DemocracyA Multidimensional

Concept

There are about 195-205

Nations in the World

GovernmentEvery nation has

some type of system for

making decisions, setting rules, and

maintaining order.

There are many

different Types of

Government

Forms of Government

Autocracy (One Person Rule)Examples

– Monarchy (King, Queen, Emporer)Saudi Arabia: King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al SaudOman: Qaboos bin Said Al SaidQatar: Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani

– Dictatorship Cameroon: Paul Biya Democratic Republic of the Congo: Denis Sassou Nguesso Syria: Bashar Hafez al-Assad Cuba: Fidel/Raul Castro Sudan: Omar Al-Bashir Zimbabwe: Robert Mugabe North Korea: Kim Jong-un

Oligarchy (Rule by a Small Group)Examples

Military Dictatorship (rule by the military) China: The Communist Party (not Xi Jinping)Fiji: Military Forces (not Commodore Frank Bainimarama)

Theocracy (rule by religious hierarchy)The Vatican: The Roman Catholic Church/Pope Benedict XVIIran: Islamic Assembly of Experts/Ayatollah Khamenei

PlutocracyAristocracy (rule by the elite or the rich) Nowhere ? Everywhere ?

Anarchy (Nobody Rules)

• Anarchy is only a temporary condition, until some person or group assumes control and imposes rules.

• Anarchy generally occurs when an existing government falls apart or is destroyed.

Iraq: ‘temporarily’ after the U.S. toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003 Somalia: throughout much of the last 20 years Libya: is this country moving into a state of anarchy?

• “Anarchists” are an active force in many places in the US and the world today.

Democracy (Rule by the People)Examples

Direct Democracy California: The referendum, initiative, and recall

Representative Democracy United States: Two-Party Democracy Australia: Proportional Democracy

World Map of Democracy2010 by Freedom House

An Anylitical Look at

DemocracyWhat conditions or structures or practices are required in a strong, genuine democracy?

1. _______________________ 6. __________________________

2. _______________________ 7. __________________________

3. _______________________ 8. __________________________

4. _______________________ 9. __________________________

5. _______________________ 10. __________________________

USA Democracy

Strengths?

------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------ ------------------------

Weaknesses?

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Assignment on 8-26