Government: the organization
that people set up to protect their
community and to enforce its rules
Monarchy
Main characteristic of a monarchy is that the
ruler inherits power
Monarchs fulfill their role as supreme ruler by
surrounding themselves with followers and
advisors who help them govern
Rule by Divine Right
• In older forms of monarchy, the ruler claimed
absolute power
• Claimed to hold this power by “divine right”, or
the will of God
• Ordinary people had no rights or freedoms,
except those that the monarch allowed.
Constitutional Monarchy
• In recent times, monarchs have shared power
with an elected legislature
• Subjects enjoy traditional, protected rights
• Great Britian is an example
Republic
• A government without a king or queen
• Often will choose representatives to make
decisions
• The United States is a republic
Democracy
• Government authority is based on the will of the people.
• Direct Democracy:
•
Invented by the Greeks in ancient Athens
•
Democracy is a greek word that means “people-power”
•
People voted on issues directly
• Representative Democracy:
•
Developed by the Romans
•
People elected representatives that met in assemblies
•
The United States has a Representative Democracy
Dictatorship
• A system of government in which a single person or small group exercises
complete power over others.
• A dictator does not inherit their power like a king, they either seize
control by force or are placed into a position of authority by others.
•
Sometimes the military will sometimes seize power and establish a dictatorship
• Citizens in a dictatorship have few rights
• Main advantage of a dictatorship is that decisions can be made quickly
Dictatorship: Example
• Robert Mugabe was elected as
President of Zimbabwe
• He quickly became a dictator
who used police to block
opponents from voting
• He even arrested and tortured
opponents
Totalitarian Systems
•
Dictators will often establish totalitarian
systems in which the government
controls all aspects of individual life
•
People can only belong to organizations
controlled by the government
• No separate political parties, labor
unions, or other organizations
•
Government controls or prohibits all
churches and religious groups
•
One leader or political party maintains
total control over all aspects of society
•
Government controls all television, radio,
and newspapers
•
All dissent is suppressed and citizens are
terrorized by secret police.
•
People who oppose the government are
arrested and sent to labor camps or killed
Theocracy
• A government run by religious leaders
•
Claims to be directed by God, or divinely blessed
• No legal separation between church and state
•
Citizens of other faiths are often excluded or expelled
• Iran’s Theocracy:
Iran’s Supreme Leader:
Ayatollah Khamenei
•
Muslim religious leaders seized power in Iran in 1979
•
Iranian Constitution emphasizes the importance of religion and
Islamic law (sharia law)
•
Has a Theocratic and democratic government
•
Voters elect the President and representatives to the legislature but
these officials remain subject to the control of Iran’s Supreme
Leader
•
The Supreme Leader is the head of government, even above the
elected President
•
The Supreme Leader interprets religious law, can dismiss the
President, and can declare war.
Iran’s President:
Hassan Rouhani
Thomas Jefferson – Democracy
Joseph Stalin – Dictator
Louis XIV - Monarchy