Chapter 1, Section 2 Forms of Government

Governments are classified based on: Who can participate in governing Where- geographically- the power to govern is located The relationship between the lawmaking and the law- executing branches of government 1. How are governments classified?

2a. Who can participate in different types of government? In a democracy, the people hold the supreme political authority. In a direct democracy, they exercise it by getting together and making decisions in mass meetings. We in the U.S. have what’s known as representative democracy, because we elect representatives who then govern for us. The word republic can be thought of as meaning the same as democracy, for all but professors of political science.

2b. Who can participate in different types of government? Dictatorship is the term used for any government not responsible to or answerable to the people. The government does what it wants. You should be familiar with two different types of dictatorship. Autocracy is a government where one person has all the power, and oligarchy refers to a government where a small elite group rules.

3. What is a unitary government? Where is power physically located in one, generally? Where would this be in the U.S.? In a unitary government, political power is centralized in the sovereign state. That is, the state (nation) has a capital, and the government there makes all decisions. Local governments are for administration purposes only. In the U.S., then, if we were unitary, every decision would be made in Washington, DC. In a unitary system, there is one capital where all decisions are made.

4. What is a federal government? Where is power physically located in one, generally? Where (answer completely) would this be for a resident of Huntingdon Valley? A federal government has more than one “level”. Some power is exercised by the sovereign state (nation), or what we would call the national level. Some is exercised more locally. In our case there is the government in Washington, DC, a State government for Pennsylvania, which meets in Harrisburg, and local government both in Norristown, the capital or “seat” of Montgomery County, and in Lower Moreland (HV) itself.

5. What is a confederate government? Where is power physically located in one? In a confederate government, a bunch of sovereign states get together and agree on some kind of additional government covering all of them, like a thin blanket. Power is located in the capital of each sovereign state, and only a very limited amount is given to the additional, “blanket” government.

6. When were people in Huntingdon Valley members of a confederacy? Give an example of a confederacy in today’s world. From 1781, when the British surrendered, to 1786, when we admitted it was a failed system, residents of this community were living under the Articles of Confederation. This established Pennsylvania as their sovereign state (If you lived in Wilmington, you were citizens of Delaware). The United States was weak and could not control the States. The United Nations could be thought of as a potential confederacy today, but the best example is the European Union, or EU. It does some things that affect all Europeans, but places like Germany and England are still sovereign states.

7. In a presidential government, who is the head of state (looking for a title, not a name)? Who is the head of government (again, title, not name)? Presidential government features an elected president as head of state (the ceremonial “face” a state presents to the world )and also its Chief Executive (head of the executive branch of government), with a separate and co-equal elected legislature (which actually makes the laws). There is a separation of powers between the legislative branch (Congress, in the U.S.) and the executive branch (President), outlined in a constitution.

8. In a parliamentary government, who is the head of state (title)? Who is the head of government (title)? In parliamentary states, the head of state is a king or queen, or someone called a president (but nothing like our kind). They are ceremonial or “figurehead” leaders. The head of government is the prime minister (sometimes called a premier). The prime minister and his/her cabinet is the executive branch, and these executives also serve as members of parliament, which is the legislative branch.

Please, in the event my absence is prolonged, remember you can always reach me by at whereas I can’t access from home. Feel free to ; also, this power point and others as I make them will be hyperlinked to my web page as well as in my outbox. Thanks, Mr. Montaigne