Forms of Governments

To study governments, geographers look at the following:

! Types – Who rules and who participates.

! Systems – How the power is

distributed.

Types of Government are based on one key question: Who governs and what is the citizen participation? !   There are three types of governments:

l  Autocracy, Oligarchy, and Democracy

Autocracy

!   Government in which the power to govern is held by one person.

!   Generally the power to rule is inherited or by military force.

!   There are three types of Autocracy.

#1 Dictatorship

!   The leader has not been elected and uses force to control all aspects of social and economic life.

!   Examples: Adolf Hitler in Germany and Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union

#2 Absolute Monarchy

!   A monarchy has a king, queen, emperor or empress.

!   The power is usually inherited or passed down from family members.

!   The monarch has absolute power meaning they can make all decisions without consulting anyone.

#3 Constitutional Monarchy

!   Kings, queens or emperors share power with elected legislatures.

!   Generally the Kings are northing more than figureheads.

!   The government is a democratic one that limits the monarchs power.

!   Example: Great Britain

Oligarchy

!   A government in which a few people such as a dominant clan or clique have power.

!   The group gets their power from either military, wealth or social status.

!   Elections may be held but offer only one candidate. !   Examples: Greek city states

Democracy

!   In a democracy, the government is “Rule by the people”

!   There are two forms of democracy l  Direct Democracy – People vote on all the

issues. l  Representative Democracy – People elect

representatives and give them the power to vote on issues. l  Example: United States

In a democracy….

!   Individual freedom and equality is valued.

!   Free elections are held !   Decisions are based on majority rule. !   All candidates can express their views

freely. !   Citizens vote by secret ballot.

Democratic Governments

!   There are two major forms of democratic governments: l  Parliamentary l  Presidential

Parliamentary Democracy

!   Voters elect members to the Parliament (legislature)

!   Parliament has two Houses: l  House of Commons: The Political Party with the

most votes in the House of Commons chooses the Prime Minister, the government’s leader with no set length of term.

l  House of Lords: Little power with most members being nobles having inherited their titles

Presidential Democracy

!   Voters elect legislators !   Voters elect (indirectly) the president.

l  Therefore, in the presidential system voters have a more direct say about those who serve in two branches of the government : l  Legislative l  Executive

Parliamentary System

Presidential System

Executive Legislative

Citizens Citizens

Legislative

Executive

Elec

t

Ele

ct

Sele

ct

Systems of Government are based on one question: How is the power distributed? !   There are three ways governments

distribute power: l  Unitary l  Confederation l  Federal

Unitary

!   One central government controls everything.

!   Power is not shared between states, counties or provinces.

!   Examples : United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Spain

Confederation

!   A voluntary association of independent states that agrees to follow a powerful central government.

!   Nations can choose to follow or not follow the lead of the weak central government.

!   Examples: Confederate States of America ( 1861-1865), Russian Federation.

Federal

!   Power is shared by a powerful central government.

!   States or provinces are given considerable self rule, usually through their own legislatures.

!   Examples: United States, Germany

Putting it all together….

!   The United Kingdom is an autocratic constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy and a unitary system.

!   The United States is a presidential democracy with a federal system.

What do those statements mean?

What do you remember?

!   What are the three types of governments?

!   What are the three systems of government?