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Chapter 1 The Heritage of Political Thought Study Guide

Ancient Political Thought

  1. What ancient artifacts were written in 2300 B.C. in Iraq and contain the earliest known written appearance of the word “freedom” (amagi)?
  2. What is the well-preserved Babylonian law code of ancient Mesopotamia that dates back to 1750 B.C.?

Greek Democracy

  1. What form of government is controlled by a single ruler, who is the head of the state?
  2. What basic Greek political unit was based on a community of citizens that developed around 750 B.C.?
  3. What was the center of Greek Government?
  4. What form of government is hereditarily based on an elite few?
  5. What form of government has a cruel ruler who places his own interests over the best interests of the general population?
  6. What prominent Greek city-state rose to become the dominant military land-power in 650 B.C.?
  7. What form of government is rule by a few, a small group of “elite” leaders?
  8. What prominent Greek city-state was a center for the arts, learning, and philosophy, and is widely referred to as the cradle of Western Civilization?
  9. What code of laws was written in 594 B.C. and was the first written form of self-government and was the first Athenian Constitution?
  10. Which Athenian statesman established increased the power of the Athenian Assembly in 510 B.C. and is known as the “Father of Athenian Democracy”?
  11. What form of government is based on the “direct rule of the people” with decisions made by majority rule?
  12. What era took place from 461 to 429 B.C. and included cultural advancement and the building of the Parthenon?
  13. What Athenian legal procedure used the vote and majority rule to banish a citizen from the city for ten years without due process?
  14. Which Greek philosopher believed that principles of right, justice and law is based upon wisdom and universal reason?
  15. Which ancient Greek scholar founded the School of Athens in 386 B.C. and wrote The Republic, The Statesman, and Laws and believed that the state should be ruled by philosopher kings?
  16. Which ancient Greek scholar founded the Lyceum in 336 B.C. and wrote Politics and stated that “The end of the state is the good life.”?

Roman Law

  1. What civilization was founded by Romulus in 753 B.C. and was based on monarchical rule?
  2. What Latin term means the power to command and was used by Roman rulers to issue decrees and to punish offenders?
  3. What governing body advised the king and was made up of 100 leading men who served for life?
  4. What form of government was established in Rome in 509 B.C. and lasted for over 450 years?
  5. Which group of individuals from the 18th century was influenced the most by the Roman Republic out of all forms of ancient government?
  6. What form of government is based on representative government, the rule of law, and is limited in its power?
  7. What does SPQR or SenatusPopulusque Romanus mean?
  8. What Roman office was elected annually and was held by two individuals who had veto power over the other?
  9. What was Rome’s first written constitution, was inscribed in stone, and placed in the Roman Forum in 450 B.C.?
  10. What was this constitution based on?
  11. What is Rome’s greatest contribution to Western Civilization?
  12. What is a system of rules that are created and enforced through government to regulate behavior?
  13. Which Roman statesman championed constitutional government and wrote On Offices, On Republics, and On Laws in the 1st century B.C.?
  14. Which Roman statesman said, “Monarchy becomes despotism, aristocracy becomes oligarchy, democracy becomes mob rule, chaos, and dictatorship.”?
  15. What political idea states that laws that govern humanity are universal, and are used to protect rights possessed by all human beings, and can be discovered through the use of reason?
  16. List four causes of the fall of the Roman Republic in the 1st century B.C.:
  17. What term refers to the domination of other nations by one country?
  18. What is the keystone of Christian Law and states that “whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them”?
  19. What collapsed in 476 A.D. due to perpetual war, an over-extended military, loss of freedom, a burgeoning welfare state, and political corruption?
  20. What empire continued for another thousand years until its collapse in 1453 A.D.?
  21. What compilation of law took place during the reign of Justinian the Great and became the basis of European legal systems?

Government in the Early Middle Ages

  1. What medieval government had an elected monarch, a form of parliament (Witena Gemot), and the principle of restitution (Weregild)?
  2. What name was given to the militia that was made up of freemen who provided their own arms and provisions?
  3. Which King reigned from 871 to 899 and unified England into a single kingdom and required that all people be armed with personal weapons to defend themselves against Viking attack?
  4. What filled the power vacuum left by the fall of the Roman Empire and was the most powerful institution during the Early Middle Ages?
  5. What form of government is run by a church or a religious authority?

Monarchy in the High Middle Ages

  1. What form of government is governed by one, generally by birth or succession?
  2. What historical event took place in 1066 and resulted in the coronation of William I as the King of England as well as other major political changes?
  3. What medieval European political system was introduced to England by William I that was based on land and protection and included a hierarchy with kings, lords, knights, and serfs?
  4. Who were the greatest lords of Europe, and all nobles and knights were their vassals?
  5. Who were vassals of the king and were also lords of lower ranking nobles and knights?
  6. Who served their noble lords in exchange for land?
  7. Who owned no land and worked on land owned by nobles or knights?
  8. What was created during the reign of the Normans and consisted of pillars of feudal society?
  9. What law is built on custom and court decision and was made standard throughout England by Henry II?
  10. What legal document was signed by King John at Runnymede by English barons who sought to restrict the power of the king and established the principle of limited government in England?
  11. What protects and individual’s freedom from arbitrary state action and arbitrary imprisonment and translates to “bring the body”?
  12. What was established in 1215 and was made up of English nobles who advised the king?
  13. What convened in 1265 at Westminster Hall during the reign of Henry III by the English barons led by Simon de Montfort to limit the power of the king?
  14. What political institution was established by Edward I in 1295 that became an English legislature?
  15. What wars took place from 1296 to 1328 that were led by William Wallace and Robert Bruce to gain freedom from English rule?
  16. What political document was signed on April 6, 1320 that declared Scotland’s independence and stated “For as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom—for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.”?
  1. Who was the king of England from 1327 to 1377?
  2. What English institution by the 14th century consisted of two chambers: House of Lords and House of Commons, and later was used as a model for the United States Congress?

Political Thought in the Renaissance

  1. What concept placed emphasis on reason and celebrated individuality?
  2. What term describes independent countries that had emerged by the 15th century?
  3. What term means having supreme power or authority?
  4. What is a synonym for sovereign?
  5. Whose power increased during the Renaissance?
  6. Which Florentine political philosopher wrote The Prince in 1513 and whose name has become synonymous with “ruthless political expediency”?
  7. Which king of England reigned from 1509 to 1547 and used Parliament as an instrument of tyranny and ruled as an absolutist king?
  8. Which English political philosopher wrote Utopia in 1516, was an advisor to the king, and was executed for his opposition to royal power?
  9. What movement in the 16th century challenged the supreme authority of the Catholic Church in Europe and led to the decline of papal political power?
  10. Which political figures gained more independence through the Protestant Reformation?
  11. Which French political philosopher wrote the Six Books of States in 1576 and defended the sovereign rights of monarchy?
  12. Which English political philosopher wrote Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity in 1594 and promoted the idea of natural law and constitutional monarchy?
  13. What political doctrine states that kings derive their authority to rule directly from the will of God?