Forms of Governments

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Forms of Governments
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To study governments, geographers look at the
following

• Types Who rules and who participates.
• Systems How the power is distributed.

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Types of Government are based on one key
question Who governs and what is the citizen
participation?

• There are three types of governments
• Autocracy, Oligarchy, and Democracy

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Autocracy

• Government in which the power to govern is held
  by one person.
• Generally the power to rule is inherited or by
  military force.
• There are three
• types of Autocracy.

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1 Dictatorship

• The leader has not been elected and uses force to
  control all aspects of social and economic life.
• Examples Adolf Hitler in Germany and Joseph
  Stalin in the Soviet Union

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2 AbsoluteMonarchy

• A monarchy has a king, queen, emperor or empress.
• The power is usually inherited or passed down
  from family members.
• The monarch has absolute power meaning they can
  make all decisions without consulting anyone.

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Oligarchy

• A government in which a few people such as a
  dominant clan or clique have power.
• The group gets their power from either military,
  wealth or social status.
• Elections may be held but offer
• only one candidate.
• Examples Greek city states

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Democracy

• In a democracy, the government is Rule by the
  people

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In a democracy.

• Individual freedom and equality is valued.
• Free elections are held
• Decisions are based on majority rule.
• All candidates can express their views freely.
• Citizens vote by secret ballot.

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Democratic Governments

• There are two major forms of democratic
  governments
• Parliamentary
• Presidential

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Parliamentary Democracy

• Voters elect members to the Parliament
  (legislature)
• Parliament has two Houses
• House of Commons The Political Party with the
  most votes in the House of Commons chooses the
  Prime Minister, the governments leader with no
  set length of term.
• House of Lords Little power with most members
  being nobles having inherited their titles

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Presidential Democracy

• Voters elect legislators
• Voters elect (indirectly) the president.
• Therefore, in the presidential system voters have
  a more direct say about those who serve in two
  branches of the government
• Legislative
• Executive

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Parliamentary System Presidential System
Executive
Executive
Legislative
Select
Elect
Elect
Legislative
Elect
Citizens
Citizens
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Constitutional Monarchy

• Kings, queens or emperors share power with
  elected legislatures.
• Generally the Kings are northing more than
  figureheads.
• The government is a democratic one that limits
  the monarchs power.
• Example Great Britain

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Systems of Government are based on one question
How is the power distributed?

• There are three ways governments distribute
  power
• Unitary
• Confederation
• Federal

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Unitary

• One central government controls everything.
• Power is not shared between states, counties or
  provinces.
• Examples United Kingdom, France, the
  Netherlands, and Spain

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Unitary
Ways Government Distributes Power
Regional Authority
Regional Authority
Central Authority
Regional Authority
Regional Authority
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Confederation

• A voluntary association of independent states
  that agrees to follow a powerful central
  government.
• Nations can choose to follow or not follow the
  lead of the weak central government.
• Examples Confederate States of America
• ( 1861-1865), Russian Federation.

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Confederation
Ways Government Distributes Power
Regional Authority
Regional Authority
Central Authority
Regional Authority
Regional Authority
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Federal

• Power is shared by a powerful central government.
• States or provinces are given considerable self
  rule, usually through their own legislatures.
• Examples United States, Germany

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Federation / Federal
Ways Government Distributes Power
Regional Authority
Regional Authority
Central Authority
Regional Authority
Regional Authority
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Ways Government Distributes Power
All key powers are held by the central government
State/regional authorities hold most of the power
Unitary

• Confederation

• Federal

Strong central government
Weaker central government
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How Governments Determine Citizen Participation
High Participation
High Participation
General Citizens Participation
Select Citizens Participation
Citizen Participation
Government Power
Government Power
Citizen Participation
Government Power
Low or No Participation
Low or No Participation
Low or No Participation

• Democracy

Oligarchic
Autocratic
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Putting it all together.

• The United Kingdom is an autocratic
  constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary
  democracy and a unitary system.
• The United States is a presidential democracy
  with a federal system.
• What do those statements mean?

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What do you remember?

• What are the three types of governments?
• What are the three systems of government?