Government Comprehensive Final
Study Guide

•	A civil society helps democracy to prosper.
•	A constitution is a plan for government.
•	A Constitution is a plan that provides the rules for government.
•	A loose union of independent states is a confederacy
•	Adam Smith wrote The Wealth of Nations and provided a philosophy for capitalism and the free market.
•	Any system of government in which a small group holds power is called an oligarchy.
•	Any system of government in which rule is by the people is called a democracy.
•	Constitutional law defines government power
•	Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only president to serve more than two terms.
•	Freedom of choice is a key characteristic of capitalism.
•	In a monarchy, a king, queen, or emperor rules.
•	John Locke wrote about the social contract theory.
•	Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto about the principles of communism.
•	Politics is the effort to control or influence the conduct of government.
•	The economic system in which freedom of choice is emphasized is capitalism.
•	The evolutionary theory states that the state evolved from family.
•	The federal system of government (also known as federalism) divides the power between the state and national governments.
•	The four essential features of a state are population, sovereignty, territory, and government.
•	The four purposes of government are to maintain social order, provide public services, provide basic services, provide national security, and make economic decisions.
•	The goals and purposes of the government are expressed in the Preamble to the Constitution.
•	The Republicans and Democrats have developed in this country as the major political parties.
•	The Unitary system of government gives all key powers to the national government.
•	The United States has a mixed market economy.
•	When the territory of both the nation and the state coincide, the country is a nation-state.