1. Aim: Which type of government is the best?
Do Now: Your teachers won the lottery and are taking you on vacation! Unfortunately, we just crash landed on a deserted island. NO ADULTS SURVIVED, but you and your classmates are alive and alone. Will you work together and create a new society? Or will you form gangs, kill each other, and live in chaos?
NY State Learning Standards 2
Common Core RS 1, 2, 6, WS 1, LS 1, 3, 4

2. I What is Government?
Government is an organized system that controls makes decisions of a society.
A society without government is in a state of anarchy.
Somali Pirates

3. Are there any disadvantages to a democracy?
II Types of Government
A) Democracy
1. Citizens have the right to vote.
2. The 1st democracy was founded in Athens, 6th century BCE. It was a direct democracy; the most votes wins.
Are there any disadvantages to a democracy?

4. Types of Government Continued…
B) Republic
1. A Republic is a type of democracy. Citizens vote for people to represent them in the government.
2. The first Republic was founded in Rome, 509 BCE
The United States is a Democratic-Republic.
Can you name these New York Senators?

5. Types of Government Continued…
C) Communism
1. All citizens are equal, with an equal distribution of wealth.
2. Based on Karl Marx and Frederic Engels’ book The Communist Manifesto
3. The 1st Communist government was created in Russia in 1917.
Are the smurfs communist? Why or why not?

6. Types of Government Continued…
D) Theocracy
1. A theocracy is controlled by religious leaders.
2. In ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh was a King as well as the religious leader.
Today Ayatollah Khamenei is Iran’s most powerful religious leader

7. Let’s Review with Cows!
You have 2 cows. Who gets to decide what you get to do with the milk in the following types of government? What might they decide?
Democracy and republic
Communism
Theocracy

8. Types of Government Continued…
E) Oligarchy
1. An oligarchy is a small group of wealthy and powerful people who control an entire government (often in secret).
2. Julius Caesar rose to power in the ancient Roman Republic by becoming part of a secret oligarchy (1st Triumvirate).
The 1st Triumvirate was done in secret between Caesar (who was popular with the poor), Crassus (the richest man in Rome), and Pompey (a powerful general and member of the Senate). It was cemented by intermarriage of their children.

9. Types of Government Continued…
F) Monarchy
1. A monarchy is a government ruled by a king or queen.
2. Queen Elizabeth II is the monarch of Great Britain. Great Britain is a constitutional monarchy; her power is limited by the constitution. This is different from an absolute monarch, who has complete power.

10. Types of Government Continued…
G) Feudalism
1. Feudalism is a government based on reciprocity (exchange). A king or lord (powerful landowner) will provide land to a knight (warrior) in exchange for loyalty and protection.
2. Feudalism was the main system of government in medieval Western Europe and Japan.

11. Types of Government Continued…
H) Totalitarianism
1. A totalitarian government has complete control over all aspects of the lives of its people.
2. Often headed by a dictator (one person with complete power)
3. Fascism is a type of totalitarian government. The interests of the state are more important than individual rights.
In Nazi Germany, all blond and blue eyed German children were forced to join the Hitler Youth. You did not have a choice. This photo is from 1933.

12. Let’s Review with Cows!
You have 2 cows. Who gets to decide what you get to do with the milk in the following types of government? What might they decide?
Oligarchy
Monarchy
Feudalism
Totalitarianism

13. Summary Questions
1. Define the key vocabulary 2. Which system of government do you like the most and why? 3. Which system of government do you like the least and why? Bonus Question: Read the quotes below. Which quote do you most agree with and why? Also, which government system do you think they would most support and why?
Thomas Hobbes
“The condition of man [in the state of nature] is a condition of war of everyone against everyone.”
John Locke
“Man in the state of nature is naturally good. However, with no law to organize & regulate the society, there will be chaos.”

14. Key Vocabulary Anarchy Karl Marx Communism Monarchy Democracy
Oligarchy
Dictator
Republic
Fascism
Theocracy
Feudalism
Thomas Hobbes
Frederic Engels
Totalitarianism
Government
John Locke