Forms of Government

1
Chapter 1

• Section 2
• Forms of Government

2
Classifying Governments

• No two governments are ever exactly alike.
• Over time political scientists have developed
  many basis upon which to classify governments

3
Classifying Governments
Who can participate in the governing process
4
Classifying Governments
The geographic distribution of governmental
power within the state
5
Classifying Governments
The relationship between the legislative and
executive branches
6
Who can participate in the governing process

• Democracy
• Supreme political power rests with the people
• The people hold the sovereign power
• Government is conducted only by and with the
  consent of the governed

Government of the people, by the people and for
the people.
7
Who can participate in the governing process

• Dictatorship
• A dictatorship exists where those that rule
  cannot be held responsible to the will of the
  people

Muammar Qaddafi
8
Who can participate in the governing process

• Dictatorship
• The government is not accountable for its
  policies.

Joseph Stalin
9
Who can participate in the governing process

• Dictatorships are sometimes classified as an
• Autocracy
• a government in which a single person holds
  unlimited political power
• Oligarchy
• a government in which the power to rule is
  held by a small, usually self-appointed elite

10
Dictatorships

• Dictatorships by their very nature are
  authoritarian
• Meaning
• Those in power hold absolute, unchallengeable
  authority over the people

11
Dictatorships

• Modern dictatorships tend to be totalitarian
• Meaning
• They exercise complete power over nearly
  every aspect of human affairs

12
Geographic Distribution of Power

• Unitary
• Federal
• Confederate

13
Geographic Distribution of Power

• Unitary Government
• A centralized Government
• All powers held by the government belong to a
  single, central agency
• Most governments in the world are unitary
• Do not confuse unitary with dictatorship
• In the unitary form, all of the powers held by
  the government are concentrated in the central
  government but the government may not be
  all-powerful

14
Geographic Distribution of Power

• Federal
• A government in which the powers are divided
  between a central government and several local
  governments
• An authority superior to both the central and
  local government makes this Division of power on
  a geographic basis

15
Geographic Distribution of Power

• Confederation
• An alliance of independent states
• Decentralized
• Loose knit
• In other words, independent states that align but
  maintain separate identities.

16
Relationship between Legislative and Executive
branches

• Presidential Government
• The executive and legislative branches are
  separate, independent of one another, and coequal
• The chief executive (president) is chosen
  independently of the legislature, holds office
  for a fixed term, and has broad powers not
  subject to the direct control of the legislative
  branch

17
Relationship between Legislative and Executive
branches

• Parliamentary
• In parliamentary government, the executive is
  made up of the prime minister or premier, and
  that officials cabinet
• The prime minister and cabinet themselves are
  members of the legislative branch, the parliament

18
Relationship between Legislative and Executive
branches

• The prime minister is the leader of the majority
  party and is chosen by that body
• The executive is thus chosen by the legislature,
  is a part of it, and is subject to its direct
  control

19
Relationship between Legislative and Executive
branches

• If the parliament defeats the prime minister and
  the cabinet on an important matter, the
  government may receive a vote of no confidence,
  and the prime minister and his cabinet must
  resign from office