Forms and Systems of Government Mr. Webster’s Class.

Forms and Systems of Government

Mr. Webster’s Class

Representative Democracy

• Representative Democracy (or Republic) is a form of government where citizens elect representatives to rule on their behalf.• The U.S.A. has a representative democracy form of government. Here, citizens vote for Congressman and Senators to make laws on their behalf.

Direct Democracy

• Direct Democracy is a form of government where everyone gets to vote on all laws.• An example of a direct democracy is ancient Athens.• Direct democracies work best

with small populations. The larger a population, the more difficult it is more people to vote.

Monarchy and Constitutional Monarchy• Monarchy is a form of government where power is held by one person who right to rule is based on birth.• Many monarchies are now

constitutional monarchies.• Constitutional Monarchy is a type of monarchy where the ruler’s power is strongly limited by a written constitution.• The United Kingdom is an example of a constitutional monarchy.

Autocracy

• Autocracy (or absolute monarchy) is a form of government where one person has unlimited power. • An example of a dictatorship is Nazi Germany.• Currently, many nations

throughout the world (especially Asia and Africa) have dictatorships. Examples include Syria, Iran, North Korea, China, and Cuba.

Communism

• Communism is a form of government where there are no social classes, the community owns all property, and wealth is distributed equally.• Communism stems from the ideas

of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. They believed that the working classes of the world would unite and overthrow capitalism.

• The best known examples of communism are China, Vietnam, Cuba, North Korea, and the former U.S.S.R.

Socialism

• Socialism is a form of government where the government takes an active role in controlling the economy.• Under socialism, the

government is supposed to protect the people so they cannot be taken advantage of by businesses.• Karl Marx argued that socialism is the period between capitalism and communism.

Oligarchy

• Oligarchy is a form of government where power is held by a small group of people there are generally wealthy.• There are few oligarchies

still in existence. A recent example of an oligarchy was pre-Apartheid South Africa when the country‘s white minority held virtually all the wealth and power.

Forms vs. Systems of Government

• The term “forms of government” generally refers to the ways in which different governments operate, including the rights and powers of both the people and their leaders.• The term “systems of government” generally refers to the ways in which government power is structured and distributed.

Federal

• A federal system of government is one where power is shared between a central government and states.• The United States has a federal system of government.• In the U.S., power is divided between the national, state, and local levels.

Confederal

• A confederal system of government is one where power is located with the independent states and there is little power in the central government.• The European Union and the United Nations are examples.• Both of these are international

systems of government that are made up of independent countries whose membership is voluntary.

Parliamentary

• A parliamentary system of government is one where power lies with the legislative body and the leader of the country is known as a prime minister and is part of the legislature.• Great Britain and Canada both have a parliamentary system of government.

Unitary

• A unitary a system of government where almost all power is located with the central government.• A great majority of

countries in the world have a unitary system of government.

Create a Visual Representation of a Specific Form or System of Government (worth 25 points)

• For this assignment, you are to create a visual representation of either a form (representative democracy, direct democracy, monarchy, constitutional monarchy, oligarchy, communism, socialism, autocracy) or system (federalism, confederalism, unitary, parliamentary) of government.• Your finished product needs to showcase:

• The name and definition of the form or system of government (5 points)• A visual representation that depicts the form or system of government

(5 points)• Accurate content (5 points)• Neatness (5 points)• Color (5 points)