Forms of Governments Geographical Distribution of Power Relationship Between Legislative and Executive Branches Who Has the Power to Govern Characteristics of a Democracy. No two governments are exactly alike. However, governments can be classified according to their basic features.

Geographical Distribution of Power Where is the power to govern located?

Unitary System Unitary System-the power to govern is given to the national or central government. Example - Great Britain has a single organization, Parliament, that holds all of the government's power.

Federal System Federal System - the power to govern is shared between the national, state, and local levels. Example - The United States under the Constitution

Confederacy Confederacy - A loose organization of independent states held together by a weak central government. Example - The U.S. before the Constitution and the South during the Civil War.

Relationship Between Legislative and Executive Branches

Presidential Government In a presidential government, the executive and legislative branches of the government are separate, independent of one another, and coequal. The two branches regularly have several powers with which each can block actions by the other branch. The U.S. is the world's leading example of presidential government.

Parliamentary Government In parliamentary government, the executive is made up of the prime minister or premier, and that official's cabinet. The prime minister is a member of the legislative branch, parliament. The prime minister is chosen by the parliament and is subject to it's direct control. The majority of the governments in the world today are parliamentary.

Who has the power to govern?

Autocracy Autocracy - any system of government in which the power and authority to rule are in the hands of a single individual. Historically, this is maintained by the ruthless use of military or police power.

Autocracy 1)Totalitarian Dictatorship - a single leader seeks to control all aspects of social and economic life. Examples - Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Fidel Castro.

Autocracy 2)Monarchy - A king, queen, or emperor exercises the supreme powers of government. Positions are usually inherited.

Autocracy - Monarchy A)Absolute Monarchy-Monarchs have complete and unlimited power to rule their people. Ex. King of Saudi Arabia, today they are rare but they ruled Western Europe from 1400s- 1700s

Autocracy - Monarchy B)Constitutional Monarchy - Monarch shares government powers with elected legislature. Serves mainly as ceremonial leaders of their governments.

Oligarchy Oligarchy - any system of government in which a small group holds the power. Example - Communist China. As in dictatorships, oligarchies usually suppress all political opposition-sometimes ruthlessly.

Democracy Democracy - any system of government in which rule is by the people. Lincoln described it as, "government of the people, by the people, and for the people."

Democracy 1)Direct Democracy-the people govern themselves by voting on issues individually as citizens. No country has a government based on direct democracy.

Democracy 2)Representative Democracy - the people elect representatives and give them the power to make laws and conduct government. This is considered to be the most efficient way to ensure the rights of the individual citizen.

Republic Republic - voters hold sovereign power. Elected representatives who are responsible to the people exercise that power. The terms representative democracy and republic mean basically the same thing.

Characteristics of a Democracy

Worth of the Individual Each individual, no matter what his or her station in life, is a separate and distinct being.

Equality of All Persons Every person is entitled to: 1.Equality of opportunity 2.Equality before the law. No on should be held back based on race, color, religion or gender

Majority Rule with Minority Rights Majority Rule with Minority Rights-To protect from the 'tyranny of the majority.' This is to insure that the rights of the minority will be protected. Why is it difficult to maintain this?

Free Elections Free Elections-Free and open elections to choose their leaders and voice their opinions on various issues.

Necessity of Compromise Compromise is: 1.The blending and adjustments of competing views and interest. 2.A process of achieving majority agreement. (not all compromises are good and not all are necessary)

Competing Political Parties Competing Political Parties-This is to give voters choice among candidates.

Individual Freedom Each individual must be as free to do as he or she pleases as far as the freedom of all will allow.

Free Enterprise Free Enterprise- the population and businesses control their economic decisions.