Chapter 1: Americans, Citizens, and Government Lesson 4: Forms of Government

Functions of Government Keep Order Pass and enforce laws to deter crime Establish courts Provide Services Protect public health Protect public safety Provide public welfare Provide Security Establish armed forces Protect citizens from foreign attacks Guide the Community Develop public policy Public Policy: the decisions and actions a government takes to solve problems in the community Manage the economy Conduct foreign relations

Levels of Government Federal Government Makes laws for the nation Mates rules for citizenship Oversees foreign policy, elections, and the military State Government Makes laws for the state Sets up local government Oversees education and public health Local Government Runs parishes, cities, and towns Provides schools and police and fire departments Provides road maintenance, pest control, trash collection, and other services

Democratic Government Direct Democracy: all citizens met to discuss government matters and vote to decide what to do Works best with small communities Representative Democracy: a government in which citizens choose a smaller group to govern on their behalf Two kind Republics: citizens have a role in choosing the person who will be the head of the government or head of state Constitutional Monarchy: monarchy in which the power of the hereditary ruler is limited by the country’s constitution and laws Monarchy: ruled by a king or queen Based on Majority Rules, or the political principle providing that a majority of the members of a community has the power to make laws binding upon all the people

Authoritarian Government Authoritarian Government: a government in which one leader or group of people holds absolute power Examples Autocracy- absolute monarchies Dictatorship Dictators take power by force Totalitarian State Totalitarian: describes a system in which government control extends to almost all aspects of people’s lives Ideology: a body of ideas about life and society Socialism: a system in which society either directly or indirectly through the government, controls all aspects of the economy

Systems of Government Federal Systems: the power is divided between central, national government and smaller self-governing political units such as states United States, Germany, Brazil and India Unitary Systems: central government is supreme and smaller administrative units carry out some of the functions and are not protected by the constitution France, Japan, and Great Britain