Citizen Participation They come in packs of TWO!
Autocracy Can you guess the TWO types of Autocratic governments? Here’s a hint: These guys would eliminate free speech, abolish opposing political parties, and personal freedoms. Need a picture?
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Absolute Monarchy! That’s right—an absolute monarchy is a type of Autocracy because there is ONE person who is in charge The king makes all of the rules and has no patience for the lowly citizens The citizens have no way to participate in the government of an absolute monarchy
And the 2nd type of Autocracy is…
A Dictatorship! Dictators are examples of Autocratic governments because they have complete control over their citizens They usually use military force to boss the citizens around The citizens cannot speak out against the dictator, or else…
The 2 types of Autocracies are… Absolute Monarchies Dictatorships
Oligarchy There’s only ONE type of oligarchy – you either have a group of people ruling the citizens, or you don’t. Easy enough, right??
Democracy There are TWO types of Democratic governments in the world 1. Presidential 2. Parliamentary Sounds easy enough. So if you have a president, you’re Presidential and if you have a parliament, you’re Parliamentary?? Ehhh…not exactly. Let me explain…
Parliamentary Democracy Citizens vote for members of the legislative branch, and then the legislature chooses the leader The citizens DO NOT get to directly choose the leader They have to vote on members of legislature first, and then those representatives choose the leader Head of government and head of state are TWO different people Examples: United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia
Presidential Citizens usually vote for members of the executive AND legislative branch Citizens directly vote for the leader A single person is elected as the leader This person is both head of government (chief executive) and head of state Examples: U.S.A., Russia, Mexico
Presidential Unique thing about this type: there’s a separation of powers between the branches of government The leader is constitutionally independent of the legislature Example: the leader does not make the laws, the legislature does
Let’s Review… Parliamentary: Citizens do not vote directly for the leader. They vote on the legislature, then the legislature chooses the leader. Presidential: Citizens directly vote on the leader. Which would you prefer to participate in??
Parliamentary System Presidential System Executive Executive Legislature Select Elect Elect Legislature Elect Citizens Citizens
Mascots! Your Task: Create a mascot that will go with the two ways that citizens can participate in Democratic governments, Parliamentary and Presidential. Fold your paper in half—on each side: Draw and color the mascot. Write a brief description of why the mascot was chosen. Your paper should look something like this…