Standards S S7CG1 The student will compare and contrast various forms of government. a. Describe the ways government systems distribute power: unitary, confederation, and federal. b. Explain how governments determine citizen participation: autocratic, oligarchic, and democratic. c. Describe the two predominant forms of democratic governments: parliamentary and presidential.

There are two main ways to think about governments: 1.Government divides power among itself. Who has power the central government or regional (state ) government? Examples of this are Unitary, Confederation, and Federal governments. 2.Government shares power with the citizens. This is called Citizen Participation. If one person has all the power citizen participation is low, if many people have power (can vote) citizen participation is high. Governments ALWAYS divide power among themselves (Central and Regions) and between the government and people (citizen participation). You need to know both for all governments studied.

Unitary:ConfederationFederation Central PowerHas all powerHas little or no power Shares power with Regional/State power Regional / State Power Very limited power, given by Central government Hold MOST power Shares power with Central / Federal power AutocracyOligarchyDemocracy Number of people in Government 1fewMost Role of Citizen Participation NoneSmall or small number of people Almost all How government divides power to itself Citizen Participation

Central Authority Unitary Power is held by one central power: Regions may have limited power given to them by the state Regional Authority

Central Authority Regional Authority Voluntary association of independent states that often only delegate a few powers to the central authority. Less binding than a federation. Confederation

Federation / Federal Regional Authority Central Authority Regional Authority Power is divided between one central and several regional authorities.

Citizen Participation Democracy Oligarchic Autocratic Government Power by 1 No Citizen Participation Government Power by few Some General Citizens’ Participation Government Power shared by many large Citizen Participation

Autocratic One person possesses unlimited power. The citizen has limited, if any, role in government.

Autocracy The oldest form of government. Maintain power through inheritance or ruthless use of military and police power. Types:  Dictatorship  Monarchy

Oligarchy Government by the few. The citizen has a very limited role. The group gets its power from military power, social power, wealth, religion or a combination. Political opposition is usually suppressed- sometimes violently. Examples- Communist countries such as China or Nobility in Medieval Europe

Democracy Parliamentary: People vote for the Political party they feel best represents their views. May have a Prime Minister elected by the legislature. Presidential: A system of government in which the president is constitutionally independent of the legislature. President is elected directly by people. People play greater role in deciding government leaders, often by voting.