The Governments of Israel, Saudi Arabia,

and Turkey

SS7CG3 Compare and contrast various forms of government.

a. Explain citizen participation in autocratic and democratic governments [i.e., the role of citizens in choosing the leaders of Israel (parliamentary democracy), Saudi Arabia (autocratic monarchy), and Turkey (parliamentary democracy)].

b. Describe the two predominant forms of democratic governments: parliamentary and presidential.

For starters…

A country may have a government where several descriptive words may be used to describe it…

For example… The United States of America may be described as…

• A Presidential Democracy

• A Federation

• A Republic

First, let’s look at the government of a small country in the Middle East, Israel.Its official name is:“The State of Israel”

Israel

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister

1

Member of the Likudpolitical party

2

Netanyahu is the first Israeli prime minister born in Israel after it was established as a country

3

The Israeli Government

Parliamentary Democracy

• The Prime Minister leads the government. He or she is chosen by the political party in Parliament with the most members

1

Federation

Power is shared between different levels of national and state (local) governments

2

The Israeli Parliament is called the Knesset.

In Israel, men and women age 18 and over are allowed to vote.

The organization of the Knesset (2014)

Coalition members (68):Likud (20)Yesh Atid (19)The Jewish Home (12)Yisrael Beiteinu (11)Hatnuah (6)

Opposition (52):Labor Party (15)Shas (11)United Torah Judaism (7)Meretz (6)Hadash (4)UAL-Ta'al (4)Balad (3)Kadima (2)

That was about the government of Israel.Now let’s look at the government of Turkey…

Its official name is “The Republic of Turkey”

Turkey?

Turkey

• Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Air-doo-wan), President of Turkey

• Parliamentarian Democracy

• Generally, in a Parliamentarian Democracy, the Prime Minister is the Head of Government and the President is the Head of State. Turkey is an exception because the current president served 10 years as Prime Minister before becoming President.

• In 2016, a failed military coup occurred in an attempt to remove President Erdoğan from office.

• A military coup is when the army tries to take over the government by force.

The Grand National Assembly of Turkey

The Turkish Parliament is known as The Grand National Assembly of Turkey. President Erdoğan’sparty, The Justice and Development Party, holds the most seats.

In Turkey, men and women age 18 and over are allowed to vote.

Erdogan’s Presidency

• The link below is to a BBC article from April of this year. It describes President Erdogan’s rise to power, and the events of his presidency so far. What do you think of his policies?

• http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13746679

Now that you know more about the governments of Israel and Turkey. Let’s look at the government of Saudi Arabia…Its official name is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

• Hereditary Monarchy: the government is led by a king whose family has ruled the country for several generations. His name is King Abdullah.

• Unitary: The central government, ruled by the king, makes the decisions in the country

• Autocracy: one powerful ruler has ultimate power

Voting in an Autocracy?

• In Saudi Arabia, all voters must be at least 21 years old.

• Men may vote for the king’s advisors and municipal leaders.

• Women may only vote for municipal leaders.

• Municipal leaders are leaders of local towns and communities.

The palace of King Abdullah in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital city.

King Abdullah meeting with US Secretary of State, John Kerry in 2014.

The story of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia

• The House of Al Saud traces its origins to the 18th century emir, Muhammad ibn Saud, whose family ruled large parts of the Arabian Peninsula for over three hundred years. The modern House of Saud was established in 1932, when Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud, a direct descendent of the 18th-century ruler, established the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with himself as absolute monarch. Today, only his descendants are considered part of the "royal" family line and eligible to ascend the throne.

• According to the Quran, a Muslim is permitted up to four wives at one time and is allowed to divorce and remarry numerous times. King Abd al-Aziz cemented alliances by marrying a daughter of every tribal chief in his realm, producing 45 legitimate sons and having at least 22 wives.

• Every Saudi king since has been a son of Abd al- Aziz. The number of his daughters is not known - they were not counted - but are estimated to be more than 50. Though many of his contemporaries regarded his practice of polygamy as excessive, it was continued and surpassed by his son, King Saud, who had 53 sons and at least 54 daughters. The descendants of King Abd al-Aziz now number in the thousands, many of whom hold important government positions.

Recent Developments

• In Saudi Arabia, dozens of ministers, royals, officials and senior military officers have been dismissed or arrested as part of a new anti-corruption committee.

• So how has this happened, and why?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-06/saudi-arabia-is-purging-its-princes-heres-why/9121122

Shariah Law:

• Laws based on the teaching of the Quran, the holy book of Islam

• Compare the crime statistics in Saudi Arabia to the US.

• http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/compare/Saudi-Arabia/United-States/Crime

Are women allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia? NO!

• Gender roles in Saudi society come from Shariah (Islamic law). Islamic law is based on the Quran and hadith (teachings of Muhammad).

• In Saudi culture, the Shariah is interpreted according to a strict Sunni form of law. The law is mostly unwritten, leaving judges with significant discretionary power which they usually exercise in favor of tribal customs.

(CNN) Oct. 13, 2013–

In an extraordinary display of civil disobedience, women in Saudi Arabia on Saturday defied their nation's de facto ban on women driving by getting behind the steering wheel.

After a campaign for change gathered pace on social media, numerous women filmed themselves behind the wheel Saturday in various cities and uploaded those videos to YouTube.

Several Saudi supporters of the October 26th Women's Driving Campaign told CNN that at least 25 women drove Saturday.

Authorities stopped five women who were spotted driving in the Saudi capital and "each case was dealt with accordingly," Col. Fawaz Al-Meeman of Riyadh police told CNN.

Al-Meeman, an assistant spokesman for that city's police department, explained that the women weren't taken to police stations. Instead, they were kept in their vehicles until their male guardians arrived, at which point the women were released after signing pledges not to drive again.

Are things about to change?

http://money.cnn.com/2017/05/31/news/economy/saudi-women-driving-prince-faisal/index.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/26/world/middleeast/saudi-arabia-women-drive.html