Humanities Word List
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- Laissez-faire
- Peace Treaty
- Bias
- a partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation
- Utopian
- characterized by or aspiring to impracticable perfection
- Balance of Trade
- the difference in value over a period of time of a country's imports and exports of merchandise
- Enlightenment
- a movement in the 18th century that advocated the use of reason in the reappraisal of accepted ideas and social institutions
- Human Rights
- rights to personal freedom and safety
- Constitutional Monarchy
- constitution that explains the powers of the government and owes allegiance to a monarch
- Hegemony
- the domination of one state over its allies
- Judaism
- the monotheistic religion tracing its origins to Abraham and having its spiritual and ethical principles embodied chiefly in the Talmud
- Bureaucracy
- nonelective government officials
- Divine Right
- belief that a rulers authority comes directly from god.
- Multinational Corporations
- Large companies that operate in several different countries and sell their products around the world.
- Glorious Revolution
- the revolution against James II
- Islam
- a religion whose followers believe there is one god and that Muhammad is his prophet
- Guerrilla War
- combat where a small group of combatants use mobile tactics to combat a larger, less mobile formal army
- Anarchy
- a state of lawlessness and disorder (usually resulting from a failure of government)
- Market Economy
- an economy that relies chiefly on market forces to allocate goods and resources and to determine prices
- Buddhism
- the teaching of Buddha that life is permeated with suffering caused by desire, that suffering ceases when desire ceases, and that enlightenment obtained through right conduct and wisdom and meditation releases one from desire and suffering and rebirth
- Developing Nations
- countries with few industres
- Perestroika
- an economic policy adopted in the former Soviet Union
- Reactionary
- an extreme conservative
- Nationalism
- love of country and willingness to sacrifice for it
- Democracy
- the doctrine that the numerical majority of an organized group can make decisions binding on the whole group
- Nuclear Proliferation
- the spread of nuclear weapons to new nations
- Enfranchisement
- a statutory right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government (especially the rights of citizenship and the right to vote)
- Dictatorship
- a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)
- Radical
- markedly new or introducing radical change
- Tyranny
- a form of government in which the ruler is an absolute dictator (not restricted by a constitution or laws or opposition etc.)
- Oligarchy
- ruling power belongs to only a few people
- Multinational
- involving or operating in several nations or nationalities
- Capitalism
- an economic system based on private ownership of capital
- Balance of Power
- an equilibrium of power between nations
- Liberalism
- an economic theory advocating free competition and a self-regulating market and the gold standard
- Coup d'etat
- Napoleon ended the Directory in a coup d'etat and substituted a strong dictatorship for a weak one.
- Mandate of Heaven
- based on the teachings of Mencius, the idea that an emperor enjoyed heaven's support only as long as he governed wisely
- Third World
- underdeveloped and developing countries of Asia and Africa and Latin America collectively
- Barter Economy
- system in which one set of goods or services is exchanged for another
- Realpolitik
- politics based on practical rather than moral or ideological considerations
- Demilitarize
- do away with the military organization and potential of
- Absolutism
- the doctrine of an absolute being
- Aristocracy
- the most powerful members of a society
- Junta
- a group of military officers who rule a country after seizing power
- Conservative
- a person who has conservative ideas or opinions
- Martial Law
- the body of law imposed by the military over civilian affairs (usually in time of war or civil crisis)
- Taoism
- philosophical system developed by of Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu advocating a simple honest life and noninterference with the course of natural events
- Liberation Theology
- a Catholic Church crusade for social justice and an end to poverty in Latin America
- Confucianism
- the teachings of Confucius emphasizing love for humanity
- Hinduism
- a body of religious and philosophical beliefs and cultural practices native to India and characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme beingof many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a
- Terrorism
- the calculated use of violence (or threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature
- Interdependence
- a reciprocal relation between interdependent entities (objects or individuals or groups)
- Tariff
- a government tax on imports or exports
- Pacific Rim
- an economic and social region including the country's surrounding the pacific ocean
- Status Quo
- the current situation or condition
- Ethnic Cleansing
- the mass expulsion and killing of one ethic or religious group in an area by another ethnic or religious group in that area
- Christianity
- a monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior
- Right Wing
- those who support political or social or economic conservatism
- Socialism
- a political theory advocating state ownership of industry
- Balkanization
- the process of a region breaking up into small, mutually hostile units
- Command Economy
- An economic system in which the government controls a country's economy.
- Shintoism
- a religion based in Japan, marked by worship of nature and reverence for ancestors
- Greenhouse Effect
- warming that results when solar radiation is trapped by the atmosphere
- Culture
- all the knowledge and values shared by a society
- Glasnost
- a policy of the Soviet government allowing freer discussion of social problems
- Bourgeois
- a member of the middle class
- GNP
- the total value of all goods and services produced by a country
- GDP
- The total value of the goods and services produced in a country during a given time period
- Materialism
- a desire for wealth and material possessions with little interest in ethical or spiritual matters
- Hegemony
- the domination of one state over its allies
- Third World
- underdeveloped and developing countries of Asia and Africa and Latin America collectively
- Civil Disobedience
- a group's refusal to obey a law because they believe the law is immoral (as in protest against discrimination)
- Suffrage
- The right to vote.
- Fundamentalism
- Conservative beliefs in the Bible and that it should be literally believed and applied
- Left Wing
- those who support varying degrees of social or political or economic change designed to promote the public welfare
- Humanism
- emphasis on education and on expanding knowledge, exploration of individuals potential and a desire to excel, and a commitment to civic responsibilities and moral duty