Download Government and Economics Vocabulary

Modern Europe – Government and Economics Vocabulary
1. government – a system for organizing and distributing power
2. unitary – system of government where the central government holds all the power
3. confederation – system of government where communities or groups of states come together to support each other and work as
partners on common problems . . . members hold all the power and do not have to take any actions they do not want to take . . . the
central government holds no real, permanent power
4. federal – system of government where power is split between the central government and lower levels
5. constitution – a document outlining the duties, powers, rights, responsibilities, and people of the central/state/lower levels of
government
6. autocratic or autocracy – system of government where a single ruler has unlimited power . . . citizens cannot run for election or vote
7. oligarchic or oligarchy – system of government where a small group of rulers hold the power, and answer only to each other . . .
citizens cannot vote, and the group decides who can gain membership
8. democratic or democracy – system of government where citizens (with some limitations like age, not in jail, etc.) can run for
election and vote for elected officials
9. parliamentary democracy – form of democracy common in European countries
10. presidential democracy – form of democracy common in the Americas (if present in European countries is often organized
differently than the U.S. model)
11. head of state – the chief representative of a country to other countries . . . often has ceremonial responsibilities . . . often holds no
real decision making power
12. chief executive – the person who is responsible for making decisions and running the government on a day-to-day basis . . . real
power rests here
13. legislature – the group of elected representatives who have the power to make laws . . . in parliamentary democracies is called
parliament, and members of parliament are referred to as MP’s
14. monarch – the king or queen of a country
15. House of Lords – the part of the United Kingdom’s parliament whose members are elected by members, or are appointed by the
monarch . . . members hold little real power . . . only make suggestions about laws
16. House of Commons – the part of the United Kingdom’s parliament whose members are elected by the citizens in a general election
. . . power comes from controlling the budget
17. Bundestag – the “lower house” but more powerful part of Germany’s parliament whose members are directly elected by the
citizens
18. Bundesrat – the “upper house” but less powerful part of Germany’s parliament whose members are selected by the various state
governments and who deal with laws that affect the states (such as education and local issues)
19. Basic Law – the constitution of Germany
20. welfare state – exists when the government guarantees people certain benefits when they are old, poor, unemployed, disabled, or
sick
21. Federal Assembly – name given to the Russian Federation’s legislature
22. Federation Council – that part of the Federal Assembly whose members are appointed by the state governments . . . represent the
states interests at the federal, or central government level
23. State Duma – that part of the Federal Assembly whose members are elected directly by the citizens
24. European Union (EU) – a group of 27 European countries united to bring more advantages to members that might not be available
to the smaller nations . . . works to improve trade, education, farming, and industry among the members
25. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – the combined value of the goods and services produced in a country each year
26. currency – the money people use to make trade easier (ex. USA = dollar, United Kingdom = British pound, Russia = rubles)
27. euro – the currency of most members of the EU
28. free-trade zone – an area where there are no trade barriers among participating countries . . . for example the North American Free
Trade Association (NAFTA), and the European Union (EU)
29. scarcity – the limited supply of something
30. economic system – how a country or society determines how to use its limited resources to answer the three basic economic
questions . . . 1) What goods and services will be produced?, 2) how will goods and services be produced?, and 3) Who will consume
the goods and services?
31. traditional economy – system where customs and habits of the past are used to answer the three basic economic questions
32. command economy – system where centralized government planning groups make the decisions to answer the three basic
economic questions
33. market economy – system where decisions concerning the three basic economic questions are guided by changes in prices that
occur between individual buyers and sellers in the marketplace. . . also called free enterprise, capitalism, and laissez-faire
34. mixed economy – all modern economies are of this type . . . they have characteristics of both command and market economic
systems
35. trade barriers – rules used to try to limit trade with other countries
36. tariffs – a tax on imports
37. quotas – a limit to the number of imports that may enter a country
38. embargo – a government order stopping trade with another country
39. standard of living – economic level of living . . . level of comfort enjoyed by people
40. human capital – workers of a business or country including their education, training, skills, and health
41. literacy rate – the percentage of a countries people who can read or write
42. physical capital – the factories, machines, technologies, buildings, and property needed by businesses to operate
43. entrepreneur – the person who provides the money to start and own a business