The Basics of GovernmentGovernment - Libertyville HS

Purposes of Government

• Maintain a national defense• Interact with other national governments

(foreign policy)• Preserve order

• Set rules of society• Punish rule breakers• Provide means of dispute resolution

(judiciary)• Provide appropriate public services• Collect taxes• Socialize youth

Composition of Government

• ALL governments have these parts• Legislature

• Makes the laws• Executive

• Enforces the laws• Judiciary

• Interprets the laws

Comparing Forms of Government

• Three different ways to compare• By who

participates• By how power is

geographically distributed

• By the relationship between legislative, executive branches

Forms of Government

• One or few hold power = dictatorship• Types of dictatorships

• Absolute Monarchy• Oligarchy

Forms of Government

• Many participants = democracy

• Types of democracy• Direct Democracy

(“Pure”)• Indirect

Democracy (“Representative”)

Flow of Power (whotells who what to do?)

Forms of Government

• Idea of “levels of government” (between central / national gov’t and state / local gov’t)

• Unitary system

• Confederate system

• Federal system

Key question: What isThe “direction of power”;in other words, who tells the other political units what to do???

Presidential vs. Parliamentary Governments