Different Government Ideologies (beliefs) Vocab! IdeologyThe body of beliefs that guides a country Sovereignty Independent power to rule your own country Limited Government Characterized by the consent of the governed People make decisions through voting Minority rights are protected Checks, or limits, on abusive government power are in place Individual rights Individual rights Direct Democracy Every citizen votes on every issue Used to be used in city states Impractical for large countries because it is difficult to get everybody to vote for every law. How could you fix this problem? Representative Democracy (Republic) People in a country elect representatives from their area to vote on every single issue What we have in the U.S., and what most countries have House of Representatives CensusEvery 10 years, the U.S. takes a census to figure out how many people live in different areas RedistrictingBased on that census, they redraw (redistrict) the places that U.S. representatives actually represent. Gerrymandering Unlimited Government There are no checks on government power Government is ruled by the few, or the one Limited individual rights Restricted or non- existent voting Monarchy A government controlled by a king or queen Hereditary inheritance (familiar) Example: Saudi Arabia Limited MonarchyA king or queen without any real political power Example: Great Britain Dictatorship A totalitarian form of government (government has full control of society) One person rules the country by force Opposition groups are not allowed Authoritarian/totalitarian governmentextreme dictatorship Examples: North Korea, former USSR, Germany under Hitler, China Theocracy A government that is based upon religious beliefs Religious laws become the basis for the government Example: Iran, Saudi Arabia, governed by Islamic laws Unitary Government One strong central government governs the whole country They decide what local governments can do Example: China, Russia Confederacy Opposite of unitary government State governments have all the power, decide what national governments can or cannot do Federalism Combination of unitary and confederate National government has some powers, states have some powers Example: United States Review! I will pass out the white boards, and give examples of different types of governments. You will guess which form of government I am showing. In Iran, laws are based on the Koran. Religions besides Islam are not tolerated. In Great Britain, state and national government share power. The national government has the power to declare war, the state government has the power to regulate education. In China, the central government controls all policy, and local governments have very little power. For example, the national government implemented the One Child Policy without any input from local governments. In the United States, people vote for representatives to advocate their position in Congress. These representatives work together to pass new legislation. In ancient Athens, all citizens voted on all proposed legislation. If the majority of citizens voted for a proposal, then it became a law. In Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah has the final say on all government manners. When he dies, his son will inherit the throne. In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe has been in control for over 30 years. Elections are rigged, and real opposition parties are not allowed. In North Korea, the government controls every aspect of its peoples lives. People are not allowed to have cell phones or the internet, and absolutely no criticism of the government is allowed.