarchy: The absence of any organized government.
asymmetrical warfare: Violent military conflict in which there is a significant imbalance of technical and military means between combatants.
authority: Power that people accept because it comes from a source that is perceived as legitimate.
charismatic authority: Power legitimized on the basis of a leader’s exceptional personal qualities.
citizenship: The internalized sense of individual dignity, rights, and freedom that accompanies formal membership in the political community.
coercive function: The role of the state in maintaining social order by use of force.
constitutional monarchy: A political state in which a monarch is head of state but whose powers are limited by a legal constitution.
democracy: Rule by the people.
democratic will formation: The deliberative process by which the will or decisions of the people are determined.
direct democracy: A form of government in which decision making, even in matters of detail, is conducted through assemblies made up of all citizens.
domination: A situation in which power and resistance are fixed into a more or less permanent hierarchical arrangement.
empire: (1) A geographically widespread organization of individual states, nations, and peoples that is ruled by a centralized government; (2) The contemporary global network form of power whose territory is the entire globe and whose network nodes include the dominant nation‐states, supranational institutions, and major capitalist corporations.
government: The various means and strategies used to direct the behaviour and actions of others (or of oneself).
ideal speech situation: The ideal norm of democratic discussion in which every subject is permitted to take part in public discussion, to question assertions, to introduce assertions, and to express attitudes, desires, and needs; no subject can be prevented from speaking.
image event: An event staged using primarily visual symbols as a means of public persuasion.
image management: The process of controlling the impact of one’s appearance to others.
institutions of democracy: The institutions that organize the regular processes of democracy including parliament, the civil service, electoral procedures, constitutions, rule of law, etc.
legitimation function: The role of the state in securing social harmony and the consent of the public to be ruled.
monarchy: A form of government in which a single person, or monarch, rules until that individual dies or abdicates the throne.
nation-state: A political unit whose boundaries are co-extensive with