Forms of Government

By Prof. Jet. T. Castillo

Why do we need a government?
• Imagine life without a government?
• Anarchy
Protection of society and its members
• Security of persons
• Security of property
• Administration of justice
• Preservation of state from external danger
• Dealing of state with foreign powers
• Advancement of physical, social, and cultural well-being of people
Forms of Government
• Many dichotomies

• Dichotomy 1: Based on Freedom and Rights of the People

• Dichotomy 2: Based on Number of Rulers
• Dichotomy 3: Based on Extent of Powers of the Central Government
• Dichotomy 4: Based on the Relationship of the Branches of Gov’t.

• States may adopt combinations of these dichotomies

A. Based on Freedom and Rights of People
• DEMOCRACY • COMMUNISM
DEMOCRACY
• People are powerful in the sense that they have a voice in running the
government.
• They have a wide range of rights and liberties.
• People have freedom to be who they want to be.
• Free market economy, capitalism.
COMMUNISM
• Government has full control of the political and economic lives of the
people.
• Equal distribution of wealth. No rich, no poor.
• People have no/very limited rights and liberties
• One cannot criticize the government
• Government assigns jobs to citizens
• Salaries are uniform and food is sometimes rationed.
• Why? For equal distribution of wealth.
B. Based on Number of Rulers
ONE PERSON MANY PERSONS

• Monarchy • Aristocracy
• Fascism • Oligarchy
• Democracy
• Communism
One Person

• Also called Autocracy

Monarchy
• Rule of the Monarch
• Monarch- king or queen
• Other states may have a different title- Emperor, Sultan, Czar, etc.
• The Monarch is royal-blooded
Two Types of Monarchies
ABSOLUTE MONARCHY
• The monarch has absolute
powers
• What he says is the law of the
land
• No need for a constitution
CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY
• There is a constitution
• There is a parliament doing the
nitty-gritty of governance.
• The monarch is just a figure-
head.
Fascism
• Rule of a Dictator
• Everything for the glory of the state.
Many Persons
Aristocracy
• Rule of the Aristocrats
• “rule of the best”
• Happened in ancient Greece
• A group of people ruled each polis
Oligarchy
• Rule of the Oligarchs
• Small group of non-royal-blooded
people
• Compared to the aristocrats, the
oligarchs are not the best in society
• They are usually selfish, corrupt, and
are gluttons of wealth, pride, and power
Democracy
• Rule of the People
• Two Types:
• Direct Democracy – all people decide matters in a meeting.
• Also called Pure Democracy
• Indirect Democracy – people select representatives, then the
representatives meet together to decide matters.
• Also called Representative Democracy
Communism
• A Central Committee runs the government
• They are in charge of keeping the “equal distribution of wealth” and
discipline in the state.
C. Based on the Extent of Powers of the
National Government

• UNITARY • FEDERAL
UNITARY
• The national government is in-charge of all affairs.
• National government tells the local governments what to do.
UNITARY
• Examples:
• Philippines
• Indonesia
• Singapore
FEDERAL
• There is a national government which takes care of
national affairs.
• The state is also divided into FEDERAL UNITS.
• Each Federal Unit is governed by a FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT.
• Each Federal Government is supreme in its own
sphere, having its own set of legislature, laws, and
other agencies.
• Thus, laws may vary from one Federal Unit to
another.
FEDERAL
• Examples:
• USA
• Germany
D. Based on the Relationship of the
Executive and Legislative Branches of
Government
• PRESIDENTIAL • PARLIAMENTARY
3 BRANCHES
•
OF GOVERNMENT
1. Legislative Makes laws
• The senators and congressmen/assemblymen

2. Executive • Implements the laws

• The President/Prime Minister, cabinet, LGU

3. Judiciary • Convicts or acquits people accused of law-breaking

• The judges
HEAD OF GOVERNMENT AND HEAD OF
STATE
1. HEAD OF • The person who is really in-charge and
GOVERNME responsible for running the nitty-gritty of
NT governance.

• The person who symbolically represents the

2. HEAD OF state. He may be the head of government at
STATE the same time; or he may be another person
aside from the head of government.
PRESIDENTIAL
• The leader is the PRESIDENT
• The Head of Government is ALSO the Head of State
• He is elected by direct democracy
• He is independent of the Legislative
• In the same way, the Legislative is also independent from the President
(Chief Executive).
PRESIDENTIAL
PRESIDENTIAL
• Examples:
• Philippines
• USA
• Indonesia
PARLIAMENTARY
• The leader is the PRIME MINISTER
• He is the Head of Government.
• There may be another person who is the Head of State (like the King)
• The Prime Minister (PM) is elected by indirect democracy
• People elect members of the Parliament. Then Parliament select the PM among
themselves.
• Since the process involves indirect democracy, the PM is a creation of the
Legislative/the Parliament.
• The Legislative can fire the PM anytime.
PARLIAMENTARY
PARLIAMENTARY
• Examples:
• UK
• Canada
• Japan
• Malaysia
Classification of the Philippine Government
• Democratic
• Unitary
• Presidential
• Or Oligarchy?