SQA Higher Politics Political Theory overview quiz quiz

The ability to make others do something they would not otherwise do

The accepted right to rule that rests entirely on popular consent

The popular belief that a government is acting rightfully and fairly

A type of authority based only on long-established custom and tradition

Authority always relies on force, while power relies on persuasion

There is no real difference between authority and power at all

Authority is the accepted right to exercise power, resting on consent

Authority can never be held by an elected government of any kind

Economic authority

Legal-rational authority

Military authority

Democratic authority

The raw ability of a state to compel its citizens through armed force

A leader's personal charm and ability to inspire intense devotion

The ownership of the main means of production by the whole community

The popular acceptance that power is being acquired and used rightfully

Citizens decide policy themselves through referendums and initiatives

Voters elect representatives who decide every policy on their behalf

A single all-powerful leader makes every decision for the nation

Only an unelected expert committee is allowed to make any decisions

It gives far too much power to a small political elite of experts

It is impractical in large states and risks a tyranny of the majority

It removes all opportunities for ordinary citizens to participate

It makes it completely impossible ever to hold a public referendum

A Swiss referendum held on a single policy question

An ancient Athenian assembly of all eligible citizens

The UK Parliament, where elected MPs make laws

A citizens' assembly chosen at random to debate one issue

Positive freedom, the freedom to fulfil one's full potential

Freedom understood as total obedience to the will of the state

Freedom that exists only once wealth has been fully equalised

Negative freedom, freedom from external interference and constraint

John Stuart Mill

Edmund Burke

Karl Marx

Adam Smith

That humans are perfectible if society is correctly reorganised

That humans are imperfect, so order, authority and tradition are needed

That human nature is shaped entirely by the economic class system

That all humans are naturally equal in ability and in achievement

Revolutionary socialism and reformist social democracy

Civic nationalism and ethnic nationalism

Classical liberalism and modern liberalism

Neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism

Common ownership of the means of production and social equality

A minimal nightwatchman state limited to protecting property

The superiority of one nation over all of its neighbours

Rule by an all-powerful leader who embodies the national will

Social democracy seeks violent revolution, while Marxism seeks reform

Revolutionary socialism seeks to overthrow capitalism, not reform it

There is no real difference between the two strands of socialism

Social democracy rejects all forms of equality and redistribution

Civic nationalism is based on ancestry, while ethnic is based on values

Both are identical and based only on shared geography and territory

Civic nationalism rejects self-determination, while ethnic supports it

Civic nationalism is based on shared values, ethnic on shared ancestry

Reason, individual rights, equality and limited government

Common ownership, class struggle and reform through parliament

Anti-rationalism, the cult of the leader, ultranationalism and totalitarianism

Tradition, gradual reform, paternalism and the organic society