Forms of Governments

•Geographical Distribution of Power

•Relationship Between Legislative and Executive

Branches

•Who Has the Power to Govern

•Characteristics of a Democracy.

No two governments are exactly alike. However, governments can be classified according to their basic features.

Geographical

Distribution of PowerWhere is the power to govern located?

Unitary System•Unitary System-the

power to govern is

given to the national

or central

government.

•Example - Great

Britain has a single

organization,

Parliament, that

holds all of the

government's power.

Federal System

•Federal System -

the power to govern

is shared between

the national, state,

and local levels.

•Example - The

United States under

the Constitution

Confederacy•Confederacy - A

loose organization of

independent states

held together by a

weak central

government.

•Example - The U.S.

before the

Constitution and the

South during the

Civil War.

Relationship Between Legislative and Executive

Branches

Presidential Government

•In a presidential government, the executive and legislative branches of the government are separate, independent of one another, and coequal.

•The two branches regularly have several powers with which each can block actions by the other branch.

•The U.S. is the world's leading example of presidential government.

Parliamentary Government

•In parliamentary government, the executive is made up of the prime minister or premier, and that official's cabinet.

•The prime minister is a member of the legislative branch, parliament.

•The prime minister is chosen by the parliament and is subject to it's direct control.

•The majority of the governments in the world today are parliamentary.

Who has the power to

govern?

Autocracy•Autocracy - any

system of

government in which

the power and

authority to rule are

in the hands of a

single individual.

•Historically, this is

maintained by the

ruthless use of

military or police

power.

Autocracy

•1)Totalitarian

Dictatorship - a

single leader seeks

to control all aspects

of social and

economic life.

•Examples - Adolf

Hitler, Joseph Stalin,

and Fidel Castro.

Autocracy

•2)Monarchy - A king,

queen, or emperor

exercises the

supreme powers of

government.

•Positions are usually

inherited.

Autocracy - Monarchy•A)Absolute

Monarchy-Monarchs

have complete and

unlimited power to

rule their people.

•Ex. King of Saudi

Arabia, today they

are rare but they

ruled Western

Europe from 1400s-

1700s

Autocracy - Monarchy

•B)Constitutional

Monarchy - Monarch

shares government

powers with elected

legislature.

•Serves mainly as

ceremonial leaders

of their

governments.

Oligarchy•Oligarchy - any

system of government

in which a small group

holds the power.

•Example - Communist

China. As in

dictatorships,

oligarchies usually

suppress all political

opposition-sometimes

ruthlessly.

Democracy•Democracy -

any system of

government in

which rule is by

the people.

•Lincoln

described it as,

"government of

the people, by

the people, and

for the people."

Democracy•1)Direct Democracy-the people govern themselves

by voting on issues individually as citizens.

•No country has a government based on direct

democracy.

Democracy•2)Representative Democracy - the people elect

representatives and give them the power to make

laws and conduct government.

•This is considered to be the most efficient way to

ensure the rights of the individual citizen.

Republic

•Republic - voters hold sovereign power.

Elected representatives who are

responsible to the people exercise that

power.

•The terms representative democracy

and republic mean basically the same

thing.

Characteristics of a

Democracy

Worth of the Individual

•Each individual, no

matter what his or

her station in life, is

a separate and

distinct being.

Equality of All Persons

Every person is entitled to:1. Equality of opportunity2. Equality before the law.

No on should be held back based on race, color, religion or gender

Majority Rule with Minority

Rights •Majority Rule with

Minority Rights-To

protect from the

'tyranny of the

majority.' This is to

insure that the rights

of the minority will

be protected. Why is

it difficult to maintain

this?

Free Elections

•Free Elections-Free

and open elections

to choose their

leaders and voice

their opinions on

various issues.

Necessity of Compromise

Compromise is:

1. The blending and adjustments of competing views and interest.

2. A process of achieving majority agreement.

(not all compromises are good and not all are necessary)

Competing Political Parties

•Competing Political

Parties-This is to

give voters choice

among candidates.

Individual Freedom

Each individual must be as free to do as he or she pleases as far as the freedom of all will allow.

Free Enterprise

•Free

Enterprise- the

population and

businesses

control their

economic

decisions.