Why do people create, structure, and change governments? Forms of Government Why do people create, structure, and change governments?

What is the purpose of government? Ask students to form pairs or small groups. Each pair or group should come up with a game they would like to play together. It could be a sport, such as basketball or soccer; a board game; a card game; or a computer game. Then ask them to imagine that they are playing it, but that there are no rules. Ask: What would happen? What would the game be like? (Answers will vary.) Call on pairs and groups to share the game they chose and describe what it would be like to play with no rules. Then have the class generalize from these examples. Ask: Why are rules necessary? (Possible answers: Life would be disorderly without rules, it would be hard to achieve anything or reach a goal without rules, and situations wouldn’t necessarily be fair without them.) Tell students that just as games need rules, societies need rules as well. Governments make those rules—also known as laws. Tell students that in the United States, we elect people to the government to make laws for us and to make sure that they are carried out. Other kinds of governments in other countries operate differently. Tell students that in this lesson they will learn about different kinds of governments and what they do.

Public Policy: the course of action the government takes in response to an issue or a problem

3 Levels of Government in the U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT makes laws for the nation makes rules for citizenship oversees foreign policy, elections, and the military STATE GOVERNMENT makes laws for the state sets up local governments oversees education and public health LOCAL GOVERNMENTS run counties, cities, and towns provide schools and police and fire departments provide road maintenance, snow removal, trash collection, and other services that people depend on every day Extending Ask students to reflect on what life might be like in their community if there were no government and no laws. Tell students that Thomas Hobbes, an English philosopher and writer who lived in the 1600s, once wrote that the life of a human being in a “state of nature” (that is, without government) is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.“ Ask: Do you agree with Hobbes? Explain why or why not. 

Types of Government

Democratic Government – The People Rule began in the ancient Greek city of Athens more than 2,500 years ago. direct democracy - All citizens met to discuss government matters and voted to decide what to do. (works well with small populations) Today nations have large areas and many people. direct democracy is not practical So what do we use instead? representative democracy - citizens choose a group of people to represent them, make laws, and govern on their behalf.  Example: United States

2 types of Representative Democracy 1: republics - citizens have a role in choosing the person who will be the head of the government or the head of state.  2: constitutional monarchy - government with a hereditary ruler. (king and queen) **Today, King and Queens power is limited and country now has a constitution.

Authoritarian Government authoritarian regimes- power is held by a person or a group not accountable to the people.

2 Types of Authoritarian Governments Absolute Monarch: King and Queen hold complete power. Dictatorship - Dictators, like absolute monarchs, exercise complete control over the state. -often come to power by the use of force. -overthrow an existing government and seize power.  - Often have a strict ideology: a body of ideas about life and society

Systems of Government