1. Different Government Ideologies (beliefs)

2. Vocab! Ideology—The body of beliefs that guides a country
Sovereignty—Independent power to rule your own country

3. Limited Government Characterized by the “consent of the governed”
People make decisions through voting
Minority rights are protected
Checks, or limits, on abusive government power are in place
Individual rights

4. Direct Democracy Every citizen votes on every issue
Used to be used in city states
Impractical for large countries because it is difficult to get everybody to vote for every law.
How could you fix this problem?

5. Representative Democracy (Republic)
People in a country elect representatives from their area to vote on every single issue
What we have in the U.S., and what most countries have

6. House of Representatives
Census—Every 10 years, the U.S. takes a census to figure out how many people live in different areas
Redistricting—Based on that census, they “redraw” (redistrict) the places that U.S. representatives actually represent.

7. Gerrymandering

8. Gerrymandering
When one political party draws boundaries to give their party an advantage in elections

9. Unlimited Government There are no checks on government power
Government is ruled by the few, or the one
Limited individual rights
Restricted or non-existent voting

10. Monarchy A government controlled by a king or queen
Hereditary inheritance (familiar)
Example: Saudi Arabia
Limited Monarchy—A king or queen without any real political power
Example: Great Britain

11. Dictatorship
A totalitarian form of government (government has full control of society)
One person rules the country by force
Opposition groups are not allowed
Authoritarian/totalitarian government—extreme dictatorship
Examples: North Korea, former USSR, Germany under Hitler, China

12. Theocracy A government that is based upon religious beliefs
Religious laws become the basis for the government
Example: Iran, Saudi Arabia, governed by Islamic laws

13. Unitary Government
One strong central government governs the whole country
They decide what local governments can do
Example: China, Russia

14. Confederacy Opposite of unitary government
State governments have all the power, decide what national governments can or cannot do

15. Federalism Combination of unitary and confederate
National government has some powers, states have some powers
Example: United States

16. Review!
I will pass out the white boards, and give examples of different types of governments. You will guess which form of government I am showing.

17. In Iran, laws are based on the Koran
In Iran, laws are based on the Koran. Blasphemy (criticism of Mohammed) is illegal in Iran.

18. In Germany, state and national government share power
In Germany, state and national government share power. The national government has the power to declare war, the state government has the power to regulate education.

19. In China, the central government controls all policy, and local governments have very little power. For example, the national government reformed the One Child Policy without any input from local governments.

20. In the United States, people vote for representatives to advocate their position in Congress. These representatives work together to pass new legislation.

21. In ancient Athens, all citizens voted on all proposed legislation
In ancient Athens, all citizens voted on all proposed legislation. If the majority of citizens voted for a proposal, then it became a law.

22. In Saudi Arabia, King Salman has the final say on all government manners. When he dies, a family member will inherit the throne.

23. In The Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila has been in control for 17 years. Elections have faced widespread accusations of voter fraud and corruption.

24. In North Korea, the government controls every aspect of its peoples’ lives. People are not allowed to have cell phones or the internet, and absolutely no criticism of the government is allowed.

25. Pick a country!
Pick any country you’re interested in, and use google news to find a news story that explains what kind of government they have.
No repeating countries
In 5 minutes, you’ll share what you found with your partner, then we’ll share out as a class.