Modern Political and Economic

SystemsThe State and Its OriginsWhat is the state?

The state is a body of people, living in a defined territory, organized politically, and having the power to make and enforce laws without the consent of any higher authority.

Four characteristics comprise the state:

PopulationTerritorySovereigntyGovernment

How it came to be

1. The Force Theory. The state developed because one person, or a small group, claimed control over an area and forced all within it to submit to his or her rule

2. The Evolutionary Theory. The state developed naturally and gradually out of the early family

3. The Divine Right Theory. The state arose from a God-given right to rule based on royal birth.

4. The Social Contract Theory. The state arose from a voluntary act of free men. The state exists to serve the people, that they are the source of political power, and that they are free to give or to withhold that power as they choose

Geographic distribution of Power

1. Unitary Government. A centralized government in which all powers of the government belong to a single central agency

Types of Government

3. Confederate. An alliance of independent states

2. Federal. A division of government powers between a central government and several local governments.

Relationship between branches of government

1. Presidential. A separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches with each branch being co-equal

2. Parliamentary. The executive branch is made up of members of the legislative branch who hold dual offices

Modern Political Systems

Example

Description

Advantages Disadvantages

ABSOLUTE MONARCHYRule by one (king, queen, emperor, czar) who exercises the supreme power of government

Power is usually inherited

CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

A constitution exists as the rule of law

Rule by one with a legislative body to check the power of the monarch

ARISTOCRACYPower is derived from virtue, age and experience, wisdom and education, or religious leadershipAlso called an oligarchy (rule by the few) or a plutocracy (rule by the wealthy)

TOTALITARIAN DICTATORSHIP

Power is acquired by force and often reinforced through propagandaSuppression of any type of dissent is characteristic of this form of government

MILITARY JUNTAPower is consolidated under military force

Sometimes leads to a totalitarian dictatorship

COMMUNIST TOTALITARIANISMA small group of government

leaders claim to derive power from the peopleTotal control over all aspects of human affairs exercised and reinforced by propaganda

DIRECT DEMOCRACYThe will of the people is translated into public policy by the people themselves in mass meetingsAll citizens have the opportunity to participate in their own government

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACYPeople elect representatives and give them power to govern; agents act on behalf of the peopleElections are held at intervals, but not regularly scheduled

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICPeople elect representatives and give them power to govern; agents act on behalf of the peopleRegularly scheduled elections make the representatives more responsible to the people

?Which form of government is the

best form of government

The basic concepts of democracyA recognition of the fundamental worth of the individualA respect for the equality of all people; an equality of opportunity and an equality before the law, not an equality of conditionA faith in majority rule and an insistence on minority rights

The basic concepts of democracy, cont’d

An acceptance of the necessity of compromiseAn insistence upon the widest possible area of individual freedom, but not to the point of anarchy in which there is total absence of government

Politics and Economics

Capitalism. The economic system based on private ownership, individual initiative, profit, and competition.

1. The means by which goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed are privately owned based on competition in the marketplace.

2. Government should play a limited, “hands-off” role in society. This is known as laissez-faire economics.

3. A mixed economy in which private enterprise is combined with and supported by government regulation and promotion. Examples:

Socialism. The economic system of collective ownership of the institutions of business. Industry and enterprise have been nationalized as responsibilities of government agencies rather than private organizations.Communism. The economic system of collective ownership of the institutions of business. Communist ideology is rooted in a struggle between the classes in which the workers rise up against the capitalists to seize control of the economy, making the state the tool of meeting the common needs of the people.

THE ENDAny Questions?