1. Citizen Participation in Government
Autocratic, Oligarchic, & Democratic
Unit 12 Notes

2. Citizen Participation
In each country, the people have different rights to participate in the government.
In some countries, any citizen can run for office or vote in elections.
In other countries, there are restrictions placed on who can run for office and who can vote.
There are also countries where no citizen can vote and there are no elections.

3. Autocratic Governments
have a single ruler with unlimited power
people have no ability to participate in the selection of the ruler or in the creation of laws
one benefit -- decisions for a country can be made quickly
however, the needs of the people may be ignored or unheard
leader may make poor or selfish decisions that hurt the people

4. Autocracies of the World

5. Oligarchic Governments
“rule by the few”
country is ruled by a small group of people
an advantage is that decisions can be made relatively quickly
compared to an autocratic system, oligarchies have more heads to think through problems and should make better choices
however, the people do not have a voice…

6. Democratic Governments
This type of government puts the power of the government in the hands of the citizens of the country.
All citizens have the opportunity to be a leader, and all citizens have the opportunity to vote for leaders and laws.
All citizens are involved in the decision-making process of the government, and all groups are represented.
It can be slow to make decisions because all people must discuss & vote on the issues.

7. This is a “Polity Data Series Map.”
It tries to measure a country’s true democracy in government.
It gives scores of -10 to The countries in the lightest pink
have the highest democracy score, the darker the color, the lower the democracy score.

8. Democratic Governments
There are two predominate forms of democratic governments:
Parliamentary
Presidential
Both are designed to represent and protect the rights of the people.

9. Parliamentary Democracy
Citizens elect members of parliament called MPs.
MPs choose a leader from among themselves called the prime minister.
The prime minister is the chief executive.
heads the military, enforces laws, and keeps the country running day to day
prime minister leads the lawmaking body -- parliament

10. Parliamentary Democracy
MPs are elected to serve for a certain amount of time, but parliament can be dissolved and elections held again if the prime minister feels the government is not working well.
MPs can vote for a new prime minister in an election.

11. Parliamentary Democracy
The country may have a king or queen with little ruling power or a president who serves as the head of state.
In a parliamentary system, the head of state is the symbolic leader of the country, but has little political power.
Examples: Australia, Canada, & the UK

12. Presidential Democracy
The citizens elect the members of the legislature and the chief executive.
The president serves as the head of state, runs the government, and heads the military.
The president does not make the laws--the legislature does this.
The president serves for a fixed amount of time, then new elections are held.
Examples: US, Mexico, & most South American countries

13. Government power increases Citizen power increases
Autocratic
Oligarchic
Democratic
Citizen power decreases
Government power decreases

14. Australia’s Democracy
an elected government runs the country
citizens over 18 may vote in an election every 4 years
failure to vote can result in a fine and a hearing in court

15. Australia’s Democracy
voters elected members of parliament (MPs)
MPs represent the people’s interest in making laws
MPs choose a prime minister to lead the country
prime minister is the most powerful person in government
prime minister recommends a governor-general to the Queen (UK)
queen chooses a governor-general to perform duties as head of state and to represent her in Australia