- authoritarian
- a style of government that enforces obedience to government authority by strongly limiting personal freedom
- bill of rights
- a list or summary of the fundamental rights guaranteed to the individual by the state; in the United States, the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution
- civil liberties
- guarantees of freedom from government interference
- civil rights
- guarantees of equal treatment by government without discrimination based on characteristics an individual shares with a particular subset of the population
- communitarian
- describes a worldview that emphasizes the need for community and its values and the positive role that government plays in the lives of citizens; the idea that government exists to protect rights but also to form a political community to solve public problems
- community
- a group of people with shared interests and values, e.g., a family, a religion, or a political group
- community responsibilities
- an individual’s duties or obligations as a part of a community, including cooperation, respect, and participation; goes beyond thinking and acting as individuals to common beliefs about society’s order and the treatment of others
- constitution
- a framework, blueprint, or foundation for the operation of a government
- constitutionalism
- a system of government with three elements: the rule of law, limited government, and an element of individualism
- due process
- a legal requirement that the government respect the rights of the people; a demonstration of the rule of law and the balancing of government power with individual rights
- human rights
- inherent rights that, philosophically, can be neither given nor taken away by any government; the basis for freedom, justice, and peace in the world
- inalienable
- describes rights that are due to all persons and, philosophically, can be neither given nor taken away by any government
- individualist
- describes a minimalist government system wherein individuals take precedence
- liberalism
- a system in which government actively protects individual rights
- libertarianism
- a system in which government exists to provide a means to assist individuals in achieving their private interests
- negative rights
- statements of individual rights that emphasize limitations on the government’s ability to infringe on those rights
- positive rights
- statements of individual rights that emphasize the government’s obligation to guarantee those rights
- privacy
- in a liberal democratic system, a space separate from public life where the individual has personal autonomy to think, speak, and behave without being monitored or surveilled by another person or the government
- responsive communitarianism
- a system that seeks to blend the common good with individual autonomy while not allowing either to take precedence over the other
- rule of law
- a philosophy of how society should be ordered in which all leaders are held accountable to the law; a higher law than majority rule