Forms of Government

Chapter 1 Section 2

Classic Forms of Government

Feudalism Classic Republic Absolute Monarchy Authoritarianism Despotism Liberal Democracy Totalitarianism

Feudalism

Remember World History? It’s a dominate political system in Medieval Europe-local lords are bound by loyalty to the king.

Republic

Representative democracy were a group of elected leaders represent concerns of the people (practiced in Greece and Rome)… Sound familiar?

Absolute Monarchy

King or Queen holds total control of the Military and the Government.

Authoritarianism

An individual or group that as unlimited authority. No restraint on power.

Despotism

Ruled by a despot (a ruler with absolute power who uses his rule tyrannically).

Liberal Democracy

Focuses on protecting individual rights and freedoms.

Totalitarianism

Attempts to control every area of a citizen’s life.

Modern Day Types of Government

Democracy

Supreme authority rests with the people.– People= Sovereignty

– Direct (Pure) Democracy- the will of the people is translated into law directly by the people themselves, in mass meetings. This does not exist anywhere on the national level today… only really works in small communities.

– Indirect Democracy- aka- representative democracy- a small group of elected people express the interests of the majority. These elected officials are held accountable through elections.

Dictatorship

Oldest and most common form of government in the world.

Those who rule can’t be held responsible for the will of the people.

No accountability. Types:

– Autocracy- single person holds power.– Oligarchy- a small (usually self-appointed) group holds

power.

Systems of Government

Unitary Government

AKA- Centralized Government All powers held b the government belong to a single,

central agency… this central government creates local units of government to make the country easier to govern.

Example- Great Britain… all local governments are just smaller pars of the larger national government.

No separation of powers (like we have in America between National, State and Local Governments).

Federal Government

Key Phrase- Division of Powers The Government’s power is divided between a

national government and several local governments. Both levels of government act directly on the people

through their own sets of laws, officials and agencies.

Example- United States, Canada, Mexico, Germany…

Confederate Government

Confederation- an alliance of independent states… remember the Civil War???

Confederate Government hold only those powers that the states allow them to hold… usually defense and commerce.

State power is more important than national power. Very rarely do confederations work. We’ve tried it

twice in American history-Articles of Confederation and Confederate States of America.

Presidential and Parliamentary Forms of Government

Presidential Government

The executive and legislative branches of the government are separate, independent of one another and coequal.

President Obama was chosen independently of the Congress, and must work with them, not for them.

Both of these branches have powers to check and balance each other out.

Parliamentary Government

The Prime Minister (PM), or Premier is the country’s executive.

The Prime Minister (or Premier) is a part of the legislative branch (also called Parliament).

The Prime Minister is the leader of the majority party in Parliament- all that the PM does must have Parliament’s approval, as he is a part of Parliament.

Activity- Venn Diagram

Create a Venn Diagram comparing the governments in the United States and Great Britain. Make this as detailed as possible, include information about state and local governments and the election of leaders.