Warm-Up What is Economic Activity?

Political Geography and Introduction to Culture

Objective I will be able to understand what government is, explain the different forms of government, and explain the basics of world cultures.

Political Vocabulary Citizen – a person who legally belongs to a country and is granted certain privileges by the government and is given certain responsibilities to match. Government – an organization created to keep order, provide services, and protect the people.

Democracy and Republic Democracy is a type of government where the citizens vote for themselves and vote for their leaders. Example: Ancient Greece A Republic is one form of Democracy where citizens elect others to vote in government for them. Example: United States

In other words… You have two cows. In a Democracy, you milk your cows and you and your neighbor vote for who gets the milk. Whoever has the most votes gets the milk.

Monarchy Monarchy is a system of government where one or two people (usually the King and Queen) rule over the country. A monarch is usually born into the role, but a new monarch can gain power through war or treaties. A monarchy can be absolute (total power) or limited (partial power).

In other words… You have two cows. You keep half of the milk to sell or drink and give the other half to the king. If you complain, you can be fined, have your cows taken, or go to jail.

Dictatorship In a dictatorship there is one ruler of the government. Unlike a monarchy, which rules government, they have absolute power over all aspects of life, not just politics. Dictatorships usually are the result of a revolution or government overthrow.

In other words… You have two cows. One day the government takes your cows. If you complain, you might be thrown in jail or killed.

Oligarchy An oligarchy is a government where a few people share ruling power. Oligarchies are usually run by wealthy or military individuals. Oligarchies function much like a monarchy, just with more than one or two people.

In other words… You have two cows. You keep half of the milk to sell or drink and give the other half to the oligarchy. If you complain, you can be fined, have your cows taken, or go to jail.

Communism Communism is more of an economic system than a government system. However, in a communist society the government (typically a dictatorship or oligarchy) owns all property. The government will then decide who gets what of each product. The idea behind communism is to have everyone get an equal share. However, it often means the ruling body has a lot of goods and the people have very little.

In other words… You have two cows. The government takes your cows and gives you milk.