1. 1. Buenos!!! My name is Juan and I live in San Jose Costa Rica! I am 20 years old and work as an auto mechanic. Living in Costa Rica is very nice. We have a Republic form of government. I am old enough to vote so whenever we have elections I can go and vote for someone to represent me in government. I do not go to the capital building to vote on bills, instead, I vote for someone that I believe will represent my values and my interest in government. I really enjoy living here. I have wanted to visit the United States for quite some time! I have been told that they too have a Republic government. I hope to hear back from you soon. Sincerely Juan Gomez

2. 2. Hello My name is Andrew Johnson. I live in the United States of America. I am 33 years old and I teach 9 th grade biology. I enjoy living here in the U.S. One of my favorite parts about being a U.S citizen is that we have a Presidential Democracy. It is an interesting form of government. Every law abiding citizen that is 18 years old is able to vote in national and state elections. We have a President who is the head of our nation. We elect him into office. We also elect senators and congressmen who make up the legislature. One of the important parts of our government is that the President and the Legislature are separated. They do not work together but both have different jobs to do. We also have a Judiciary. This is made of all the important judges that make decisions about laws and court cases in America. They also work alone. I like it this way because I can vote for my president and my legislatures, and they will represent my views in government. I hope you enjoyed my letter about where I live. Your Friend Andrew Johnson

3. 3. Hi My name is Georgie Pandlehar. I am a citizen of North Korea. I hope this letter does not get intercepted by the North Korean Government. I do not have a lot of rights in my nation. Kim Jung-un is the leader of my nation. I did not have a vote nor was there an election. His family has ruled this nation and he became the ruler after his father died. This is a dictatorship. That means that we have one ruler and he has absolute power over my nation. He is not controlled by any laws or constitutions. A dictatorship is a form of a Autocracy. An Autocracy is any form of government where one person has unlimited power and the citizen has very little say in government. Autocracy is the oldest and most common form of government throughout history. Well I hope this letter will make it out safely, if it is intercepted by my government, I could get in a lot of trouble. Georgie Pandlehar

4. 4. Howdy My name is Carley Buttonworth and I live in London England. I am 15 years old and am a student. I have lived in London my entire life. I love it here! In school we are learning about what type of government we have. According to my teacher we have a Parliamentary Democracy. My teacher told me that when I am old enough I will be able to vote in national elections. I will be able to vote for parliament member who will go to the capital and pass laws. I am suppose to try to vote for people that like the same things that I do. It is important to vote for a good candidate because he or she will be able to vote for laws, and also vote for a Prime Minister who will have more power than the normal Parliament Member. He or She will act as the head of the legislature and will Represent England on a international level. I find it quite interesting how the government works here. Even more interesting is that England is part of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is made up of a few countries. The Parliamentary Government is in control of all of the nations in the UK. This makes the UK a unitary system. That is a form of government in which one central authority has power over subgroups of authority. So the nations in the UK have to answer to the Parliament. Maybe one day I will grow up to be a Prime Minister, who knows. Anyhow, I have to go. TTYL Carley

5. 5. Greetings My name is Abu Mahmud and I live in Saudi Arabia. I am 18 years old and work with my father as a merchant in the city market. I love living in this nation. I am excited to tell you about how things work where I live. In Saudi Arabia, we have a King. He is a nice man to his citizens. I learned in school that this is called a Monarchy. Our leader is a king and or a queen. They must be born or married into the royal family. That is the only way someone becomes the leader of my country. Though we do have laws, the laws are created by the king, and he is able to do what ever he wants to do. He is not ruled or governed by any documents or laws. I hope my letter has been insightful for you. Abu

6. 6. Hello My name is Charles. I live in Vatican city. I am 20 years old and work at a local restaurant. Living in Vatican city is really cool. My home is known as a theocracy. Our leader is not a president but the Pope. He is the leader of the Vatican and also the entire Catholic Church. Our nation is governed by our religious beliefs. We belief that the Pope governs us with insight granted to him by God. I don’t vote or help elect our officials but we believe that God helps appoint them. I hope that my letter helps explain how a theocracy works. Sincerely Charles

7. 7. Goodday Mate! My name is Ray and I live in Australia. In Australia we have an interesting form of Government. We have a king and a queen but we are not a normal monarchy. The King and Queen that we have become our leaders from birth or marriage. The difference between us and a full monarchy is that we have a constitution that governs what our King and Queen can do. This is called a constitutional monarchy. It is a neat system because our constitution protects us from the possibilities of a tyrannical King or Queen. Living in Australia is a lot of fun. I hope you can come visit me some time. Have a good one! Ray

8. 8. Salutations My name is Jonathan Smith and I live in Virginia. The year is 1863. I am writing this letter and putting it in a safe box so that someone in the future can learn about what life was like for me. I am 18 years old and serve as a Private in the Confederate army. Right now the southern states have formed a confederation. We are a group of individual States that have banded together in an alliance to accomplish a common goal. To become separated from the United States of America. This is often a common goal of Confederations, to work together to achieve independence from another country. I hope whoever is reading this letter has learned a lot about confederations. Admirably Pvt Jonathan Smith

9. 9. Hello! My name is Ian Lawrence. I am a student at Pelham High School. I live in Helena Alabama. I am in the 9 th grade. We are learning about government in school right now. I learned that the United States is a federal system. There is a central power at the national level, and then we have regional levels of power at the state level. There are 50 states in the United States, and each state has its own government, and then each state has county governments and then city governments. In a federal system the power is divided between one central and several regional authorities. Well I hope this letter has been helpful. From Ian Lawrence

10. 10. Greetings Comrade! My name is Kara Gorbachez I am 45 years old and live in Russia. I wanted to write to you to tell you about what life was like in the Soviet Union in the 1980s. The Government back then was much different than it is now. It was called communism. The only people that held public office belonged to the Communist Party. So there was only one group of people in office. Also people in the Soviet Union can not own private property than was not given to them by the government. The government also regulated the private trade that took place within the nation. The idea was that all goods and services worked together for the collective good. The cool thing about communism is that it is a form of Oligarchy. That is when a government is run by only a few people or one small group or party. Most oligarchies have been run for selfish or corrupt purposes but not always. In an oligarchy I have very few rights or say in government. Well I hope that this letter has been helpful for your in understanding what a communist system looks like. Best of luck Kara Gorbachez