Types of Government

1. Types of Government

2. Types of governmental systems How much power will the government have? Anarchy • --no government at all Constitutional • --a constitution limits the power of the government Authoritarian • --complete government control and unlimited power

3. Types of Authoritarian governments • Monarchy—king/queen • Dictatorship—usually a general • Theocracy—religious leaders

4. Types of governmental systems Who makes the decisions and controls the government? Democracy---the people make the decisions Republic---the people have representatives who makes the decisions for them Totalitarianism---the people don’t influence their government; their government influences them

5. Types of Democracy • Direct—people can directly vote to decide what their government will do • Representative—people vote to elect representatives who decide what the government will do

6. Power sharing Where are the decisions made? • Unitary— the strong central government tells the states what to do • Federal—the central government and the state government share power • Confederate—the central government is very weak and the state governments have the power to make their own decisions

7. Comprehension checking Which of these is important to a successful democracy? A discouraging criticism of elected officials B ensuring that only the most capable citizens receive an education C producing policies that address a variety of citizens' concerns D refusing to allow presidents to meet with leaders of hostile countries

8. Distribution of power by levels (unitary, confederated, federal) A group of nation states formed a government in which each state retained control over its internal matters and gave almost no powers to the central government. Which system of government was formed? A unitary B federal C confederate D authoritarian

9. In which form of government do sovereign states have more power than the central government? A federal B confederate C authoritarian D unitary

10. Distribution of power by authority (anarchy to totalitarian) Which of these forms of government allows citizens to choose their government leaders most freely? A absolute monarchy B oligarchy C representative democracy D dictatorship

11. “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”--Lord Acton, 1887 Based on the quotation, Lord Acton would probably be most opposed to which system of government? A authoritarian B democratic C federal D unitary

12. All the citizens in a community take an equal role in local government by meeting to debate and vote on every law and political issue. This form of government is best described as A a direct democracy B a presidential democracy C a parliamentary democracy D a representative democracy

13. Which of these is an advantage of an authoritarian form of government? A Participation by citizens is guaranteed through open elections. B Decisions are based on majority rule with minority rights protected. C Decision making is quicker because fewer people are involved in the process. D An independent press helps the public make informed decisions about their government.

14. Which of these is a characteristic of an authoritarian system of government? A popular sovereignty B equal protection under the law C restrictions of personal freedoms D majority rules with minority rights

15. Class government • Your job: • Design a government for your class • Teach your type of government to the class • Run your government in class

16. Government Questions • Who leads? • How are they selected? • How long do they serve? • Who decides the class rules? • What are the rules (you need at least three, no more than ten)? • What happens if the rules are broken? • If two members if the class disagree, how does the government solve the problem?