Government

Why we need government:

• Imagine a society with hundreds of thousands of people and no rules.

http://www.google.com/imgres?start=216&hl=en&biw=1280&bih=929&tbm=isch&tbnid=Goz74MUhYRJEXM:&imgrefurl=http://hdw.eweb4.com/out/162573.html&docid=-iRdbE1QH3n0YM&imgurl=http://www.fantazie.nl/images/wallpaper-coloured-chaos-1920.jpg&w=1920&h=1200&ei=tNSKUKGPH-bC2gXvv4C4BA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=537&vpy=610&dur=505&hovh=177&hovw=284&tx=132&ty=110&sig=103936338024215500646&page=7&tbnh=129&tbnw=186&ndsp=36&ved=1t:429,r:36,s:200,i:112

Without government:

• Life would be chaos. • Who would establish order?• Ensure safety?• Manage/resolve conflict?

http://www.google.com/imgres

Governments organize societies

• Governments run countries.• Governments make laws.• Governments enforce laws.

Different governing systems…

• Make and enforce laws in different ways.

4 Major types of Government

• Democracy

• Monarchy

• Dictatorship

• Oligarchy

Democracy

• A democracy is a governing system in which the people of the country take part.

• What do you know about our election process?

Gettysburg Address- primary source

• “of the people, by the people, for the people”

• Lincoln means a government created by citizens and run by citizens for the good of citizens.

Democracy

• Citizens in a democracy vote and are free to choose their government leaders.

• What needs to happen for a democracy to work well?

Answer

• People need to stay informed and participate for a democracy to work well.

Ancient Greece

• Ancient Greeks in the city of Athens formed the first democracy.

• Direct Democracy

• Every citizen who had the right to vote could play a direct role in making every decision.

• How is this different than the U.S.?

Direct Democracy vs. Representative Democracy

Direct Democracy:– Not every adult was considered a citizen– Everyone who was allowed to vote could play a direct

roleRepresentative Democracy:– Modern day democracy– We vote for a small number of people to represent us

in government. – These elected leaders make laws and decisions for

their citizens.

In a democracy…

• Decisions need to be approved by a majority, or most of a group, before the decisions can take effect.

• What is this called?

Majority Rule:

• Used to elect leaders• Used to make new laws• Based on the idea that the judgment of many

is better than the judgment of a few.

Democracy is more than a governing system…

• It is a way of life in which an important idea is that all citizens are equal.

• As equals:– All citizens in a democracy have certain rights• Freedom of speech• Freedom of the press• Freedom of religion• Freedom of assemblyIn a democracy, these rights can never be taken away, even by the majority.

Democracy in practice

• Countries highlighted in blue are designated "electoral democracies" in Freedom House's 2010 survey "Freedom in the World".[23] Freedom House considers democracy in practice, not merely official claims.

Today

• More than a 140 countries in the world have some form of democracy.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Forms_of_government.svg

Discussion

• How would you describe democracy?

Other governing systems

• Most early governments were not democracies.

• What were they?

Monarchy

• A governing system in which one person rules.

• The word monarchy means “rule by one.”

• In this system a monarch – a king or queen – can make the decisions for all the people.

One person rules?

• I want that job! How do I become queen?

Well, I’m out of luck!

• The position of monarch is usually inherited, which means it is passed down within one family.

Monarchy

• In some monarchies, the rulers have complete control, or absolute monarchy.

• In others, laws limit their authority. These are called constitutional monarchy.

England

• At one time, the monarch of England had authority to rule however he or she chose.

• Then in the year 1215 , the ruler at the time, King John, signed the Magna Carta.

England and the Magna Carta

• Listed the rights of England’s upper class• Limited the power of the monarchy

• Today England still has a monarchy, but the monarch’s authority is limited. In addition, England has a democracy with elected leaders who run the country.

• David Cameron

Dictatorship

• A governing system in which one person claims complete control is a dictatorship.

• The difference between a monarchy and a dictatorship is that dictators do no inherit their authority.

• Former Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali is pictured in this April 2008 file photo. A Tunisian court Wednesday sentenced Ben Ali to life in prison.

Dictatorship

• Dictators often take control of the government, often in a sudden and violent way.

• Former Argentine dictator Jorge Videla listens to the verdict during his trial in a courthouse in Buenos Aires on July 5, 2012.

Dictatorship

• One of the first dictatorships was in ancient Rome.

• At first, Roman dictators served only briefly during emergencies.

• Later, they refused to give up their control.

• Dictators, like monarchs, often rule until their deaths or until they are overthrown.

Oligarchy

• In the governing system called an oligarchy, a group of people who are not elected by the citizens controls the country.

• In the ancient Greek city of Sparta the rulers were a group of landowners.

China

• Present-day China the group is made up of members of the Chinese Communist party.

• The people in this group share the same ideas about government and work together to spread their ideas.

Discussion

• How can a country’s government affect the way its people earn a living?

• How would your life change if you were unable to buy goods produced in other countries?

• A look ahead: we’ll be studying basic economy next!

SummaryTypes of Government Facts

Democracy

Monarchy

Dictatorship

Oligarchy