what is Government ?

 A Government is an organization of people that have the

power to rule in a in a territory, according to law . This
territory may be a country ,a state or province within a
country ,or a region .

 Government makes laws, rules and regulations ,collect

taxes and print money .
Why we need a Government ?
We need government for the following reasons-
 To make decisions and get things done.
Example- Where to build roads and schools, or how to reduce petrol price

hike and ways to supply electricity etc.

 To take action on various social issues.
Example- It takes many initiatives to for the development of poor. It
launch various schemes for poor farmers .
 To run postal and railway services.
 To protect boundaries of the nation and maintaining peaceful relation
with other countries.
 To ensure all its citizens have enough to eat and have good health
facilities.
 To organize aid and assistance for the affected people during natural
disasters like tsunami or an earthquake.
 To punish criminals by courts. Because courts are also part of the
government .
Levels of Government

Local level Village, towns and locality.

State level Covers entire states like Haryana

and Rajasthan.

Central level Relates to the entire country.

 Types of Government
Some forms of Government are as followed-
1- Monarchy- It is a such kind of government where all decisions are taken
by an emperor or kings . They are the ultimate rulers .
2- Oligarchy – It is a type of government in which few people rule.
Example- Ancient Sparta.
3- Aristocracy- it is a system of government that gives priority to few people,
usually richest and Elite class of the society . The right to rule is
passed down within the family.
Example- Ancient Thebes, Greece.
4- Tyranny- In this form of government ruler has entire power ,not limited by
any constitution or by other officials .
Example- Hippias, the last tyrant of Athens.
5- Dictatorship- Here one person has seized power violently and is the sole
ruler of life or until he/she is overthrown.
Example- Some African countries.
6-Anarchy – Anarchists believes that government is evil and it limits individual
freedoms. So anarchy is no form of government at all.
7-Democracy-
 In this type of government ,it is the people who give the
government this power.
 They do this through elections in which they vote for
particular persons and elect them.
 Once elected ,these persons form the government.
 In a democracy the government has to explain its actions and
defend its decisions to the people.
 Democratic form of governments in our times are usually
referred to as representative democracy where people choose
their representatives through election ,elected representatives
make decisions for entire population.
Example- India and USA
 Women’s participation in election process -
 In the earliest forms government allowed only men who owned property
and were educated to vote.
 The Poor ,The property less people ,uneducated and women were not
allowed to vote
 Women struggle to vote got strengthened during the First World War. This
movement is called the women’s suffrage movement as the term suffrage
usually means right to vote
 The suffragettes demanded the right to vote for all women and to get their
demands heard they chained railings in public places.
 Many suffragettes were imprisoned and went on hunger strikes .
 American women got right to vote in 1920 while women in the UK got to
vote on the same terms as men some years later, in 1928
 In India ,only a small minority was allowed to vote and they therefore
came together to determine the fate of majority.
 Several people including Gandhiji were shocked at the unfairness of this
practice and demanded that all adults have the right to vote. This known as
universal adult franchise. And finally on its independence from UK India
granted equal voting rights to all men and women .
What did we learned today-
1.What is government ?
2.Why do we need a government ?
3.Levels of Government
4.Types of government
5.Women ‘s participation in election process.
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