Forms of GovernmentsNon-West 2014

What Is Government?.

Government is the institution through which a society makes and enforces its public policies.

To study governments we will look at the following:

Types – Who rules and who participates.

Levels/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 four types of governments:Autocracy, Oligarchy, Theocracies,

Democracies

Autocracy

Government in which the power to govern is held by one person.

Generally the power to rule is inherited or by military force.

There are three

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 AbsoluteMonarchy

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.

Examples: Bahrain, Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Swaziland

#3 Constitutional MonarchyAKA Limited Monarchy

Kings, queens or emperors share power with elected legislatures.

Generally the Kings are northing more than figureheads.

The government is a democratic one that limits the monarchs power.

Example: Great Britain

Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible.

Totalitarianism…continued

Autocracy and totalitarianism are related concepts. Totalitarianism extends to regulating every aspect of public and private life.

It does not necessarily imply a single ruler, but extends to include absolute rule by any faction or class of elites who recognize no limit to their authority.

Oligarchy

A government in which a few people such as a dominant clan or clique have power.The group gets their power from either military, wealth or social status.Elections may be held but offer

only one candidate.Examples: Greek city states

TheocraciesTheocracy is a form of government in which a state is understood as governed by immediate divine guidance provided to ruling clergy or other ruling officials.

From the perspective of the theocratic government, "God himself is recognized as the head" of the state, hence the term theocracy.

Example: Iran

Democracy

In a democracy, the government is “Rule by the people”There are two forms of democracyDirect Democracy – People vote on all the

issues.Representative Democracy – People elect

representatives and give them the power to vote on issues.

Example: United States

Classification by Who Can ParticipateDemocracy

• In a democracy, supreme political authority rests with the people.

• A direct democracy exists where the will of the people is translated into law directly by the people themselves.

• In an indirect democracy, a small group of persons, chosen by the people to act as their representatives, expresses the popular will.

Dictatorship

• A dictatorship exists where those who rule cannot be held responsible to the will of the people.

• An autocracy is a government in which a single person holds unlimited political power.

• An oligarchy is a government in which the power to rule is held by a small, usually self-appointed elite.

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 forms of democratic governments:ParliamentaryPresidential

Parliamentary Democracy

Voters elect 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: 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 :

LegislativeExecutive

Parliamentary System

Presidential System

Executive Legislative

CitizensCitizens

Legislative

Executive

Elect

Elect

Select

Elect

Classification by the relationship between Legislative and Executive Branches

Levels of Government are based on one question: How is the power distributed?

There are three ways governments distribute power:UnitaryConfederationFederal

Classification by Geographic Distribution of Power

Unitary Government

• A unitary government has all powers held by a single, central agency.

Confederate Government• A confederation is an alliance of independent states.

Federal Government• A federal government is one in which the powers of

government are divided between a central government and several local governments.

• An authority superior to both the central and local governments makes this division of power on a geographic basis.

Unitary

One central government controls everything.

Power is not shared between states, counties or provinces.

Examples : United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Spain

ConfederationA voluntary association of independent states that agrees to follow a powerful central government.

Nations can choose to follow or not follow the lead of the weak central government.

Examples: Confederate States of America

( 1861-1865), Russian Federation, Switzerland.

Federal

A federal system divides the powers of government between the national level and state or provincial levels.

Each level has sovereignty in some areas.

Examples: United States, Germany

Forms of Government

What do you remember?

What are the three types of governments?

What are the three systems of government?