Final Exam Study Guide
Aristocracy - ANS-The highest class in certain societies, especially those holding hereditary
titles or offices.
Citizens - ANS-A legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either
native or naturalized.
Direct Democracy - ANS-Direct democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide
policy initiatives directly.
Representative Democracy - ANS-Representative democracy is a variety of democracy founded
on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people, as opposed to direct
democracy.
Monarchy - ANS-A form of government with a monarch at the head.
Natural Laws - ANS-A body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human
conduct.
Socratic Method - ANS-The use of questions, as employed by Socrates, to develop a latent
idea, as in the mind of a pupil, or to elicit admissions, as from an opponent, tending to establish
a proposition.
Republic - ANS-A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected
representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.
Senate (Roman) - ANS-The Roman Senate was a political institution in ancient Rome. It was
one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the
city (traditionally founded in 753 BC).
Judaism - ANS-The monotheistic religion of the Jews.
Torah - ANS-In Judaism, the law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five
books of the Hebrew scriptures (the Pentateuch).
Ten Commandments - ANS-The commandments engraved on stone tablets and given to Moses
by God on Mount Sinai. These commandments are the heart of the divine law in the Old
Testament.
Prophets - ANS-A person regarded as an inspired teacher or pro-claimer of the will of God.
,Christianity - ANS-The religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its
beliefs and practices.
Monotheistic - ANS-A belief in one god. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all monotheistic
religions.
Hijrah - ANS-The Hijrah is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his
followers from Mecca to Medina in June 622 CE.
Koran - ANS-The Islamic sacred book, believed to be the word of God as dictated to
Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel and written down in Arabic.
Roman Catholic Church - ANS-The branch of Christianity headed by the pope. The Roman
Catholic Church is governed by a hierarchy with the pope at the top and, at the lower levels,
bishops and priests.
Reformation - ANS-The action or process of reforming an institution or practice.
Protestants - ANS-A member or follower of any of the Western Christian churches that are
separate from the Roman Catholic Church and follow the principles of the Reformation,
including the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches.
Common Law - ANS-The part of English law that is derived from custom and judicial precedent
rather than statutes. Often contrasted with statutory law.
Magna Carta - ANS-A document constituting a fundamental guarantee of rights and privileges.
Due Process of Law - ANS-Fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially as a
citizen's entitlement.
Parliament - ANS-The highest legislature, consisting of the sovereign, the House of Lords, and
the House of Commons.
Divine Right - ANS-The doctrine that kings and queens have a God-given right to rule and that
rebellion against them is a sin.
Petition of Right - ANS-The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets
out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing.
Glorious Revolution - ANS-The Glorious Revolution was the last genuine revolution in Britain.
Constitutional Monarchy - ANS-Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a king
or queen acts as Head of State.
, Bill of Rights - ANS-The first ten amendments to the US Constitution, ratified in 1791 and
guaranteeing such rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship.
Enlightenment - ANS-A European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries
emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition.
Social Contract - ANS-An implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for
social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection.
Natural Rights - ANS-Rights that people supposedly have under natural law. The Declaration of
Independence of the United States lists life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as natural
rights.
Separation of Powers - ANS-An act of vesting the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of
government in separate bodies.
American Revolution - ANS-The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place
between 1765 and 1783 during which rebel colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected
the British monarchy and aristocracy, overthrew the authority of Great Britain, and founded the
United States of America.
Representative Government - ANS-An electoral system where citizens vote to elect people in an
assembly to represent their interests and concerns.
Federal System - ANS-Pertaining to or of the nature of a union of states under a central
government distinct from the individual governments of the separate states.
French Revolution - ANS-The revolution began in 1789, after King Louis xvi had convened the
French parliament to deal with an enormous national debt.
United Nations - ANS-The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization established
24 October 1945 to promote international co-operation.
Scientific Revolution - ANS-The scientific revolution was the emergence of modern science
during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy,
biology, and chemistry transformed views of society and nature.
Heliocentric Theory - ANS-In the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus
presented a full discussion of a heliocentric model of the universe in much the same way as
Ptolemy's Almagest had presented his geocentric model in the 2nd century.
Scientific Method - ANS-A method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the
17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the
formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.
Aristocracy - ANS-The highest class in certain societies, especially those holding hereditary
titles or offices.
Citizens - ANS-A legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either
native or naturalized.
Direct Democracy - ANS-Direct democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide
policy initiatives directly.
Representative Democracy - ANS-Representative democracy is a variety of democracy founded
on the principle of elected officials representing a group of people, as opposed to direct
democracy.
Monarchy - ANS-A form of government with a monarch at the head.
Natural Laws - ANS-A body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human
conduct.
Socratic Method - ANS-The use of questions, as employed by Socrates, to develop a latent
idea, as in the mind of a pupil, or to elicit admissions, as from an opponent, tending to establish
a proposition.
Republic - ANS-A state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected
representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.
Senate (Roman) - ANS-The Roman Senate was a political institution in ancient Rome. It was
one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the
city (traditionally founded in 753 BC).
Judaism - ANS-The monotheistic religion of the Jews.
Torah - ANS-In Judaism, the law of God as revealed to Moses and recorded in the first five
books of the Hebrew scriptures (the Pentateuch).
Ten Commandments - ANS-The commandments engraved on stone tablets and given to Moses
by God on Mount Sinai. These commandments are the heart of the divine law in the Old
Testament.
Prophets - ANS-A person regarded as an inspired teacher or pro-claimer of the will of God.
,Christianity - ANS-The religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its
beliefs and practices.
Monotheistic - ANS-A belief in one god. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are all monotheistic
religions.
Hijrah - ANS-The Hijrah is the migration or journey of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his
followers from Mecca to Medina in June 622 CE.
Koran - ANS-The Islamic sacred book, believed to be the word of God as dictated to
Muhammad by the archangel Gabriel and written down in Arabic.
Roman Catholic Church - ANS-The branch of Christianity headed by the pope. The Roman
Catholic Church is governed by a hierarchy with the pope at the top and, at the lower levels,
bishops and priests.
Reformation - ANS-The action or process of reforming an institution or practice.
Protestants - ANS-A member or follower of any of the Western Christian churches that are
separate from the Roman Catholic Church and follow the principles of the Reformation,
including the Baptist, Presbyterian, and Lutheran churches.
Common Law - ANS-The part of English law that is derived from custom and judicial precedent
rather than statutes. Often contrasted with statutory law.
Magna Carta - ANS-A document constituting a fundamental guarantee of rights and privileges.
Due Process of Law - ANS-Fair treatment through the normal judicial system, especially as a
citizen's entitlement.
Parliament - ANS-The highest legislature, consisting of the sovereign, the House of Lords, and
the House of Commons.
Divine Right - ANS-The doctrine that kings and queens have a God-given right to rule and that
rebellion against them is a sin.
Petition of Right - ANS-The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets
out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing.
Glorious Revolution - ANS-The Glorious Revolution was the last genuine revolution in Britain.
Constitutional Monarchy - ANS-Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a king
or queen acts as Head of State.
, Bill of Rights - ANS-The first ten amendments to the US Constitution, ratified in 1791 and
guaranteeing such rights as the freedoms of speech, assembly, and worship.
Enlightenment - ANS-A European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries
emphasizing reason and individualism rather than tradition.
Social Contract - ANS-An implicit agreement among the members of a society to cooperate for
social benefits, for example by sacrificing some individual freedom for state protection.
Natural Rights - ANS-Rights that people supposedly have under natural law. The Declaration of
Independence of the United States lists life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as natural
rights.
Separation of Powers - ANS-An act of vesting the legislative, executive, and judicial powers of
government in separate bodies.
American Revolution - ANS-The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place
between 1765 and 1783 during which rebel colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected
the British monarchy and aristocracy, overthrew the authority of Great Britain, and founded the
United States of America.
Representative Government - ANS-An electoral system where citizens vote to elect people in an
assembly to represent their interests and concerns.
Federal System - ANS-Pertaining to or of the nature of a union of states under a central
government distinct from the individual governments of the separate states.
French Revolution - ANS-The revolution began in 1789, after King Louis xvi had convened the
French parliament to deal with an enormous national debt.
United Nations - ANS-The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization established
24 October 1945 to promote international co-operation.
Scientific Revolution - ANS-The scientific revolution was the emergence of modern science
during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy,
biology, and chemistry transformed views of society and nature.
Heliocentric Theory - ANS-In the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus's De revolutionibus
presented a full discussion of a heliocentric model of the universe in much the same way as
Ptolemy's Almagest had presented his geocentric model in the 2nd century.
Scientific Method - ANS-A method of procedure that has characterized natural science since the
17th century, consisting in systematic observation, measurement, and experiment, and the
formulation, testing, and modification of hypotheses.
