Government Review

Ms. Gray

Terms to Know!• Distribution of Power:

– Unitary– Confederation– Federal

• Citizen Participation:– Autocratic– Oligarchic– Democratic

• Democracies:– Parliamentary Democracy– Presidential Democracy

AnarchyCommunistCapitalistDictatorshipMonarchyRevolutionaryTheocracyTotalitarian

Two Main Questions for Government…

• How does the Government distribute power?• How do the citizens participate in

government?

How is Power Distributed?

• Unitary- Power is held by one central government.

• Federal- One central/ national government with several regional/state authorities.

• Confederation- Individual states working together to secure a common purpose.

UNITARYWays Government Distributes Power

Central Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

CONFEDERATIONWays Government Distributes Power

Central Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

FEDERATION/FEDERALWays Government Distributes Power

Regional Authority

CentralAuthority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

How do citizens participate?

• Oligarchy- Rule by a few or a small group. Citizens have little say.

• Autocracy- Citizens have no say.

• Democracy- Supreme power is vested in the people. Citizens have a lot of say and power by voting.

Types of Government

• Presidential Democracy- President is constitutionally independent from the legislature.– Example: United States

• Parliamentary Democracy- Legislature has the real executive power. Prime Minister is elected by the legislature.– Example: Israel

• Monarchy- Country is ruled by a king, queen, or emperor.– Example: Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Japan, United

Kingdom

• Constitutional Monarchy- Country has a king, queen, or emperor but they are a figure head with very little power.– Example: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark,

Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, New Zealand, Japan, Thailand, United Kingdom

• Theocracy- Ruled by a religious leader using a religious book.

Example:Iran

• Anarchy- The country has no government.

• Totalitarian- One political leader. People are forced to do what the government tells them. People may be prevented from leaving the country.

– Example: Nazi Germany

• Dictatorship- Country ruled by a single leader. Force may be used to keep control.– Example: Iraq under Saddam

• Communist- Government owns property such as businesses and farms.– Example: China under Mao Zedong

• Capitalist- In a capitalist or free-market country, people can own their own businesses and property.

• Republic- Led by a representative for the voters.– Example: USA

Remember!

• Nearly every country in the world is ruled by a governmental system that combines 2 or more of these (for example, the USA is not a true capitalist society, since the government actually provides some services for its citizens). Additionally, one person's opinion of the type of government may differ from another's (many argue that the USA is actually a plutocracy rather than a democracy).

Revolutionary

• If a government is overthrown by force, the new ruling group is sometimes called a revolutionary government.