The American Economy and Types of Government

Objectives Identify the human wants that our economy meets Describe the freedoms we have in our economy Explain how citizens benefit from the American economy Explain why we need a government Identify and define the 3 common forms of government Analyze how laws affect citizens

Terms To Know!!! Goods – physical products (i.e. food, clothing, CDs) Services – jobs you pay to have done Wants – desires for goods or services Economy – system for producing and distributing goods and services

Terms to Know (cont.) Consumer – a person who uses goods and services Market – a place where good and services are exchanged Price – the amount paid for a good Money – anything you can use to pay for goods and services

The Five Economic Freedoms Freedom – the opportunity to make personal and public choices

Freedom to buy and sell You have the freedom to charge whatever price you think you can get for a product Every person has the freedom to buy or not buy a product

Freedom to Compete You have the freedom to sell your good or service against other goods and services You will compete against other sellers Competition promotes innovation and improvements in products

What is a profit??

Freedom to Earn a Profit Profit is making more money for a product than it costs to make that product Profits encourage people to produce goods and services. People want to make money

The Freedom to Own Property You have the right to own property until you choose to sell it. You can buy and sell as you wish.

Freedom to Choose an Occupation You can choose what ever career that interests you Your success depends on if you have the proper skills for that career

What are the five economic freedoms? Freedom to buy and sell Freedom to compete Freedom to earn a profit Freedom to own property Freedom to choose an occupation

Forms of Government

Government Meets society’s needs by: Keeping the peace: making and enforcing laws Protecting the country: defense against outside attack Providing services: education, transportation, etc Maintaining other institutions: religion, education, family

Three types of Government

Monarchy Form of gov’t where all or most of power is in hands of individual Hereditary - Power passed down from generation to generation King George III

What are some examples of Monarchies? Saudi Arabia England Japan

Dictatorship Gov’t controlled by ONE person Power taken by FORCE Dictator – frequently a military leader –Relies on support from armies

What are some examples of Dictatorships? Saddam Hussein (Iraq) Adolf Hitler (Germany) Joseph Stalin (USSR)

Democracy System of gov’t power is shared by all the people Democracy means “gov’t by the people” People choose or elect their leaders to represent them

What are some examples of Democracies? United States England Japan Germany France

Which freedom gives you freedom to charge whatever you want? Freedom to Buy and Sell Freedom to Compete Freedom to Make a Profit Freedom to Own Property Freedom to Choose an Occupation

Let’s Try Again!!

Which freedom gives you the opportunity to make more on a product than you sold it for? a. Freedom to Buy and SellFreedom to Buy and Sell b. Freedom to CompeteFreedom to Compete c. Freedom to Make a ProfitFreedom to Make a Profit d. Freedom to Own PropertyFreedom to Own Property e. Freedom to Choose an OccupationFreedom to Choose an Occupation

Let’s Try Again!!

Which type of government is hereditary? a. MonarchyMonarchy b. DictatorshipDictatorship c. DemocracyDemocracy

Let’s Try Again!!

Which type of leader has a strong military backing? a. MonarchMonarch b. DictatorDictator c. Democratic governmentDemocratic government

Let’s Try Again!!

Final Thought Which type of government would you prefer? Why?