Forms of Governments

1. Forms of Governments

2. 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. Let’s take a look at how some of them work.

3. 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?

4. How do the citizens participate in their government? • There are three ways that people participate in their government. • Autocracy, Oligarchy, and Democracy

5. 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.

6. #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

7. #2Monarchy • 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.” • An Absolute monarch has absolute/ all power. Therefore, the people do not get to participate. • The people simply obey the rules. • Example: Czar Nicholas II • Constitutional Monarch- King or Queen gets its power from a constitution but has no real power, only ceremonial. Example: Queen Elizabeth of England

8. 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

9. 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. That’s easier than voting on every issue. • Example: United States

10. 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.

11. Democratic Governments • There are two major kinds of representative democratic governments: • Parliamentary • Presidential

12. Parliamentary Democracy • Voterselect 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 government’s leader with no set length of term. • House of Lords:Little power with most members being nobles having inherited their titles

13. 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

14. Presidential Democracy • Voters elect representatives to represent them • Voters elect the president. • Therefore, in the presidential system, people have a more direct say about those who serve in two branches of the government : • Legislative • Executive

15. Executive Executive Legislative Select Elect Elect Legislative Elect Citizens Citizens

16. Whew! • That is a lot of new information! • The best part is………….we can now answer the next important question about governments!

17. How is the power distributed? • There are three systems of distributing(dividing) power. • Unitary • Confederation • Federal • AUTHORITY= GOVERNMENT

18. Unitary • One central government controls everything. A central gov’t controls an entire nation. • Power is not shared between states, counties or provinces. • Examples : France, the Netherlands, and Spain, the U.K. • Works in small countries

19. Unitary Ways Government Distributes Power Regional States Regional States Central Authority Regional States Regional States

20. 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

21. Confederation Ways Government Distributes Power Regional Authority/STATES Regional Authority/STATES Central Authority Regional Authority/STATES Regional Authority/STATES

22. Federal • Power is shared or divided by a powerful central government. • States or provinces are given considerable self rule, usually through their own legislatures. • Examples: United States, Germany • Works in large countries

23. Federation / Federal Ways Government Distributes Power Regional Authority/STATES Regional Authority/STATES Central Authority Regional Authority/STATES Regional Authority/STATES

24. How is the power distributed? All key powers are held by the central government State/regional authorities hold most of the power Unitary Strong central government Weaker central government Federal Shared power Confederation

25. 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 Autocratic Oligarchic Democracy