Forms of Governments

To study governments, geographers

look at the following:

Forms– Who rules and who participates.

Systems – How the power is distributed.

Types of Government are based on

one key question: Who governs and

what is the citizen participation?

There are three types of governments:

Autocracy, Oligarchy, and Democracy

Autocracy

Definition:

Government in which the power to govern

is held by one person.

Generally the power to rule is inherited or

by military force.

There are three

types of Autocracy.

#1 Dictatorship

The leader has not been

elected and uses force

to control all aspects of

social and economic life.

Examples: Adolf Hitler in

Germany and Joseph

Stalin in the Soviet

Union

#2 Absolute

Monarchy

A monarchy has a king, queen, emperor

or empress.

The power is usually inherited or

passed down from family members.

The monarch has absolute power

meaning they can make all decisions

without consulting anyone.

#3 Constitutional Monarchy

Kings, queens or emperors share power

with elected legislatures.

Generally the Kings are northing more

than figureheads.

The government is a democratic one

that limits the monarchs power.

Example: Great Britain

Oligarchy

1. A government in which a few people such as a dominant clan or clique have power.

2. The group gets their power from either military, wealth or social status.

3. Elections may be held but offer

only one candidate. Examples: Greek city states

In a democracy…. 1. There are two forms of democracy

Direct Democracy – People vote on all the issues.

Representative Democracy – People elect representatives and give them the power to vote on issues.

• Example: United States

2. Individual freedom and equality is valued; decisions

are based on majority rule.

3. Free elections are held; citizens vote by secret ballot.

All candidates can express their views freely.

Democratic

Definition: “Rule by the people”

Democratic Governments

There are two major forms of

democratic governments:

Parliamentary

Presidential

Parliamentary Democracy Voters elect members to

the Parliament

(legislature)

Parliament has two

Houses:

House of Commons: The

Political Party with the

most votes in the House of

Commons chooses the

Prime Minister, the

government’s leader with

no set length of term.

House of Lords: Little

power with most members

being nobles having

inherited their titles

Citizens

Legislative (Parliament)

Executive (Prime Minister)

Ele

ct

Sel

ect

Presidential Democracy

Voters elect legislators

Voters elect (indirectly)

the president.

Therefore, in the

presidential system

voters have a more

direct say about those

who serve in two

branches of the

government :

Legislative

Executive

Legislative Executive

Citizens

Systems of Government are based

on one question: How is the

power distributed?

There are three ways governments

distribute power:

Unitary

Confederation

Federal

Unitary

One central government controls

everything.

Power is not shared between states,

counties or provinces.

Examples : United Kingdom, France,

the Netherlands, and Spain

Confederation

A voluntary association of independent states

that agrees to follow a powerful central

government.

Nations can choose to follow or not follow the

lead of the weak central government.

Examples: Confederate States of America

( 1861-1865), Russian Federation.

Federal

Power is shared by a powerful central

government.

States or provinces are given

considerable self rule, usually through

their own legislatures.

Examples: United States, Germany

Putting it all together….

The United Kingdom is an autocratic constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy and a unitary system.

The United States is a presidential democracy with a federal system.

What do those statements mean?

What do you remember?

What are the three types of

governments?

What are the three systems of

government?