Forms of Governments

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Forms of Governments
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Who needs government?

• Imagine a world with no governments!
• No rules, no taxes, no leaders, no protection,
• Awesome, right? What are your thoughts?
• OK, so we need governments. Lets take a look at
  how some of them work.

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To study governments, we look at the following

• How do the citizens participate in their
  government?
• How the power is distributed (divided) among the
  citizens and their leaders?

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How do the citizens participate in their
government?

• There are three ways that people participate in
  their government.
• Autocracy, Oligarchy, and Democracy

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Autocracy

• Government in which the power to govern is held
  by one person.
• Generally the power to rule is inherited or by
  military force.
• The people do not participate. They obey the
  rules.
• There are two
• forms of autocracies.

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1 Dictatorship

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

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2 AbsoluteMonarchy

• A monarchy has a king, queen, emperor or empress.
• The power is usually inherited or passed down
  from family members. We call this the blood
  line.
• The monarch has absolute power. Therefore, the
  people do not get to participate.
• The people simply obey the rules.

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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 or social status.
• The do not participate. The people obey the
  rules.
• Examples Greek city states

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Democracy

• In a democracy, the government is rule by the
  people. The people participate by voting. They
  must also obey the rules.
• There are two forms of democracy
• Direct Democracy People vote on all the issues.
  What a bother!!
• Representative Democracy People elect
  representatives and give them the power to vote
  on issues. Thats easier than voting on every
  issue.
• Example United States

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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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Your Turn!

• Use your packet to construct a creative chart
  showing the three ways governments allow (or not)
  their citizens to participate in their
  government.
• You might start by writing the three types across
  the top of your paper.

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Democratic Governments

• There are two major kinds of representative
  democratic governments
• Parliamentary
• Presidential

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Parliamentary Democracy

• Voters elect members to the Parliament
  (legislature)
• Parliament has two Houses
• House of Commons The Political Party with the
  most votes in the House of Commons chooses the
  Prime Minister, the governments leader with no
  set length of term.
• House of Lords Little power with most members
  being nobles having inherited their titles

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The United Kingdom is a parliamentary democracy
that has a constitutional monarch.

• Kings, queens or emperors share power with
  elected legislatures.
• Generally the kings are nothing more than
  figureheads (ceremonial)Queen Elizabeth II
• The government is a democratic one that limits
  the monarchs power.
• Example Great Britain

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Presidential Democracy

• Voters elect legislators
• Voters elect (indirectly) the president.
• Therefore, in the presidential system voters have
  a more direct say about those who serve in two
  branches of the government
• Legislative
• Executive

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Types of Govt Video Clip

• Types of Government.mov

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Your Turn!

• Use the space provided in your packet to copy the
  chart on the next page.
• Ask me lots of questions!

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Parliamentary System Presidential System
Executive
Executive
Legislative
Select
Elect
Elect
Legislative
Elect
Citizens
Citizens
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• Whew!
• That is a lot of new information!
• The best part is.we can now answer the next
  important question about governments!

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How is the power distributed?

• There are three systems of distributing(dividing)
  power.
• Unitary
• Confederation
• Federal

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Unitary

• One central government controls everything.
• Power is not shared between states, counties or
  provinces.
• Examples France, the Netherlands, and Spain
• The next slide shows power by shape!

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Unitary
Ways Government Distributes Power
Regional States
Regional States
Central Authority
Regional States
Regional States
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Confederation

• A voluntary association of independent states
  that agrees join together for a common purpose.
  (war, trade, alliances)
• States and provinces can choose to follow or not
  follow the lead of the central government.
• Examples Confederate States of America
• ( 1861-1865), Russian Federation, the European
  Union

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Confederation
Ways Government Distributes Power
Regional Authority
Regional Authority
Central Authority
Regional Authority
Regional Authority
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Federal

• Power is shared by a powerful central government.
• States or provinces are given considerable self
  rule, usually through their own legislatures.
• Examples United States, Germany

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Federation / Federal
Ways Government Distributes Power
Regional Authority
Regional Authority
Central Authority
Regional Authority
Regional Authority
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How is the power distributed?
All key powers are held by the central government
State/regional authorities hold most of the power
Unitary

• Confederation

• Federal
• Shared power

Strong central government
Weaker central government
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How Governments Determine Citizen Participation
High Participation
High Participation
General Citizens Participation
Select Citizens Participation
Citizen Participation
Government Power
Government Power
Citizen Participation
Government Power
Low or No Participation
Low or No Participation

• Democracy

Oligarchic
Autocratic