Political ordering

# Glossary

Democracy
  Democracy can be defined minimally, in terms of procedures such as competitive elections, and maximally, in terms of ideas of participation, deliberation and the direct involvement of citizens in government.

Political legitimacy
  Political legitimacy arises in political orders that are rule governed, where the basic constitutional rules accord with the values of those who are governed and where the governed have opportunities to express their consent as to how they are governed.

Political order
  Both a condition in which there is an absence of conflict and disorder, especially an absence of violent disorder, and a set of organisations that seek to shape or regulate social life.

The state
  The state is: an idea based on shared expectations about the ordering of social life; a set of organisations; and a set of practices.

OpenLearn - Political ordering
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