Systems of
Governments
Name:____________________________
Mods:____________________________
World History 101: __________________
Ohio Content Standards
Government
Systems of
Government
1. Explain how various systems of governments acquire, use
and justify their power.
2. Analyze the purposes, structures and functions of various
systems of government including:
a. Absolute monarchies;
b. Constitutional monarchies;
c. Parliamentary democracies;
d. Presidential democracies;
e. Dictatorships;
f. Theocracies.
I. Absolute Monarchies
• A. Absolute Monarch: A king or queen who has
unlimited power and seeks to control all aspects
of society.
• B. Absolute Monarchs acquire power through
birth.
• C. Disadvantages of Absolute Monarchies:
1. an absolute monarch cannot be questioned.
2. The freedoms of individual citizens
are often limited.
3. Freedom of speech and press are not
guaranteed.
4. There are few checks on authority
therefore, a king or queen does not have to
respect the rights of the people.
II. Examples of Absolute
Monarchies
• A. Then
– 1. The Reign of King Louis XIV of France
1643-1715
– 2. King George III of England
B. Now
• 1. Saudi Arabia
a. The world’s leading
producer of crude oil.
b. Present ruler is
King Abdullah.
c. Opposition to
the king is not
tolerated.
d. Citizens are not free to speak out against
the government.
e. Citizens cannot take part
in elections to choose
public officials.
f. All Saudi officials are
appointed by the king, not
elected by the people.
II. Constitutional
Monarchies
• A. Constitutional Monarch: A system of governing in which
the ruler’s power is limited by law.
• B. The country’s laws are determined by a Constitution or
Bill of Rights.
• C. A constitution is a document that lists many things that a
ruler cannot do.
• D. For example, No interfering with freedom of speech or
religion.
• E. Constituitions limit a monarch’s power; therefore real
power belongs to elected officials, not the king or queen.
• F. Usually constitutional monarchies have a legislative
branch.
• G. In England, the legislative branch is called Parliament.
III. Example of a
Constitutional Monarchy
1. A. Great Britain: Queen Elizabeth
II
• B. Although Great Britain has a royal
family, it also has a Constitution,
Parliament, and a Prime Minister.
IV. Dictatorships
• A. Dictatorship: A system ruled by a
dictator possessing absolute power and
absolute authority.
• B. A dictator usually takes power of a
preexisting government by military force.
• C. This take-over is called a coup d’etat.
• D. Dictators usually appoint a police force
that uses threats and actual force to stop
anyone from saying anything against the
dictatorship.
V. Examples of Dictators
of the Past and Present
• A. Adolf Hitler
Nazi Germany
B. Saddam Hussein
Iraq
V. Cont.
• A. Dictatorships are dangerous. A
dictator rules with unlimited power
and therefore can get away with
inhumane treatment of their citizens.
• B. Adolf Hitler was responsible for
the mass slaughter (genocide) of 6
million Jewish people during WWII.
• C. Human Rights Watch estimates that
Saddam's 1987-1988 campaign of terror
against the Kurds killed at least 50,000
and possibly as many as 100,000 Kurds.
The Iraqi regime used chemical agents to
include mustard gas and nerve agents in
attacks against at least 40 Kurdish villages
between 1987-1988. The largest was the
attack on Halabja which resulted in
approximately 5,000 deaths
• D. North Korea Kim Jong Il of North
Korea.
• E. Kim Jong Il’s regime is very
secretive and completely isolated
from the rest of the world.
• F. He has been accused of supporting
terrorism and in 2005 announced
that North Korea had developed
nuclear weapons.
VI. Theocracy
• A. Theocracy: A government
controlled by religious leaders.
• B. A present day example of a
theocracy is Iran.
• C. Iran is officially titled, The
Islamic Republic of Iran
VI. Theocracy Cont.
• D. All secular (nonreligious) laws passed in
Iran are reviewed by a 12 member Council
of Guardians.
• E. The Council is made up of six Muslim
religious experts and six Muslim attorneys.
• F. All laws must be consistent with Islamic
religious laws.
VII. Parliamentary
Democracies
A. Democracy: a government where the power is
vested in the citizens to make laws for their own
society usually involving periodically held free
elections.
B. Power for a democracy is acquired through
elections.
C. Parliamentary Democracies: A body of
representatives elected by the people of a nation
to make laws.
D. Once elected, the members of parliament elect a
chief executive and cabinet to run the
government.
• E. France, India, Israel and Canada
are examples of a Parliamentary
Democracies.
F. Remember that Democracy means
Freedom for its citizens.
VIII. Presidential
Democracy
• A. Presidential democracy: All citizens
can vote to decide who becomes the chief
executive (president) of a nation.
• B. This means that a president must
answer directly to the people.
• C. The United States is an example of a
presidential democracy.
• D. The President serves as the Executive
Branch of the country’s government.
Types
of
Government
Absolute Constitutional DictatorMonarchyMonarchy
ship
Theocracy
ParliamentaryPresidential
Democracy Democracy
Quiz Study Questions
You need to know….
1.
Definitions of the six types of governments.
2.
How leaders acquire power in the six government system
ex.)Absolute Monarchy: Power passed down
from a
parent to a child
Dictatorship: Power taken by force
Representative Democracy: leaders are
elected by the people of the nation
3.
Countries’ government systems
ex.) Presidential Democracy: U.S.A.
Theocracy: Iran
Dictatorship: Saddam Hussein/Iraq, Hitler/Nazi Germany