Government: the formal institutions and processes that are responsible for making and enforcing the collective decisions of a society Ideology: a set of values and beliefs that justifies certain behaviours and guides economic and political actions Socialism: the political system that believes in state ownership of a country's means of production, distribution and exchange Communism: the belief that socialism can only be realised through violent revolution and totalitarian dictatorship Social democrats: those who believe in achieving socialism through democratic means Totalitarianism: a political system in which one person or political party exercises absolute control over all spheres of human life and prohibits opposing political parties Theocratic totalitarianism: a political system in which political power is monopolised by a party, group or individual that governs according to religious principles Democracy: a political system in which government is exercised by the people, either directly or indirectly through elected representatives Common law: a system of law based on tradition, precedent and customs, which is flexibly interpreted by judges as it applies to the unique circumstances of each case Civil law: a system of law based on a very detailed set of written laws and codes Theocratic law: a system of law based on religious teachi Free trade area: an area in which all barriers to trade of goods and services among member countries are removed Rules of origin: rules of origin are designed to prevent the re-routing of imports from outside a free trade area through the member that has the lowest trade barriers Trade deflection: the re-routing of imports from non-members through the member that has the lowest tariffs in a free trade area Customs union: a group of countries committed to eliminating trade barriers and adopting a common external trade policy Common market: a group of countries committed to eliminating trade barriers, adopting a common external trade policy and allowing factors of production to move freely between members Economic union: a group of countries committed to removing trade barriers, adopting a common currency, harmonising tax rates, and pursuing a common external trade policy Political union: a central political apparatus coordinating the economic, social and foreign policy of its member states Trade diversion: occurs within a free trade area when low-cost external suppliers are replaced by high-cost suppliers inside the free trade area