ORELA Social Science NT303 key terms

The condition in which human wants exceed the limited resources available to satisfy them. It forces individuals and societies to make choices about what to produce, consume, and allocate.

The value of the next best alternative given up when a choice is made. Every decision to use a resource one way carries a cost measured by the forgone option.

The resources used to produce goods and services: land (natural resources), labor, capital (tools and machinery), and entrepreneurship. Economists classify productive inputs into these categories to analyze output and income.

The model describing how the quantity producers offer and the quantity buyers want respond to price. Their interaction determines equilibrium price and quantity in a competitive market.

An economic system in which prices, production, and investment are determined mainly by competition and individual decisions rather than central planning. Government's role is typically limited to enforcing rules and providing public goods.

Government use of taxation and spending to influence the economy. Expansionary fiscal policy raises spending or cuts taxes to stimulate demand; contractionary policy does the reverse to curb inflation.

Actions by a central bank to manage the money supply and interest rates, aiming at stable prices and sustainable employment. Tools include open market operations and reserve requirements.

A sustained rise in the general price level, which reduces the purchasing power of money. It is commonly measured by changes in a consumer price index over time.

The total market value of final goods and services produced within a nation's borders in a given period. It is the standard broad measure of economic output and growth.

A system dividing power between a national government and constituent state or regional governments, each with authority the other cannot unilaterally abolish. The U.S. Constitution embodies this through enumerated, reserved, and concurrent powers.

The division of government authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches so no single body holds all power. Each branch performs distinct functions and checks the others.

Arrangements allowing each branch of government to limit the powers of the others, such as a presidential veto or judicial review. They are intended to prevent tyranny and abuse of authority.

The power of courts to determine whether laws and government actions comply with the constitution and to invalidate those that do not. In the United States it was established in Marbury v. Madison.

The constitutional guarantee that government must follow fair, established legal procedures before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property. It appears in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

The Fourteenth Amendment principle that government must treat similarly situated people alike unless it has a sufficient justification for differing treatment. Courts apply varying levels of scrutiny to classifications.

Individual freedoms protected from government interference, such as speech, religion, and assembly, largely secured by the Bill of Rights. They define limits on what government may do to persons.

Guarantees that people receive equal treatment and are free from discrimination based on characteristics such as race, sex, or disability. They concern access to participation in public life.

A legislature structured with two chambers, such as the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. It is designed to balance representation of population and of states and to slow deliberation.

The lifelong process through which people acquire political attitudes, values, and behaviors, shaped by family, school, peers, media, and religion. It explains how political culture is transmitted across generations.

The widely shared beliefs, values, and norms about how government and politics should operate within a society. It shapes expectations of authority and patterns of participation.

The distribution of attitudes and preferences held by a population on political issues and candidates. It is measured through surveys and influences elections and policy.

An organized association that seeks to influence public policy on behalf of shared interests without nominating candidates for office. Groups lobby legislators, agencies, and courts.

Efforts by individuals or organizations to persuade legislators and officials to support particular policies. It is protected by the First Amendment but regulated by disclosure laws.

An original record or artifact created at the time of an event by a participant or witness, such as letters, diaries, photographs, or official documents. Historians use them as direct evidence.

An account that interprets or analyzes primary evidence, such as textbooks, biographies, or scholarly articles. It is produced after the event by someone who did not witness it directly.

The study of how history has been written, including the methods, assumptions, and changing interpretations of historians. It examines why accounts of the past differ across time and perspective.

The arrangement of events in the order in which they occurred. It provides a framework for identifying cause, sequence, and change over time in historical analysis.

The relationship in which one event or condition produces another. Historians distinguish immediate triggers from underlying conditions and weigh relative influence of multiple causes.

The division of the past into named eras or periods to organize study and comparison. Boundaries are interpretive choices reflecting particular themes or turning points.

The spread of beliefs, practices, technologies, or goods from one society to another through trade, migration, or conquest. It often produces blended forms rather than simple replacement.

The process by which a group adopts cultural traits of another while retaining elements of its own. It differs from assimilation, in which a group is absorbed into a dominant culture.

Judging another culture by the standards of one's own, often assuming one's own is superior. It can distort cross-cultural understanding and is a concept anthropologists seek to control for.

The principle that beliefs and practices should be understood within their own cultural context rather than judged by outside standards. It is a methodological stance for anthropological study.

The growing interconnection of economies, cultures, and societies through trade, communication, and migration. It increases exchange of goods and ideas while creating tensions over inequality and identity.

A model describing shifts in birth and death rates as societies industrialize, moving from high birth and death rates to low ones. Population growth peaks in the middle stages.

The increasing share of a population living in cities, typically accompanying industrialization and economic change. It reshapes land use, infrastructure, and social life.

The number of people per unit of land area, usually expressed per square mile or square kilometer. It helps explain settlement patterns and pressure on resources.

Rights believed to belong to all people by virtue of being human, independent of government, such as life, liberty, and property. The idea shaped the Declaration of Independence and modern human rights.

The principle that everyone, including officials, is subject to publicly known laws applied equally and fairly. It contrasts with arbitrary rule by decree or personal authority.