Do Now
• What form of government do you believe
America took after and why?
Government Theories
Major Categories of Government
• A monarchy is a government led by a
hereditary ruler.
• In a dictatorship the leader has absolute
power.
• An oligarchy is a form of government with rule
held by small, usually self-appointed elite.
• In a democracy supreme authority rests with
the people.
Categories of Government
• Each of these forms of government can exist
in numerous varieties. For example, both
democracies and monarchies can be
constitutional. Elections occur in both
democracies and dictatorships. Both
democracies and dictatorships can be guilty of
human rights violations.
Social Contract Theory
• The social contract theory is the basis for
limited government and liberal democracy. In
a limited government, constitutions,
statements of rights, or other laws define the
limits of power. Everyone must obey the laws.
This reduces opportunities for those in
authority to take advantage of their elected or
appointed positions. In unlimited government,
power/control is solely with the ruler with no
limits on his/her authority.
Force Theory
• The state was born as a result of force i.e.
aggression, war, conquest and subjugation. In
ancient times a strong man with the help of
supporters would dominate the weaker
people of his tribe and establish the political
relations of command and obiedence.
Evolutionary Theory
• The state developed out of the early primitive
family in which one person was the head.
Over the years the original family unit became
a network of families, or a clan. Eventually, 20
or more clans grouped together created a
tribe. Once these nomadic tribes began to
settle and develop agricultural techniques, the
state was born.
Divine Right Theory
• The state was created by God who gave those
of royal birth the “divine right” to rule. People
obeyed their ruler as they obeyed God. This
was a widely held belief in several early
civilizations such as the Aztec and Mayan, and
those of Egypt, China, and Japan. It was also
the basis for many governments in the
Western world from the 15th to the 18th
centuries.
Similarities and Differences