Forms of Governments

SS7CG4b Explain how governments determine citizen participation: autocratic (autocracy), oligarchic (oligarchy), and democratic (democracy).

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 & how does the citizen participate?

There are three types of governments:Autocracy, Oligarchy, and Democracy

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

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

There are three types of an Autocracy.

#1 DictatorshipThe leader has not been elected and uses force to control all aspects of social and economic life; citizens (people) have few (if any) rights.

Examples: Adolf Hitler in Germany and Joseph

Stalin in the Soviet Union

#2 AbsoluteMonarchy

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.

Example: Saudi Arabia

#3 Constitutional Monarchy

Kings, queens or emperors share power with elected legislatures.

Generally the Kings are nothing more than figureheads.

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

Example: Great Britain

Autocracy

OligarchyA 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;

theocracy= a government ruled by religious leaders(s), ex. Iran

Oligarchy

Democracy

In a democracy, the government is “Ruled by the people”There are two forms of democraciesDirect Democracy – Citizens (people) vote on all

the issues.Representative Democracy – Citizens elect

representatives and give them the power to vote on issues.

Example: United States

Democracy

DemocracyOligarchyAutocracy

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High Participation High Participation

Low or No Participation Low or No Participation Low or No Participation

High Participation

How Citizens Participate in Government

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 representative democracies: Parliamentary Presidential

RepublicRepublicGovernment where citizens elect representatives; citizens are involved through their representatives (voting)

Presidential Presidential DemocracyDemocracy

Parliamentary Parliamentary DemocracyDemocracy

Parliamentary Democracy

Voters elect members to the Parliament (legislature)

Parliament (legislature) has two Houses: House of Commons: The Political Party with the most

votes in the House of Commons chooses the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is the government’s leader who has no set length of term.

House of Lords: Little power with most members being nobles who have inherited their titles

Parliamentary Democracy

Executive power is held by members of the legislature; (executive + legislative = one branch of government)

Prime minister (leader/chief of state), is elected by the legislature, NOT by the people

Head of state (ex. king or queen) has a ceremonial role, but the chief of state usually has the power 2 separate people

Example: Israel

Presidential DemocracyVoters elect legislators

Voters elect (indirectly) the president.Therefore, in the presidential system voters have

a more direct say about those who serve in two branches of the government :

LegislativeExecutive

Presidential Democracy

The president and legislature are separate branches of government and powers are divided between them

President is head of state and chief of state = ceremonial duties (role) + power

President is limited to two 4-year terms

Example: United States

Parliamentary System

Presidential System

ExecutiveExecutive LegislativeLegislative

CitizensCitizensCitizensCitizens

LegislativeLegislative

ExecutiveExecutive

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ElectElect

SS7CG4a Describe the ways government systems distribute power: unitary, confederation, and federal

Systems of Government are based on one question: How is the power distributed?

There are three ways governments distribute power:UnitaryConfederationFederal

Unitary

One central authority/government controls everything.

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

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

RegionalAuthority

Central Authority

Unitary GovernmentUnitary System

RegionalAuthority

RegionalAuthority

RegionalAuthority

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.

Do not last very long; very weak and unstable

Examples: Confederate States of America

( 1861-1865); European Union.

Confederation

RegionalAuthority

RegionalAuthority

RegionalAuthority

RegionalAuthority

Central Authority

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

FederationFederal Government

Federal SystemRegional

Authority

RegionalAuthority

RegionalAuthority

RegionalAuthority

Central Authority

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?