The following list of key words and phrases includes the basic concepts and vocabulary covered thus far in this course. You should be able to define these terms and phrases and use them in short essays. The midterm exam will test your comprehension of these terms, which appeared in the assigned readings and/or lectures.

political legitimacy (in general)

consent theory (in general)

consent theory and legitimacy (in American political thought)

explicit consent/tacit consent

normative political theory

the argument for political rebellion ("Declaration of Independence")

arguments for political recognition and inclusion ("Seneca Falls Declaration" and Douglass)

Socratic method

wisdom and ignorance (according to Plato's Socrates)

gadfly

thick selves/thin selves

individualism and communitarianism (define, compare and contrast)

reasons to endorse/criticize Socrates' decision to accept the decision of the jury

political cynicism

state of nature (in general, as a conceptual device in political theory)

state of nature (specifically, in Rousseau and Hobbes)

human nature (compare in Rousseau, Hobbes and Goldman)

origins of government (compare in Rousseau and Hobbes)

origins of inequality (in Rousseau)

property in the state of nature (compare in Rousseau and Hobbes)

the "paradox" of inequality, and its resolution, in Rousseau

reasons to support/criticize political cynicism

anarchism

autonomy

freedom

coercion

evils of government, according to anarchism in general and Goldman specifically

authority (according to anarchism)

political legitimacy (according to anarchism)

the three basic forms of illegitimate authority (Goldman)

real wealth (according to Goldman)

"social order" vs. "social harmony" (according to Goldman)

reasons to support/criticize anarchism

laws of nature (Hobbes)

natural right (Hobbes)

impulse to self-preservation and its consequences (compare in Rousseau and Hobbes)

role of fear in human affairs (compare in Rousseau and Hobbes)

state of nature as a state of war (compare in Hobbes and Rousseau)

peace (Hobbes)

covenant (Hobbes)

author (Hobbes)

authority (Hobbes)

freedom as liberty (Hobbes)

relationship between liberty, consent, and obligation (in Hobbes)

commonwealth (Hobbes)

sovereign power (Hobbes)

threats to sovereign power (Hobbes)

the purpose of government (according to "Declaration of Independence," Rousseau, Goldman, and Hobbes)

the argument against dividing sovereign power (Hobbes)

the argument against political rebellion (Hobbes)

evils of anarchism (Hobbes)

Hobbes's case against democracy

strong/weak criteria for legitimacy (define in general and illustrate with reference to Rousseau and Hobbes)

reasons to support/criticize Hobbes

Be sure that you can specify the criteria for legitimacy explicitly named and/or tacitly operative in all of the assigned primary source readings from the "Declaration of Independence" through Leviathan.