Government Basics

Ways Governments Distribute Power

• Unitary

• Confederation

• Federal

Federal

• Power is divided between one central authority and several regional authorities

• Example: United States has federal government that meets in Washington DC and state governments in each state

– Federal Government – Power to declare war– State Government – Power to set speed limit

• Countries in Middle East: Pakistan, United Arab Emirates, Iraq (new government)

Federation / FederalWays Government Distributes Power

Regional Authority

Central Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Unitary

• Power is held by ONE central authority

• Regional authorities do NOT have power

• Examples in Middle East: Afghanistan, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Syria, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen

Central Authority

Unitary

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Ways Government Distributes Power

Confederation

• Voluntary association of states that often only give a few powers to the central authority

• States generally have great deal of independence and are more important than the central government

• Example: OPEC – Member nations (regional authority) only give OPEC (central authority) right to decide amount and price of barrel of oil

Central Authority

ConfederationWays Government Distributes Power

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Question:

Do the citizens (people) of the nation have a say in

their government?

Governments and Citizen Participation: Autocracy

• Autocratic – one person possesses unlimited power; citizens have limited if any role in government

• Forms of Autocratic Governments:– Absolute or Totalitarian Dictatorships– Absolute Monarchies

Government and Citizen Participation: Oligarchy

• Government by the FEW; citizens have very limited role in government

• Government run by small group that gets power from military, social status, wealth, religion, or a combination of these

• Examples: – Communist countries like China – leaders in

political party and military control government– Afghanistan under the Taliban

Government and Citizen Participation: Democracy

• Citizens influence the government by voting; citizen participation is highest in this form of government

• Two basic types of democratic governments:– Parliamentary Democracy– Presidential Democracy