Who Rules? Forms of Government

GOVERNMENT 1.What is government?

GOVERNMENT 1.What is government? Government is an organization people set up to protect the community and make rules.

GOVERNMENT 2. What does a government do?

GOVERNMENT 2. What does a government do?  Protects the community  Makes laws  Keeps order

GOVERNMENT 3. Why do people need government?

GOVERNMENT 3. Why do people need government?  For protection of people and property  Making rules  Enforcing laws

Forms of Government When people decide to form the social contracts that we call governments, they make many different decisions about how their government will look. President or King? Rule by few or rule by all? Hold elections? Where do the rulers get their power?

Democracy Any form of government in which political power is exercised by all citizens, either directly or through their elected representatives. There are two kinds of Democracies … Direct! Representative!

Direct Democracy  All citizens participate in government.  All citizens can create public policy if they want to.  Example: In ancient Athens, Greece, they held assemblies where citizens voted to pass laws. Ancient Greece is the birthplace of Democracy. Ancient Rome has also impacted Democracy.  There are no representatives in government: The citizens vote on everything!

Representative Democracy  Like direct democracy, all citizens participate in government  People elect representatives who vote on laws for the citizens  Representatives answer to the people through regular elections  Representatives are also usually held accountable by a constitution.  The United States is a Representative Democracy.

Fill in the blanks to review DEMOCRACY !

The two forms of democracy are __________ and ___________________. direct representative

In a democracy, all __________ participate in government. citizens

All citizens vote on everything in a ______________________. direct democracy

In a direct democracy, there are no ________________ in the government. representatives

In a representative democracy, the representatives answer to the people through ______________________. regular elections

Now that we’ve talked about DIRECT DEMOCRACY! And REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY! we can move on to forms of government where only one person is in control…

Autocracy A form of government in which political power is controlled by one individual such as a monarch, dictator, emperor, etc. We’re going to talk about two kinds of autocracy … Monarchs! Dictators!

Monarchy  Rule by kings, queens, princes, and princesses… sometimes by other names, but always MONARCHS!  Leaders usually gain their power because their parents were rulers too.  Some modern monarchies like Spain and Japan have constitutions and are called Constitutional Monarchies. King Louis XIV of France was an Absolute Monarch.  M  Monarchies where the king or queen has all the power is called an Absolute Monarchy. Swaziland, Saudi Arabia, Vatican City, and Oman still have Absolute Monarchs today.

Today’s Absolute Monarchies 3. Saudi Arabia 4. Oman 1. Swaziland 2.Vatican City

The Biggest Constitutional Monarchy is… United Kingdom with the commonwealth nations of New Zealand Canada Jamaica Queen Elizabeth II is the monarch

Other Constitutional Monarchies

Dictatorship  In a dictatorship, power is not inherited, but is acquired by force (military or political)  Dictators have absolute control over the lives of their citizens and usually people are not allowed to voice their negative opinions  North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Il is considered a dictator

The World's Worst Current Day Dictators 1.Kim Jong-il (North Korea) 2.King Fahd and Prince Abdullah (Saudi Arabia) 3.Charles Taylor (Liberia) 4.Than Shwe (former Burma, now Myanmar) 5.Teodoro Obiang Nguema (Equatorial Guinea) 6.Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenistan) 7.Muammar Gaddafi (Libya) 8.Fidel Castro (Cuba) 9.Alexander Lukashenko (Belarus) 10.Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe)

What else? We’ve talked about DEMOCRACIES… Democracy is… rule by the people!

What else? … and AUTOCRACIES… Autocracy is… … rule by one!

… but what other forms of government are there? What else? What if, instead of everyone or just one person, a few people got together to rule a nation? Rule by Few!

Oligarchy “Rule by few”  “Rule by few”  Power can be based on several things: Military strength = Military Junta Military strength = Military Junta Family power = Aristocracy Family power = Aristocracy Religious control = Theocratic Oligarchy Religious control = Theocratic Oligarchy  Oligarchies can often come from or lead to other forms of government (like autocracies)

Theocracy  “Theo” means “god” in Greek… so if a government is THEO-cratic that means it is ruled by… That’s right! A god or higher power!  Leaders ( autocratic or oligarchic ) are usually religious leaders and society uses religious law to settle its disputes  Examples: The Islamic Republic of Iran is a modern theocracy that uses the holy Islamic book, The Qur’an, as its guide. Afghanistan is another example.

Anarchy  No government at all… WAIT ! Then who makes and enforces laws?

Anarchy  No government at all…  In an anarchy there is no government to make or enforce laws.  Example: Somalia What do you think that would be like?

Wow! There are so many forms of government! And remember there are also combinations… What is government ruled by GOD and a FEW people called?

WHEW! We had better review… Time for some “A or B!”

Democracy AB Rule by everyone Rule by no one

Direct Democracy AB Citizens elect people to vote All citizens vote on everything

Representative Democracy AB Representatives are appointed Representatives are elected

Autocracy AB Rule by one Rule by few

Monarchy AB Never have constitutions Power is inherited

Dictatorship AB Always protect freedom of speech Have total control

Oligarchy AB Power is always inherited Come in many forms

Theocracy AB Power from a higher being Power taken through force

Anarchy AB Everyone follows the laws Everyone does what they want

And Last But Not Least…

Capitalist In a capitalist or free-market country, people can own their own businesses and property. People can also buy services for private use, such as healthcare. But most capitalist governments also provide their own education, health and welfare services. Example: United States

Communist In a communist country, the government owns property such as businesses and farms. It provides its people's healthcare, education and welfare. Example: China

Republic A republic is a country that has no monarch. The head of the country is usually an elected president by the people. Examples: United States and Turkey

Revolutionary If a government is overthrown by force, the new ruling group is sometimes called a revolutionary government. Example: The young American nation after winning the revolution against Great Britain.

Totalitarian This is a country with only one political party. People are forced to do what the government tells them and may also be prevented from leaving the country. Example: China

Remember Nearly every country in the world is ruled by a system that combines 2 or more of these systems of government. These are also not the only government types in the world, but are some of the most common. The United States is a Representative Democracy, Republic, and Capitalist country.