The Development of Modern Political Systems

(Study Guide)


European Feudalism

Ø      When were the middle ages?

Ø      Describe what went on with the boarders between kingdoms during the middle ages. 

Ø      What is feudalism?

Ø      Describe the relations between Kings, Noble Lords, Knights and Serfs. 

Ø      How was land distributed in a feudal system? 

Ø      What was the role of military service and taxes?

Ø      What is absolute monarchy?

 

The Enlightenment

Ø      When was the Enlightenment?

Ø      What generally was the Enlightenment?

Ø      Know the basic ideas of Locke, Montesquieu, Rousseau and Wollstonecraft.

Ø      Understand these concepts:

·         separation of powers: what is the basic function of the executive, the judicial and the legislative branches?

·         What are checks and balances?

·         What did Rousseau mean by direct democracy?

·         What are “natural rights” and where did Enlightenment thinkers think they came from?

 

Road to Democracy in England:

Ø      What situation in England led to the Magna Carta?

Ø      In what year was the Magna Carta signed?

Ø      What did the Magna Carta do the power of the king? 

Ø      What two major ideas were in the Magna Carta?

Ø      What is a parliament?  Who was in the first parliament created by the Magna Carta?  How do representatives get in parliaments today?

Ø      What did the Glorious Revolution finally establish in the English government?

 

Road to Democracy in the US

Ø      What were the 13 Colonies? Who ruled them?

Ø      What was meant by the saying “No Taxation without Representation”

Ø      Who wrote the Declaration of Independence? When? To who? What important ideas were in it? 

Ø      When was the US Constitution written? 

Ø      Describe the three branches of government that the US constitution set up. 

Ø      What is the Bill of Rights?

Ø      What are the basic ideas in each of these amendments: 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 14th?

 

Road to Democracy in France

Ø      Who was Louis XIV and what kind of government did he lead?

Ø      Describe the relationship between nobles, clergy and commoners in France in the 1700s

Ø      What happened in France during the rule of Louis XVI

Ø      What was the Palace of Versailles?

Ø      What happened at the Meeting of the Estates General?

Ø      Those who took the Tennis Court Oath wanted what?

Ø      What did the Storming of the Bastille begin?

Ø      What was the March on Versailles?

Ø      What was important about the Constitution of 1791?  Why didn’t it last?

Ø      What happened during the Reign of Terror

Ø      Who was Maximilien Robespierre?

Ø      Who was Napoleon Bonaparte and why did the French Revolution lead to him coming to power?

 

Road to Democracy in Latin America

Ø      Who was Simon Bolivar and what did he fight for?  Where?

 

Political Concepts

Ø      What is divine right?

Ø      What is a Constitutional Monarchy?

Ø      What are the 4 fundamental characteristics of a democracy?

Ø      parliament/congress/assembly/senate

Ø      What is meant when it is said that a country follows “the rule of law.”

Ø      How are dictators similar to monarchs?