Chapter One: Principles of Government

1
Chapter One Principles of Government

• Section Two
• Forms of Government

2
Classifying Governments

• No two governments are exactly alike, as they are
  the products of human need and experiences
• Easy system exists for classification

3
Classifying Governments

• Who can participate?
• What is the geographical distribution of power
  within the state?
• What is the relationship between the executive
  and legislative branches?

4
Who Can Participate?

• Two forms
• Democracy
• Dictatatorship

5
Democracy

• Supreme political authority rests with the people
• Can be direct or indirect
• Direct
• pure democracy
• will of the people translated into public policy
  by the people in mass meetings
• does not exist at the national level today

6
Democracy

• Indirect
• representative democracy
• small group of persons, chosen as
  representatives, express public will
• representatives held accountable at periodic
  elections
• government with the consent of the governed

7
Dictatorship

• Oldest and most common form of government known
  to history
• Those who rule cannot be held accountable to the
  will of the people
• government not accountable for its policies

8
Dictatorship

• Autocracy
• single person holds political power
• Oligarchy
• power to rule held by small, self-appointed elite
• Both are authoitarian, with most modern
  dictatorships being totalitarian

9
Geographic Distribution of Power

• Unitary
• centralized government (all powers belong to a
  single, central agency)
• central (national) government creates local units
  as a convenience
• most governments in the world today are unitary
• Great Britain - Parliament

10
Geographic Distribution of Power

• Federalism
• powers of government divided between central and
  local govts
• authority superior to both makes this division of
  powers work
• each level has its own set of laws, officials,
  and agencies
• approx. 25-30 in world

11
Geographic Distribution of Power

• Confederate Government
• alliance of independent states
• central govt only handles matters that member
  states assign to it
• limited powers in defense and foreign commerce
• no laws that apply directly to citizens
• very rare (European Union)
• twice in our history (1781-1789, 1861-1865)

12
Relationship Between Exec. Legis.

• Presidential Government
• branches are separate, independent, and coequal
• chief executive chosen independently of the
  legislative
• checks balances
• written constitution provides for separation
• US is leading example (invented the form)

13
Relationship Between Exec. Legis.

• Parliamentary Government
• Exec. is made up of prime minister and his
  cabinet
• all are members of the legislative
• prime minister is leader of majority party
• avoids deadlocks that presidential governments
  face
• no checks and balances