1. Systems of Government
LT: I can define different types of government systems and demonstrate my understanding of the systems of government.

2. The governing body of a nation, state, or community
In charge of:
creating and regulating laws
managing the economy
enforcing policies
This can happen in many different ways, with different levels of freedoms.
Not all governments are the same, and some look very different from each other!
Government – What is it?

3. Spectrum of Governmental Power
Autocracy & Aristocracy
(Monarchy & Oligarchy)
Totalitarian (Dictatorship)
Democracy
Republic
Anarchy
100% Power to Government
0% Personal Choices
100 % Equality
0% Power to Government
100% Personal Choices
0% Equality
Spectrum of Governmental Power

4. Totalitarian - Dictatorship
Definition: a system of government that is centralized & dictatorial, requires complete subservience to the state.
Key features:
Ideology that addresses all aspects of life
A single-party system
Usually led by a dictator
Some type of terror used to control people
Historical examples:
Hitler’s Germany
Stalin’s Soviet Union
Mussolini’s Italy
Totalitarian - Dictatorship

5. Autocracy – Absolute Monarchy
Definition: System of government by one person with absolute power.
Key features:
One person makes all laws & is limited by no one
Monarchies = best known example - rule by one, for life, usually the next in line to the throne is based on heredity.
Historical examples:
Louis XIV (aka the sun king, France)
Peter the Great (Russia)
Autocracy – Absolute Monarchy

6. Aristocracy – Oligarchy
Definition: Rule by the few or privileged (Greek root words: ‘rule by the best’).
Oligarchy is usually made up of land owning, wealthy, & most influential members of society.
Historical Example
Sparta (ancient Greek city-state)
Some people claim the current
conditions in America are oligarchic
because …..?
Aristocracy – Oligarchy

7. Democracy – Direct, Representative
Definition: a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally.
Key Features:
All eligible citizens help make laws and govern
Simple majorities
Eligible citizens: In ancient Greece, eligible citizens did not mean ‘everybody’. Referred to wealthy, male citizens, who were Greek born. In the early United States it meant white, landowning males.
Historical examples:
Athens
Switzerland
Democracy – Direct, Representative

8. Republic Anarchy Definitions
Republic: system of government where people elect representatives to exercise power for them.
What government does the US have?
A Democratic Republic! (we elect people to exercise power for us, but we elect them with a majority vote.)
Anarchy: Absence of government, no government
Republic Anarchy

9. Definition: a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god.
Key Features: Run by priests from the dominant religion of a country.
Example: The Vatican
Theocracy