What is Government

Government

• Government – • The formal definition = The institution through

which a society makes and enforces its laws or public policies.

• Informal definition – how a country operates• Where does our government fit in compared

to other countries?

Recall

• What types of government powers are most common? In our country we have THREE separate powers….

• Legislative = Create laws• Executive = Enforce or execute laws• Judicial = Interpret and review laws

Forms of Government• Before we can understand our government, we need to

know the different types of government• Most countries operate under a Constitution• Constitution = a written document that describes the

role of government• UNITARY – a form of gov’t in which all the political

power is given to the CENTRAL (National) gov’t – they do not have separate State/ Local gov’t

• The centralized government determines how much power is given to state/local gov’t.

• This is the most common form of gov’t in the World today

• Ex: Great Britain

Forms of Government

• Confederal (Confederate) – A form of gov’t in which there is NO strong Central gov’t. The political powers are divided loosely among states.

• This is a VERY weak form of government• NO country today operates under a strictly

Confederate style government• Ex: Civil War – Southern states succeeded and

became a confederation

Forms of Government

• Federal – a form of government in which the political powers are divided among the Central (National) gov’t and the State gov’t. The Constitution gives the State gov’t powers that the Central gov’t CANNOT take away!!!

• The States can establish their own Constitution & gov’t – as long as it does not go against the Central gov’t

• Ex: The United States• U.S. was the first to use Federal Government

Recap Forms of Government

• Which form of gov’t gives the political powers to the Central gov’t? The Central gov’t dictates how much powers the lower gov’t can have.

• UNITARY• Which form of gov’t consists of a loose association of states

with no/weak Central gov’t?• CONFEDERAL• Which form of gov’t combines the other two types of gov’t,

and allows BOTH state and central powers to exercise rights?

• FEDERAL

U.S.

• We have a Federal Government – meaning we have a National government and State/Local government that work together. Both have their own guidelines or Constitutions

• We are a Republic - meaning the ultimate political power belongs to the PEOPLE!!!

• How are we a Republic?• We use Democracy to carry out our Republican form of

government – allow people to represent or vote on leaders – this is known as Representative Democracy – we vote on people to represent our ideas!

• The U.S. Was the first country to establish this form of government in 1787 under the U.S. Constitution

Why does it matter?

• Why does understanding different forms of government concern you?

• As a good citizen it’s your responsibility to understand how other cultures operate.

• Knowing how another country runs gives you a better understanding

• The U.S. communicates with the rest of the world---we are NOT isolated! Even though we are our own country and no one tell us how to run our government, we still have to maintain peaceable relations with the rest of the world.

How gov’t is carried out

• Different countries have different leaders and systems of carrying out government. We will discuss the most common systems used to carry out the THREE forms of gov’t – do not confuse the method/system with the form of government.

• Parliamentary• Presidential• Monarchy• Dictatorship

Details• Within each form a government, there are bodies to help carry out

government• Parliamentary System –– One body shares the Leg and Exec powers

(sometimes judicial too). So, the same people who make laws also enforce them

• Presidential System – Powers to execute laws are given to an executive branch – other branches exist to make and uphold laws SEPARATION OF POWERS – can be appointed or elected

• Monarchy – a king/queen/emperor have the political power. • Constitutional Monarchy – king/queen/emperor is seen only as

figurehead and lack any real political power• Dictatorship – When an authoritative / militaristic person occupies

political control of a country – does not listen to the will of the people