Government

Interlinked Thematic Vocabulary Unit Nº 285 v.05

     Main Definitions

1. government 1 |n| the separation of powers between the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary.
2. "Foreign governments have been consulted about this decision."
3. "She has resigned from the Government."
4. "The present government was elected last year."
5. government 2 |n| a form or system of government.
6. "Most people in the country support the return to democratic government."
7. "Local government."
8. "Central government."
9. government 3 |n| the process or way of governing in government.
10. "What would the opposition do if they were in government."
11. "The importance of good government in developing countries."
12. "The executive the part of the government that makes sure that laws and decisions work well."
13. administration |n| the government of a country, especially one such as the US, which is led by a president.
14. "The Kennedy administration."
15. "The problems left by the previous adminstration."
16. cabinet |n| the group of important politicians who run the different departments in a government, for example education, health etc, and advise the leader of the government.
17. "The Prime Minister has offered Stroud a position in the cabinet."the authorities |pl noun| the people or organizations that have the power to decide what people are allowed to do in a country or area.
18. "The country is facing famine, and the authorities are doing little to prevent it."
19. the executive |n| the part of the government that makes sure that laws and decisions work well.
20. "The separation of powers between the executive, the legislature, and the judiciary."
21. "In theory, the civil service is the non-political arm of the executive."
22. "Power is shared between three main branches of government: the executive, the legislative, and the judiciary."
23. congress |n| the group of people elected to make laws in the US, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives.
24. "Hirsch doubts Congress will accept the president’s proposal."
25. "Congress rejected a measure that would make it easier for low-income workers to get health insurance."
26. partliament |n| the group of people who are elected to make and change the laws of a country.
27. "New budget measures were approved Tuesday by the Russian parliament."
28. "Elections for the European parliament are set for late next year."
29. senate |n| the smaller and more important of the two parts of the parliament of the USA."
30. "Bradley was elected to the Senate in 1978."
31. "If approved by the Senate, the bill would make it harder to purchase handguns."

     

      Government Systems

1. democracy |n| a political system in which everyone can vote to choose the government, or a country that has this system.
2. "The transition to democracy has not been easy."
3. "In a democracy, people have freedom of speech.
4. dictatorship / undemocratic government |n| a political system or country that has a dictator.
5. "Argentina was a military dictatorship until 1983."
6. "In 1971, the country’s 10 year military dictatorship came to an end."
7. "Ethiopia’s dictatorship was toppled by Eritrean and Ethiopian rebels."
8. junta |n| a government run by a small group of army officers who have not been elected but have taken power by force.
9. "All the opponents of the junta have been murdered or imprisoned."
10. monarchy |n| the system of having a king or queen as the head of state, or a country that has this system.
11. "Some monarchies have elected governments."
12. "Controversy about the institution of monarchy undemocratic government."
13. police state |n| a country where the government strictly controls people’s freedom, for example to travel or to talk about politics.
14. "It’s like living in a police state."
15. "The country is a police state and the media is controlled by the government."
16. "The Home Secretary denied that the introduction of identity cards would lead to a police state."
17. regime |n| a government, especially one that was not elected fairly or that you disapprove of.
18. "Most people opposed the apartheid regime."
19. "The military regime refused to recognize the elections."
20. "The US supported several right-wing regimes in central America."
21. republic |n| a country that has an elected government, and is led by a president, not a king or queen.
22. "Mauritius became a republic in 1992."
23. rule of law |n| the restriction of the arbitrary exercise of power by subordinating it to well-defined and established laws.
24. "When military dictators fall, the democrats who follow them must try to restore the rule of law,"
25. "Democracy cannot exist without the rule of law."
26. "That means strengthening the rule of law."
27. "They include consolidating the rule of law and strengthening government institutions."
28. "Strengthening the rule of law is a core benchmark."
29. the authorities |pl noun| the people or organizations that have the power to decide what people are allowed to do in a country or area.
30. totalitarian |adj| [only before noun] used for describing countries in which ordinary people have no power and the government has complete control over everything.
31. "Totalitarian states such as Nazi Germany."
32. "A totalitarian dictatorship."

      Terms Related to Government

1. autonomy |n| a degree of freedom that is less than complete independence.
2. big government |n| a negative term, used mainly by conservatives to describe government programs in areas where they believe government shouldn't be involved, especially those that spend money on social problems.
3. coalition |n| a temporary alliance, especially of political parties forming a government.
4. self-government / self-determination / formal autonomy / sovereignty 1 |n| complete power to govern a country.
5. "The country claimed sovereignty over the island."
6. "In 1949 the Dutch ceded sovereignty of  the Dutch East Indies to the Indonesian Republic."
7. "Two countries have a claim to sovereignty over the islands."
8. leadership |n| the leader of a government and the other people in high positions of power.
9. "He will challenge Sinclair for the leadership of the Liberal Party."
10. "The collapse of European communism in the late 1980s shocked the Chinese leadership."
11. self-government / self-determination / formal autonomy / sovereignty 1 |n| 
12. sovereignty 2 |n| the state of being a country with freedom to govern itself.
13. "The declaration proclaimed the full sovereignty of the republic."
14. "Demonstrators demanded full sovereignty for the self-proclaimed republic."
15. independence |n| a complete freedom for a whole country from outside political control.
16. "Independence came to the British colonial territories in Africa in the late fifties and early sixties."
17. "Mexico achieved independence from Spain in 1821."
18. "Namibia became a full member of the UN at independence."
19. national symbol / symbol / patriotic symbol |n| a symbol of any entity considering itself and manifesting itself to the world as a national community, the sovereign states but also nations and countries in a state of colonial or other dependence, federal integration, or ethemven an ethnocultural community considered a 'nationality' despite having no political autonomy.

      Government Activities

1. government watchdog group / government watchdog / watchdog |n| an organization a group that watches the activities of a particular part of government in order to report illegal acts or problems.
2. "The director of Common Cause, a government watchdog group, said the court's action "raises questions of favoritism."

       People

1. dictator |n| a leader who has complete power and who has not been elected.
2. leader |n|  a leader is the one in the charge, the person who convinces other people to follow. A great leader inspires confidence in other people and moves them to action.

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