Who Rules? Forms of Government

Forms of Government President or King? When people decide to form the social contracts that we call governments, they make many different decisions about how their government will look. President or King? Rule by few or rule by all? Hold elections? Where do the rulers get their power?

Democracy Presidential! Any form of government in which political power is exercised by all citizens, either directly or through their elected representatives. There are two kinds of Democracies… Presidential! Parliamentary!

Presidential Democracy All citizens participate in government by voting. The citizens vote for both the Legislature AND the Executive Leader. President does not make laws. The President is head of government (in charge of day to day government stuff) and chief of state (in charge of ceremonial stuff).

Parliamentary Democracy Like Presidential Democracy, all citizens participate in government by voting. People elect the Legislature (Parliament). Legislature (Parliament) selects Executive Leader (Prime Minister). Executive Leader (Prime Minister) is head of government. Chief of state has little power (example: Queen of England).

Fill in the blanks to review DEMOCRACY!

The two forms of democracy are __________ and ___________________. Presidential Parliamentary

In a democracy, all __________ participate in government by voting. citizens

presidential democracy Citizens vote for both the Executive Leader and the Legislature in a ______________________. presidential democracy

In a presidential democracy, both the Executive Leader and the Legislature are directly accountable to ________________. the people

In a parliamentary democracy, the Legislature is directly accountable to ______________________. the people

In a parliamentary democracy, the Executive Leader is directly accountable to ______________________. the Legislature

PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRACY! Now that we’ve talked about PRESIDENTIAL DEMOCRACY! And PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY! we can move on to forms of government where only one person is in control…

Autocracy A form of government in which political power is controlled by one individual such as a monarch, dictator, emperor, etc. We’re going to talk about two kinds of autocracy… Monarchs! Dictators!

Absolute Monarchy Rule by kings, queens, princes, and princesses… sometimes by other names, but always MONARCHS! Leaders usually gain their power because their parents were rulers too…they inherit the power. Some modern monarchies like Spain and Japan have constitutions.

Dictatorship In a dictatorship, power is not inherited, but is acquired by force (military or political) Dictators have absolute control over the lives of their citizens and usually people are not allowed to voice their negative opinions North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un is considered a dictator and inherited his position when his father, Kim Jong Il, died.

We’ve talked about DEMOCRACIES… What else? We’ve talked about DEMOCRACIES… Democracy is… rule by the people!

What else? … and AUTOCRACIES… Autocracy is… … rule by one!

… but what other forms of government are there? What else? … but what other forms of government are there? What if, instead of everyone or just one person, a few people got together to rule a nation? Rule by Few!

Oligarchy “Rule by few” Power can be based on several things: Military strength = Military Junta Family power = Aristocracy Religious control = Theocratic Oligarchy Oligarchies can often come from or lead to other forms of government (like autocracies)

There are so many forms of government! Wow! There are so many forms of government! And remember there are also combinations… What is a government ruled by one person who inherited the power called?

WHEW! We had better review… Time for some “A or B!”

Democracy A B Rule by everyone Rule by no one

Presidential Democracy B Citizens elect only the Legislature. The Legislature elects the Executive Leader. Citizens vote for the Executive Leader and the Legislature.

Parliamentary Democracy B Citizens vote for the Executive Leader and the Legislature. Citizens elect only the Legislature. The Legislature elects the Executive Leader.

Autocracy A B Rule by one Rule by few

Never have constitutions Monarchy A B Never have constitutions Power is inherited

Always protect freedom of speech Dictatorship A B Always protect freedom of speech Have total control

Power is always inherited Oligarchy A B Power is always inherited Rule by a small group

Now, review your chart along with your teacher!

Rule by representatives Rule by none Controlled by citizens Presidential Theocracy Military Junta Dictatorship Monarchy Parliamentary Rule by few or one Rule by representatives Rule by none Controlled by citizens Rule by god or higher power Power usually inherited Holds elections Constitutional Government People have a say Democracy Autocracy Oligarchy