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: 1^st, 2^nd, 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, 8^th, 14^th?

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?