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Structure of United States Government

Democracy

Word comes from two Greek words – Demos (people) and Kratos (authority of the people)  Supreme political authority rests with the people  Government is only conducted w/ people’s consent

Democracy Basic Concepts of Democracy (What is necessary for the establishment and maintenance of a Democracy?) 1.Individual Liberty (Effective Participation)  Citizens must be as free as possible to develop and express their preferences through the decision-making process

Democracy 2. Majority Rule with Minority Rights Govt. decisions must be based on the will of the majority (over half the voters) Will of minority always heard and protected Interest groups protect minority rights and promote minority opinion 3. Free Elections People have chance to choose their leaders and voice opinions on issues Every vote carries same weight Citizens free to support issue or help candidates get elected Racial, ethnic, religious tests cannot restrict voting Citizens vote by secret ballot w/out fear of punishment for their vote

Democracy 4. Competing Political Parties Voters must have access to competing ideas Democrats and Republicans (2 major U.S. parties) 5. Education Voting makes little sense unless a large number of voters can read and write to express their interests and opinions

Democracy 6. Equal Distribution of Wealth Relatively prosperous nation with equitable distribution of wealth Extreme amount of wealth or poverty lessens possibility of healthy democracy

Democracy 7. Inclusion Citizenship open to all if Democratic

Types of Governments

Government Government Types 1. Autocracy  Absolute Monarchy, Constitutional Monarchy, Dictatorship  Unitary System  Queen, King, Dictator, King or Queen w/leg.body  AM: Saudi Arabia, Qutar, Bhutan, Swaziland  CM: England, Netherlands, Denmark, Nepal, Sweden  Dict: Cuba, North Korea

Government Constitutional Monarch: Shares govt. powers with elected legislatures or serve as ceremonial leaders Queen Elizabeth II (Great Britain) Absolute Monarch: Has complete and unlimited power to rule King Fahd (Saudi Arabia)

Government Dictators  Govt. not responsible to the people and people lack the power to limit their rulers Fidel Castro (Cuba) Kim Jong (N.Korea)

Government Government Types 2.Oligarchy  Unitary  Small group rules  Membership based on wealth, lineage, military power, religion  China

Government Government Types 3. Democracy  Federal  Direct Democracy – people rule directly  Citizens come together to discuss and pass laws, and select rulers (most turn to mob rule)  Indirect Democracy (Representative) – people rule through elected representatives Aka republic  DD: Switzerland has mixture of DD and ID  ID: U.S., Canada, Australia, Italy

The American concept of democracy rests on these basic notions: (1) A recognition of the fundamental worth and dignity of every person; (2) A respect for the equality of all persons; (3) A faith in majority rule and an insistence upon minority rights; (4) An acceptance of the necessity of compromise; and (5) An insistence upon the widest possible degree of individual freedom.