Middle East Unit Three Government

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Middle East Unit ThreeGovernment Economics
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Part One Intro into Governments

• A nations type of government refers to how that
  states executive, legislative, and judicial
  organs are organized.
• All nations need some sort of government to avoid
  anarchy.
• Democratic governments are those that permit the
  nations citizens to manage their government
  either directly or through elected
  representatives.
• This is opposed to authoritarian governments that
  limit or prohibit the direct participation of its
  citizens.

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Theocracy
A form of government in which God or a deity is
recognized as the supreme civil ruler. Often
religious institutional representatives (i.e. a
church), replaces or is mixed into the civilian
government. Can be an Oligarchy, Representative
Democracy, and even an Autocracy
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• Unitary government system the central
  government holds nearly all of the power.
• Local governments such as state or county systems
  may have some power at certain times, but they
  are basically under the control of the central
  government.
• Central government has the power to change the
  way state or county governments operate or
  abolish them altogether.
• Some unitary governments have elected officials
  who, once elected, may make and enforce laws
  without taking the opinions of those at lower
  levels of government into consideration.
• In a monarchy (area ruled by a king or emperor),
  the ruler and his advisors make most of the
  decisions this is an example
  of a unitary government
• Saudi Arabia is a monarchy
  and is an example of a unitary
• government

Blue Countries are Unitary
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• Federal government system a political system in
  which power is shared among different levels of
  government.
• The states have some powers that the federal
  government does not have such as the right to
  collect property taxes and determine sales taxes.
• The national government (or central government)
  also has some powers that the state does not,
  such as the right to declare war and make
  treaties with foreign countries
• In the Middle East, Israel is an
  example of a Federal government

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Confederation Government

• A confederation government system is one in which
  the local governments hold all of the power and
  the central government depends on the local
  governments for its existence
• The central government has only as much power as
  the local governments are willing to give
• The United Nations is a good example of a
  confederation
• The United Nations can only offer advice and
  assistance when the member nations agree to
  cooperate
• This organization is a regional group organized
  to help the member countries cooperate on
  economic matters, encourage cultural
  exchanges, and to help keep peace and
  stability in the region
• In the Middle East, OPEC is is an
  example of a Confederation
  government

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Autocratic Government

• An autocratic government is one in which the
  ruler has absolute power to do whatever he wishes
  and make and enforce whatever laws he chooses
• Individuals who live under autocratic governments
  do not have any rights to choose leaders or vote
  on which laws are made and put into practice
• People usually have little or no power to use
  against the government if they disagree with
  decisions that government or ruler has made
• An absolute monarchy such as Saudi
• Arabia, where the king has ultimate
• power, is one example

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• An oligarchy means rule by the few.
• In this form of government, a political party or
  other small group takes over a government and
  makes all of the major decisions.
• The people of the country have little choice but
  to go along with the decisions they make
• This sort of government can be very similar to an
  autocratic government.
• Iran could be described as an oligarchy,
  because a small group of religious and
  political leaders makes many of the
  important decisions

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• In a democratic government system, the people
  play a much greater role in decided who the
  rulers are and what decisions are made
• Democracy comes from the Greek word demos,
  which means people.
• In this form of government, a great deal of power
  is left in the hands of the people
• People who live in a democracy generally
  recognize that there must be some rules to
  organize society, but the goal is to leave as
  much individual freedom as possible.
• Decisions are often made by a majority of
  votes, but there are also laws in place
  to protect individual rights.
• In the Middle East, Israel is a good example
  of a democracy
• Those organizing the new government of Iraq
  are hoping to establish a democratic system

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• In a parliamentary form of democratic
  government, the people vote for those who
  represent the political party they feel best
  represents their views of how the government
  should operate.
• The legislature they elect, parliament, makes
  and carries out (enforces) the laws for the
  country.
• The leader of a parliamentary form of government
  is usually chosen by the party that winds the
  majority of representatives in the legislature.
• This leader is often called a prime minister or
  premier and is recognized as the head of the
  government.
• The prime minister leads the executive branch of
  the government and must answer directly to the
  legislature for the actions and policies
  recommended.
• In many parliamentary governments, a head of
  state (president or king/queen) serves as
  ceremonial leader

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• The actual work of the parliament is led by the
  prime minister, who represents the leading
  political party in the country.
• He or she rules with the help of a cabinet, or
  group of advisors.
• A prime minister may be votes out of office if
  the party he or she leads lose power
• In the Middle East, Israel has a parliamentary
  government
• Its citizens elect representative to the national
  parliament called the Knesset.
• The political party that gets the most votes in
  the Knesset gets to choose the Prime Minister

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Presidential Government

• A presidential form of democratic government has
  a president, or chief executive, that is chosen
  separately from the legislature
• The legislature passes the laws, and it is the
  duty of the president to see that the laws are
  enforced
• The president holed power separately from the
  legislature, but he does not have the power to
  dismiss the legislature or force them to make
  particular laws
• The president is the official head of the
  government
• The legislature does not have the power to
  dismiss the president, except in extreme cases
  when the president has broken a law
• The president is BOTH the lead of state and the
  head of the government

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Iran
Section 2 Middle East Governments

• In 1979, the Islamic, or Iranian,
• revolution overthrew the monarchy that had
  ruled Iran for centuries.
• Today, Iran is a theocratic republic.
• This means that the government is based on
  religious principals (Islam) and the wishes of
  its people.
• The head of state is the Supreme Leader, who is
  always an ayatollah, or recognized religious
  authority.

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• The Supreme Leader is chosen by the
• Assembly of Experts and holds the
• position for life.
• The assembly consists of 86 religious scholars.
• The people elect the assembly and the
  president by popular vote.
• The president governs based on the religious
  guidance of the ayatollah.
• The supreme leader has final say over many of the
  presidents decisions.
• The president can serve two terms of four years
  each.
• Irans legislature is called the Consultative
  assembly.
• Citizens 16 and older can vote for the 290
  members of the Assembly.

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Israel

• Israel has a representative parliamentary
  democracy.
• The head of state is the president, who actually
  does not have much power.
• The Israeli prime minister is the head of the
  government.
• The legislature elects the prime minister
• The prime minister must organize a coalition to
  govern.
• A coalition is a group of several different
  political parties that have to cooperate in order
  to make decisions.

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• This type of government is known as a coalition
  government.
• The Israeli legislature is called the Knesset.
• The Knesset holds most of the power in the
  Israeli government.
• Israelis eighteen and older elect these officials
  by popular vote.
• While most of Israels Jewish citizens see
  themselves as secular, meaning they do not feel
  the countrys laws should be based solely on
  religious beliefs, many Israeli laws are
  influenced by the Orthodox Jews, those who want
  government policy to be made according to
  religious law
• These people represent about 25 percent of the
  Israeli population.
• Elections are held in Israel every four years

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Saudi Arabia

• Saudi Arabia's government is one of the few
  absolute monarchies in the world today.
• The government is a monarchy governed by Islamic
  Sharia Law.(law based on the Quran)
• In 2004, however, the Saudi government began
  allowing men who are 21 and older to vote for
  half of their local officials.
• Men can also vote for one-third of the members of
  the legislature.
• The king has a cabinet called the Council of
  Ministers.
• The Council mostly consists of members of the
  royal family.
• The Saudi legislature is called the Consultative
  Council.
• The king chooses two-thirds of the members of the
  Council.

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• Saudi Arabia is ruled by a hereditary monarchy,
  which means the government is led by a king who
  comes from a family that has ruled the country
  for several generations.
• The King of Saudi Arabia has been a member of the
  al-Saud family since the 1920s.
• The king and his advisors, many of whom are his
  family members or influential business and
  religions leaders in the country, make the laws
• There is no written constitution, and the king
  rules for life
• The people of Saudi Arabia do not choose the king
• When a king dies, the Saudi family announces who
  the next king will be from among their male
  family members
• Conservative religious leaders also have a great
  deal of influence in decisions
  made by the monarchy

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Religion and Southwest Asian Governments

• In the United States and many western nations,
  religion and politics tend to be separate.
• In much of the Middle East, however, religion and
  politics are often mixed.
• Countries like Iran based their systems of govt
  on religion.
• Religion is important even in countries that
  dont base their governments on religion.
• Many political parties in the Middle East are
  religious
• Many parties represent different branches of
  Islam.
• Since the majority of the people in the region
  are Muslim, religion also influences the way
  people vote
• Israel is a democratic state, but it was founded
  as a Jewish homeland.