What types of governments exist in the world today?

Types of Governments Distribution of Power & Citizen Participation

Preview Question

What types of governments exist in the world today?

Terms to Know

Distribution of PowerUnitaryFederalConfederation

Citizen Participation AutocracyOligarchyDemocratic

ParliamentaryPresidential

Unitary Distribution of Power

Power is held by one central authority.

The central government maintains all control.

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Central Authority

Central Authority circle is larger because it holds more power than the regional authorities.

List of countries with Unitary Governments (non-comprehensive)

Albania Belarus Belize Bolivia Bulgaria Chile Colombia Costa Rica Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador EstoniaFiji Finland France Greece Grenada Guatemala

Guyana Haiti Honduras Hungary Iceland Indonesia Ireland Italy JamaicaLatvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Norway Panama Paraguay

Peru Poland Portugal Romania Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Suriname Sweden Trinidad and Tobago Turkey UkraineUnited KingdomUruguay

Federal (Federation) Distribution of Power

Power is divided between one central and several regional authorities.

Power is shared between the regional and central authorities.

Central Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Central Authority & Regional Authority share similar amounts of power.

List of countries with Federal Governments (24)

Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Brazil Canada Comoros Ethiopia Germany India Malaysia

Mexico Micronesia Nigeria Pakistan Russia St. Kitts and Nevis South Africa Spain Switzerland United Arab Emirates United States of America Venezuela

Voluntary association of independent states

Regional authorities grant a few powers to the central authority while retaining considerable independence.

Agree to certain limitations on their freedom of action.Less binding than a federation.

Secure some common purpose.

Confederation Distribution of Power

Central Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority circles are larger because they hold more power than the Central Authority.

Iroquois Confederacy (1090–present)European UnionOPEC

List of Confederations – Today

Historic confederations(non-comprehensive)

New England Confederation (1643–1684)

United States of America under the Articles of Confederation (1781–1789)

Confederate States of America (1861–1865)

Peru-Bolivian Confederation (1836–1839)

Arab Islamic Republic (confederation de-facto; 1974, Libya &Tunisia)

Serbia and Montenegro (2003–2006)

Ways Government Distributes Power

FederalUnitary Confederation

All key powers are held by the

central government

State/regional authorities hold

most of the power

Strong central government

Weaker central government

Power divided between the central

and regional governments

Autocracy (Autocratic) (Citizen Participation)

Political power is held by a single self-appointed ruler with unlimited power.

Focus is to control all aspects of the political process

Maintain power through inheritance or violent use of military and police power.

The oldest and most common forms of government.

The citizen has limited, if any, role in government.

Forms of Autocratic Governments

Absolute or Totalitarian DictatorshipIdeas of a single leader glorified.Government is not responsible to the people.People lack the power to limit their rulers.Government tries to control all aspects of social & economic life.

Examples – Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin

Absolute MonarchyMonarch exercises the supreme powers of government with unlimited power.Position is usually inherited.People lack the power to limit their rulers.

Absolute monarchs are rare today. From the 1400 – 1700’s they ruled most of Western Europe.

Examples- King of Saudi Arabia

Oligarchy (Citizen Participation)

A government in which a few people have power.Especially for corrupt and selfish purposes.The group gets its power from military power, social power, wealth, religion or a combination.

Political opposition is usually suppressed- sometimes violently.

The citizen has a very limited role.

Examples- Communist countries such as China.

Autocracy & Oligarchy Review

Sometimes claim they rule for the people.In reality, the people have very little say in both types of government.

Examples . . . May hold elections with only one candidate or control the results in various ways.

Even when these governments have a legislature or national assembly, they often only approve decisions made by the leaders.

DemocracyIn a democracy, the government is elected by the people.

Everyone who is eligible to vote has a chance to have their say over who runs the country.

How is it different from an Autocracy or Oligarchy?Democracy – public involvementOligarchy – government controlled by particular social class or group Monarchy/Dictatorship – government controlled by a single person

A democracy is determined either directly or through elected representatives.

2 Types of Democratic CountriesParliamentary

Head of the executive branch is chosen from the legislature.Prime Minister is accountable to their party in the legislature.Stays in power as long as their party stays in power.

Example . . . Great Britain.

PresidentialDemocratically elected position

Independent of the legislature

A president presides over an executive branch that is separate from the legislature

Examples . . . USA, Mexico

Summarizing ActivityWorking with your partner, decide which forms of government would fit the following situations:

After a civil war, an individual takes total control of the government; she has no experience in leading a government. She disbands the national congress and retains all power in government to herself.

Dictatorship

The new President elect wins the election by a landslide. Over 90% of the citizens vote for the new leader.

Presidential Democracy

A family in a remote area of Africa has taken control of a native tribe. Power has been passed down between several generations and continues to remain within this family.

Oligarchy

The new Prime Minister wins election narrowly due to his political party barely gaining enough seats in Parliament.

Parliamentary Democracy