Systems of Governments

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Systems of Governments

• Name____________________________
• Mods____________________________
• World History 101 __________________

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Ohio Content Standards

• Government
• Systems of
• Government
• 1. Explain how various systems of governments
  acquire, use
• and justify their power.
• 2. Analyze the purposes, structures and
  functions of various
• systems of government including
• a. Absolute monarchies
• b. Constitutional monarchies
• c. Parliamentary democracies d.
  Presidential democracies
• e. Dictatorships
• f. Theocracies.

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I. Absolute Monarchies

• A. Absolute Monarch A king or queen who has
  unlimited power and seeks to control all aspects
  of society.
• B. Absolute Monarchs acquire power through birth.
• C. Disadvantages of Absolute Monarchies
• 1. an absolute monarch cannot be questioned.
• 2. The freedoms of individual citizens are
  often limited.
• 3. Freedom of speech and press are not
  guaranteed.
• 4. There are few checks on authority
  therefore, a king or queen does not have to
  respect the rights of the people.

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II. Examples of Absolute Monarchies

• A. Then
• 1. The Reign of King Louis XIV of France
  1643-1715
• 2. King George III of England

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B. Now

• 1. Saudi Arabia

a. The worlds leading producer of crude oil. b.
Present ruler is King Abdullah. c. Opposition to
the king is not tolerated.
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• d. Citizens are not free to speak out against the
  government.
• e. Citizens cannot take
  part in elections to choose public
  officials.
• f. All Saudi officials are appointed by
  the king, not elected by the people.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia
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II. Constitutional Monarchies

• A. Constitutional Monarch A system of governing
  in which the rulers power is limited by law.
• B. The countrys laws are determined by a
  Constitution or Bill of Rights.
• C. A constitution is a document that lists many
  things that a ruler cannot do.
• D. For example, No interfering with freedom of
  speech or religion.
• E. Constituitions limit a monarchs power
  therefore real power belongs to elected
  officials, not the king or queen.
• F. Usually constitutional monarchies have a
  legislative branch.
• G. In England, the legislative branch is called
  Parliament.

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III. Example of a Constitutional Monarchy

• A. Great Britain Queen Elizabeth II
• B. Although Great Britain has a royal family, it
  also has a Constitution, Parliament, and a Prime
  Minister.

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IV. Dictatorships

• A. Dictatorship A system ruled by a dictator
  possessing absolute power and absolute authority.
• B. A dictator usually takes power of a
  preexisting government by military force.
• C. This take-over is called a coup detat.
• D. Dictators usually appoint a police force that
  uses threats and actual force to stop anyone from
  saying anything against the dictatorship.

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V. Examples of Dictators of the Past and Present

• A. Adolf Hitler B. Saddam Hussein Nazi
  Germany Iraq

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V. Cont.

• A. Dictatorships are dangerous. A dictator rules
  with unlimited power and therefore can get away
  with inhumane treatment of their citizens.
• B. Adolf Hitler was responsible for the mass
  slaughter (genocide) of 6 million Jewish people
  during WWII.

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• C. Human Rights Watch estimates that Saddam's
  1987-1988 campaign of terror against the Kurds
  killed at least 50,000 and possibly as many as
  100,000 Kurds. The Iraqi regime used chemical
  agents to include mustard gas and nerve agents in
  attacks against at least 40 Kurdish villages
  between 1987-1988. The largest was the attack on
  Halabja which resulted in approximately 5,000
  deaths

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• D. North Korea Kim Jong Il of North Korea.
• E. Kim Jong Ils regime is very secretive and
  completely isolated from the rest of the world.
• F. He has been accused of supporting terrorism
  and in 2005 announced that North Korea had
  developed nuclear weapons.

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VI. Theocracy

• A. Theocracy A government controlled by
  religious leaders.
• B. A present day example of a theocracy is Iran.
• C. Iran is officially titled, The Islamic
  Republic of Iran

HEOCRACY
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VI. Theocracy Cont.

• D. All secular (nonreligious) laws passed in Iran
  are reviewed by a 12 member Council of Guardians.
  
• E. The Council is made up of six Muslim religious
  experts and six Muslim attorneys.
• F. All laws must be consistent with Islamic
  religious laws.

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VII. Parliamentary Democracies

• A. Democracy a government where the power is
  vested in the citizens to make laws for their own
  society usually involving periodically held free
  elections.
• B. Power for a democracy is acquired through
  elections.
• C. Parliamentary Democracies A body of
  representatives elected by the people of a nation
  to make laws.
• D. Once elected, the members of parliament elect
  a chief executive and cabinet to run the
  government.

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• E. France, India, Israel and Canada are examples
  of a Parliamentary Democracies.
• F. Remember that Democracy means Freedom for its
  citizens.

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VIII. Presidential Democracy

• A. Presidential democracy All citizens can vote
  to decide who becomes the chief executive
  (president) of a nation.
• B. This means that a president must answer
  directly to the people.
• C. The United States is an example of a
  presidential democracy.
• D. The President serves as the Executive Branch
  of the countrys government.

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Quiz Study Questions

• You need to know.
• Definitions of the six types of governments.
• How leaders acquire power in the six government
  system
• ex.)Absolute Monarchy Power passed down
  from a parent to a child
• Dictatorship Power taken by force
• Representative Democracy leaders are
  elected by the people of the nation
• 3. Countries government systems
• ex.) Presidential Democracy U.S.A.
• Theocracy Iran
• Dictatorship Saddam Hussein/Iraq,
  Hitler/Nazi Germany