Citizen Participation in Government

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Citizen Participation in Government
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Citizen Participation

• In each country, the people have different rights
  to participate in the government
• In some countries, any citizen can run for office
  or vote in elections
• In other countries there are restrictions placed
  on who can run for office and who can vote
• There are also countries where no citizen can
  vote and there are no elections

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Key Questions

• 1. Who governs?
• 2. What is the citizen participation?
• Based on the answers, there are three basic types
  of governments
• Autocracy, Oligarchy, and Democracy

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Autocratic Governments

• Has a single ruler with unlimited power
• Citizens have no ability to participate in the
  selection of the ruler or in the creation of laws
• One benefit of this type of government is that
  decisions for a country can be made quickly
• However, the needs of the people may be ignored
  or unheard

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Autocracy

• Generally the power to rule is inherited or by
  military force.
• two main types dictatorship absolute monarchy.

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Autocracy Dictatorship

• The leader has not been elected and uses force to
  control all aspects of social and economic life.
• Examples
• Adolf Hitler in Germany
• Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union

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Autocracy Absolute Monarchy

• The Monarch is a king, queen, emperor
• or empress
• The power is usually inherited
• The monarch has absolute power meaning they can
  make all decisions without consulting anyone

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Autocracies of the World
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Oligarchic Governments

• Means rule by a few country is ruled by a
  small group of people
• An advantage is that decisions can be made
  relatively quickly
• Compared to an autocratic system, oligarchies
  have more heads to think through problems and
  should make better choices
• However, the citizens do not participate
• in the government

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Oligarchy
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Oligarchy

• A government in which a few people, such as a
  dominant clan or clique, have power.
• The group gets their power from either military,
  wealth, religion, or social status.
• Example Saudi Arabia, Kazahstan

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Oligarchy
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Democratic Governments

• The people are in charge of the government
  because they can VOTE!
• All citizens have the opportunity to be a leader,
  and they have the opportunity to vote for leaders
  and laws
• All citizens are involved in the decision-making
  process of the government, and all groups can be
  represented
• Can be slow to make decisions because all people
  must discuss vote on the issues

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This is a Polity Data Series Map It tries to
measure a countrys true democracy in
government It gives scores of -10 to 10. The
countries in the lightest pink have the highest
democracy score, the darker the color, the lower
the democracy score
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In a Democracy.

• Individual freedom and equality is valued.
• Free elections are held
• Decisions are based on majority rule.
• All candidates can express their views freely.
• Citizens vote by secret ballot.

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Two Types of Democracy

• Parliamentary
• Presidential

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Parliamentary

• Citizens vote for members of the legislative
  branch, and then the legislature chooses the
  leader.
• The citizens DO NOT directly choose the leader
• Head of government and head of state are TWO
  different people
• Examples United Kingdom, Germany, Canada,
  Australia

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Presidential

• Citizens usually vote for members of the
  executive AND legislative branch
• Citizens directly vote for the leader
• The elected leader is both head of government
  chief executive and head of state
• Examples U.S.A., Russia, Mexico

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Presidential Continued

• Unique thing about this type theres a
  separation of powers between the branches of
  government
• The leader is constitutionally independent of the
  legislature
• Example the leader does not make the laws, the
  legislature does

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Review of Democracy Types

• Parliamentary Citizens do not vote directly for
  the leader. They vote on the legislature, then
  the legislature chooses the leader.
• Presidential Citizens directly vote on the
  leader.
• Which would you prefer to participate in??

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How Governments Determine Citizen Participation
High Participation
Select Citizens Participation
General Citizens Participation
Citizen Participation
Government Power
Government Power
Citizen Participation
Government Power
Low or No Participation
Low or No Participation

• Democracy

Oligarchic
Autocratic