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Government Systems

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Add these things to your notes section of your notebook

• Government: an organization that sets up laws• State: a region that shares a government• Dependency: a region that belongs to another

state• Nation-State: a state that is independent from

other states• City State: Small city centered state (Ancient

Rome)• Empire: States that contain several countries • Constitution: a set of laws that define and/or limit

government power

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Number your paper from 1-10

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1

7

5

32 4

9

Kim Jong IlNorth Korea

Stephan HarperCanada

Gordon BrownEngland

Raul CastroCuba

Mahmoud AhmadinejadIran

Vicente FoxMexico

Barack ObamaUSA

President HuChina

6

Jalal TalibaniIraq

8

10

Prime Minister NetenyahuIsrael

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Color coded information

• Yellow Text = Name of government

• White Text = Definitions

• Red Text = Where it can be found in the world

• Green Text = Decision Making

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Absolute Monarchy

• One ruler who rules for life – holds all power

• Power is inherited• Controls all the land,

money, soldiers, and makes the laws

• Found in ancient Egypt, Maya, Aztec

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Absolute Monarchy Decision Making

• Ruler may consult advisors – but makes his or her own decisions

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Constitutional Monarchy

• King or queen inherit their positions

• No real power to rule or make laws

• Elected representatives make the laws

• The people hold the power to elect representatives

• Found in Great Britain, Canada, and Norway

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Constitutional MonarchyDecision Making

• Elected officials create laws much in the same way as a republican democratic society

• The monarch makes public appearances and acts as symbol of the country

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Communism• Communal leadership-

leader is not elected but holds the power

• One political party• Government doesn’t

allow criticism (executed or jailed) and you can’t vote

• Government controls farms and businesses

• Found in North Korea, Vietnam, China, former Soviet Union, and Cuba

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CommunismDecision Making

• Premier (leader) meets with council

• Premier makes all decisions – knowing no criticism is allowed

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Dictatorship

• One person rules• Leader is not a king or

queen, and is not elected• Leader has absolute

power – and power is usually taken and kept by force

• Saddam Hussein’s Iraq• Most communist states

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DictatorshipDecision making

• It is the leader’s decision and it is unquestioned

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Theocracy

• Governed by religious leader

• The religion guides the creation of all laws

• Only one religion allowed

• Found in Iran

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TheocracyDecision making

• Leader meets with council – usually religious advisors

• Religious law is referenced

• Decision is made and is final

• Power shared between leader and religious text

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Direct Democracy

• People living in small groups such as states or counties

• All adults take part in decisions

• Found in Colonial New England and many smaller political bodies

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Direct Democracy - Decision Making

• All adults vote directly for the issue or candidate

• Not for a representative who makes the decisions

• The individual holds the power

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Democratic Republic

• People vote for representatives

• The representatives vote on issue for the people

• The people hold power to elect reps.

• Reps power limited to will of the people

• Found in the United states

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Democratic Republic - Decision Making

• Representative, who was elected, makes decisions based on his or her philosophy

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Anarchy

• No rules• No government• No elected officials• No law enforcement• Chaos• Not found in a specific

country – it is the state of absence of government

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AnarchyDecision making

• Take care of yourself• There are no

decisions or laws to be made

• No one has power

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Scenarios

• A new issue has arisen in the your school SCHOOL UNIFORMS!

• You and your group must decide a principal would handle the new issue of school uniforms if the school was run like a(n):

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Political Systems

• Row 1 – Absolute monarchy

• Row 2 – Constitutional Monarchy

• Row 3 – Communist/Dictatorship

• Row 4 – Theocracy

• Row 5 – Direct Democracy

• Row 6 – Democratic Republic

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Scenarios

• You and a group of friends are trying to decide where to go out to eat for dinner.

• You and your row must decide how to decide where to go to eat of your group of friends were part of one of these governments:

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Political Systems

• Row 1 – Communist/Dictatorship

• Row 2 – Democratic Republic

• Row 3 – Direct Democracy

• Row 4 – Constitutional Monarchy

• Row 5 – Absolute monarchy

• Row 6 – Theocracy

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For your homework tonight

• Using printer paper

• Divide both front and back into 4 squares

• Title each square with one of the 8 political systems

• Draw a picture to define the political system

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For ExampleDictatorship

What I say goes…don’t

you dare disagree!