Forms of Government

Wait--What is government anyway?

Government is a system of social control under

which the right to make laws, and the right to
enforce them, is given to a particular group in
society. Government power can be held by one
individual, a few, or a majority.
 A little more about government…
• Governments come in different forms. The
basic law determining the form of government
is called the constitution and may be
written, as in the United States, or largely
unwritten, as in Great Britain.
 A little more about government…
Modern governments have many jobs including:
• providing for the security of their country
• keeping order
• Establishing a system of justice so that people are
treated fairly
• providing welfare services to those in need
• regulating the economy (we’ll get to economic systems
in a bit!)
• establishing educational systems
***In extreme cases of governmental regulation, every
aspect of people's lives is controlled. This is called
totalitarianism. Can you think of a novel that has a
totalitarian government?
 Government
• We distinguish between forms of government
on the basis of its organizational structure
and the degree of control exercised over the
society.
 Forms of Government
We will be learning about the following forms of
government:
• Democracy
• Monarchy
• Theocracy
• Dictatorship
• Transitional
 Economic Systems
And a few economic systems…because they are
closely connected to governments!
• Capitalism
• Socialism
• Communism
Forms of Government
 Democracy
• Supreme power is given to the people and
exercised by them directly or indirectly
through a system of representation.
• Democratic countries have free elections
where all citizens have a vote.
 Democracy

Examples of Democratic countries today:

• United States of America
• Philippines
 Monarchy
• Rule by a single person (a king or queen), who is the
permanent head of state. The term is now used to refer
to countries with hereditary rulers. This means that
rule is passed down from parent to child.
• Constitutional monarchies are more common today.
Under this system, the powers of the king or queen are
restricted to those granted in the constitution.
• Most constitutional monarchies use a parliamentary
system in which the king or queen may have strictly
ceremonial duties. They often have a elected prime
minister who is the head of government.
 Monarchy
Examples of countries with monarchies today:
• Saudi Arabia
• Brunei
• Qatar
• Oman
• Great Britain (Constitutional Monarchy)
• Australia (Constitutional Monarchy)
• Morocco (Constitutional Monarchy)
• Bhutan (Constitutional Monarchy—new!)
 Theocracy
• In a theocracy, government leaders are
members of the clergy (church officials), and
the state's legal system is based on religious
law.
• Rulers are thought to be “divinely guided”.
 Theocracy
Examples of theocracies today:
• Iran
• The Vatican
 Dictatorship

• A government in which a single leader or party

exercises absolute control over all citizens and
every aspect of their lives.
• In most cases, this absolute power is exercised
in a cruel way.
• Other names for a dictatorship include:
Autocracy, Military Junta, Right
Wing, Authoritarianism, Totalitarianism or
Fascism
 Dictatorship
Examples of Dictatorships today:
• North Korea
• Libya
• Myanmar (Burma)
• Sudan
 Transitional
• A transitional government is one that is in the
process of changing from one form to another
• Countries with transitional governments are
often unstable
 Transitional
Examples of countries with transitional
governments:
• Afghanistan
• Iraq
 Economic Systems
Wait—what is economics about anyway?

Economics has to do with the

production, distribution and consumption of
goods and services…

**One minute table talk: What do the words

production, distribution and consumption
mean?
 Capitalism
• An economic system in which individuals and
corporations are free to invest in and own all
aspect of a business.
• In a capitalist country, people own their own
companies and can manage them to earn a
profit.
 Socialism

• Apolitical and economic system in which some businesses

are controlled by the government rather than by
individuals.
• In a socialist country, people have equal rights to various
benefits (health, education), and there is an effort to limit
the inequalities of wealth and power.
• Taxes are often quite high to provide for these benefits.
• People do hold private property in socialist countries.
• A country can be both socialist and democratic
 Communism

• A political and economic system in which the

government controls all business.
• Individual people cannot own property or industries
and in theory, people of all social classes are treated
equally.
• Communist countries have totalitarian governments.
• All communists are socialists, but not all socialists are
communists.
 Think of it as a spectrum…

Capitalism Socialism Communism

_______________________________________

United States
Canada
Sweden
China
Cuba
North Korea
 Still a little confused?
• Watch the brainpop on Communism for a bit
more explanation…