Knowledge Atlas · Reference
Glossary & ontology
Terms are defined once and translated with care — terminology must survive translation intact.
F
- Faction
- In Madison's definition, a number of citizens, whether a majority or a minority, united by a common impulse of passion or interest adverse to the rights of other citizens or to the community's permanent interests.
- Federal state
- A state in which constitutional authority is divided between a national government and constituent units (states, provinces, cantons or Länder), each holding powers the other cannot unilaterally remove.
- Federation
- A polity in which authority is constitutionally divided between a central government and constituent units, neither of which can unilaterally abolish the other.
- Free-rider problem
- When people can benefit from a good without paying, voluntary provision tends to fall short.
- Futarchy
- Governance in which voters define goals and prediction markets choose the policies expected to achieve them (Hanson).
- Future generations commissioner
- An independent public officer with a statutory duty to represent the interests of future generations by advising and reviewing public bodies; Wales created such an office under its 2015 Act.