1. olitical and conomic ystemsP E
olitical and conomic ystems S
REGENTS REVIEW

2. POLITICAL SYSTEM CHARACTERISTICS EXAMPLES/EFFECTS Democracy
gov’t in which citizens make
decisions
Direct Democracy = citizens
vote directly on all issues
Representative Democracy
(Republic) =
representatives are elected
to make decisions
Athens Direct Democracy =
limited citizenship
Roman Republic = basis was
Twelve Tables
Both form basis of Western
Democracy
ABSOLUTISM
Monarch that has complete
control over the gov’t &
citizens
Divine right = position/power
of ruler created by God
Large armies, palaces,
territorial expansion
Phillip II (Spain) = colonial
empire, religious intolerance
Louis XIV (France) = “Sun
King”, Palace of Versailles
Peter the Great (Russia) =
Westernization
Elizabeth I, Henry VIII,
Catherine the Great

3. (Commu-nism, Fascism, Nazism, dictatorships)
Theocracy
Gov’t led by a religious leader
Leader often considered a god
Leader can be a priest
Typically ancient societies
Egypt = Pharoah is a god, owns all of nation
Sumer = led by priest-kings
Mesoamerica = leaders descendants of Sun God
Totalitarian-ism
(Commu-nism, Fascism, Nazism, dictatorships)
One-party dictatorship
Controls all aspects of
citizens’ lives—political,
economic, social, cultural
censorship
All use secret police & severe punishment of opposition
Joseph Stalin (Russia)
Benito Mussolini (Italy)
Adolf Hitler (Germany)
Others: Pol Pot, Mao
Zedong, Napoleon, Castro

4. Communist
Dictatorship
Theory in which production
owned equally among
people
Often results in state
ownership of all production
Soviet Union
--collapses 1991 due to
want of political freedoms
and economic hardship
China under Mao Ze Dong
--Cultural Revolution
China under Deng = refusal
of political change
--Tiananmen Square
Fascism
and
Nazism
Dictatorial govt
Extreme nationalism and
imperialism
Hatred of communism
State control of industry
Nazism= National Socialist German Workers Party
--belief in racial superiority
Mussolini = militaristic,
expansion into Africa
Hitler = rises due to
depression, militaristic,
invasion of Eur. countries,
book burning, Hitler Youth,
Holocaust

5. Constitu-tional Monarchy
King or queen limited by law
Parliament typically controls
money
Early attempts to limit
--Magna Carta, Petition of
Right
William and Mary
(England) sign English Bill
of Rights
--Glorious Rev
Feudalism
Decentralized gov’t
--king has little power
System of obligations
--land for loyalty
Strict Social Structure
--minority nobles
own/control land and gov’t
--peasants/serfs work land
--compared to caste system,
Spanish Colonial system
European Middle Ages ( )
--follows fall of Rome
--king, lord, vassals,
knights, peasants/serfs
--isolation and little trade
Japan ( )
--emperor, shogun,
daimyo, samurai,
artisans, peasants,
merchants

12. ECONOMIC SYSTEM
CHARACTERISTICS
EXAMPLES/EFFECTS
TRADITION-AL
Bartering = exchange of
goods for goods
Jobs determined by parental
jobs
Early river valley civilizations
West African Civilizations
Mesoamerica
MANORIAL-ISM
Systems centered around
self-sufficient manors
Nobles own land
Large labor class (serfs)
work land
Very little outside trade
European Middle Ages
--decentralized gov’t leads to
unprotected roads
--manors must be self-
sufficient
--isolation of Europe

13. MERCANTI-LISM
Nations increase wealth and
power by gaining gold and
silver and exporting more
than importing
--favorable balance of
trade
Colonies provide raw
materials
Europe
Leads to Age of Exploration
Atlantic Slave Trade to
labor in colonies
Capitalism or
Market Economy
Private ownership of
property
Investment in businesses
entrepreneurs
Goal: obtain profit
Supply and demand
Adam Smith’s Wealth of
Nations
Great Britain during Industrial Revolution
--excess capital used to
invest in factories
--low wages, poor
conditions
--growing middle class

14. Communism
Theory in which factors of production, production, and distribution shared equally among people
Belief that capitalism exploits the proletariat (working class)
“haves” vs. “have nots”
Karl Marx and Friedrich
Engels
--The Communist
Manifesto
--Workers of the world
unite
Command Economy
System in which all
production and distribution is
controlled by the gov’t
Little to no unemployment
Low standard of living
USSR under Stalin
--Five-Plans = catch up to
West with collectivization
& industrialization
-- focus on heavy industry
--Limited consumer goods
China under Mao
--Great Leap Forward

15. Mixed Economy
Partially capitalist with
elements of command
economy
--labor laws
--gov’t controls some
factors of production
Most modern-day
countries
Historical examples
Deng Xiaoping
Lenin
Gorbachev