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This article explores the different types of governments, including autocracy and democracy, and how power is distributed within them. It discusses the characteristics of autocracy, such as dictatorship and absolute monarchy, and explains the concepts of direct democracy and representative democracy. Additionally, it highlights the parliamentary and presidential forms of democratic governments.
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To study governments, geographers look at the following: • Types – Who rules and who participates? • Systems – How the POWER is distributed?
Types of Government are based on one key question: Who governs and what is the citizen participation? • There are two types of governments: • Autocracy and Democracy
Autocracy • Government in which the power to govern is held by one person. • Generally the power to rule is inherited or by military force. • Types of Autocracy.
#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
#2 Absolute Monarchy Brunei, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Vatican City. • A monarchy has a king, queen, emperor or empress. • The power is usually inherited or passed down from family members. • The monarch has absolute power meaning they can make all decisions without consulting anyone.
Democracy • In a democracy, the government is “Ruled by the people” • There are two forms of democracy • Direct Democracy – People vote on all the issues. • Representative Democracy – People elect representatives and give them the power to vote on issues. • Example: United States
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.
Democratic Governments • There are two major kinds of democratic governments: • Parliamentary • Presidential
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 or Senate:Little power with most members being nobles having inherited their titles.
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
Executive Executive Legislative Select Elect Elect Legislative Elect Citizens Citizens
Putting it all together…. • The United Kingdom is an autocratic constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. • The United States is a presidential democracy. What do those statements mean?