Types of Government

Types of governmental systems How much power will the government have? Anarchy --no government at all Constitutional --a constitution limits the power of the government Authoritarian --complete government control and unlimited power

Types of Authoritarian governments Monarchy—king/queen Dictatorship—usually a general Theocracy—religious leaders

Types of governmental systems Who makes the decisions and controls the government? Democracy---the people make the decisions Republic---the people have representatives who makes the decisions for them Totalitarianism---the people don’t influence their government; their government influences them

Types of Democracy Direct—people can directly vote to decide what their government will do Representative—people vote to elect representatives who decide what the government will do

Power sharing Where are the decisions made? Unitary— the strong central government tells the states what to do Federal—the central government and the state government share power Confederate—the central government is very weak and the state governments have the power to make their own decisions

Comprehension checking Which of these is important to a successful democracy? A discouraging criticism of elected officials B ensuring that only the most capable citizens receive an education C producing policies that address a variety of citizens' concerns D refusing to allow presidents to meet with leaders of hostile countries

Distribution of power by levels (unitary, confederated, federal) A group of nation states formed a government in which each state retained control over its internal matters and gave almost no powers to the central government. Which system of government was formed? A unitary B federal C confederate D authoritarian

In which form of government do sovereign states have more power than the central government? A federal B confederate C authoritarian D unitary

Distribution of power by authority (anarchy to totalitarian) Which of these forms of government allows citizens to choose their government leaders most freely? A absolute monarchy B oligarchy C representative democracy D dictatorship

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”--Lord Acton, 1887 Based on the quotation, Lord Acton would probably be most opposed to which system of government? A authoritarian B democratic C federal D unitary

All the citizens in a community take an equal role in local government by meeting to debate and vote on every law and political issue. This form of government is best described as A a direct democracy B a presidential democracy C a parliamentary democracy D a representative democracy

Which of these is an advantage of an authoritarian form of government? A Participation by citizens is guaranteed through open elections. B Decisions are based on majority rule with minority rights protected. C Decision making is quicker because fewer people are involved in the process. D An independent press helps the public make informed decisions about their government.

Which of these is a characteristic of an authoritarian system of government? A popular sovereignty B equal protection under the law C restrictions of personal freedoms D majority rules with minority rights

Class government Your job: Design a government for your class Teach your type of government to the class Run your government in class

Government Questions Who leads? How are they selected? How long do they serve? Who decides the class rules? What are the rules (you need at least three, no more than ten)? What happens if the rules are broken? If two members if the class disagree, how does the government solve the problem?