AMERICAN GOVERNMENT
 Red Flag Questions
Pages 14-19
CHAPTER 1: FOUNDATIONS OF GOVERNMENT
SECTION 2: Forms of Government
By the end of this section, you will be able to answer these questions:
1. What are the classic forms of government?
2. How is national power organized differently in unitary, federal, and confederal
systems?
3. In what ways do presidential and parliamentary systems differ?
4. What theories of rule have been put forth to explain government?
THE CLASSIC FORMS
Monarchy

monarchy

What is the difference between an absolute monarchy and a constitutional monarchy?

autocracy

Give an example of when placing the bulk of power in the hands of one person might be
dangerous.
Dictatorship

dictatorship

How is an absolute monarchy different from a dictatorship?

How are totalitarian governments different from dictatorships?

oligarchy

theocracy
Democracy

What does “democracy” mean?

direct democracy

Why was Athens not a true democracy?

Why is a direct democracy impractical for large industrial nations?

Republic

What is the main point of a representative democracy?
ORGANIZING NATIONAL POWER
Unitary Systems

unitary systems

What power does a unitary government hold over local governments?
Federal Systems

federal systems

What is the significant feature of American federalism pertaining to national and local
governments?

In a federal system, which level of government do you think is most important? Why?
Confederal Systems

confederal system

How suitable do you think the confederal system is as a form of national government?
Explain your answer.
PRESIDENTS AND PARLIMENTARY
Presidential Systems

presidential system

What is an important strength and weakness of presidential systems?
Parliamentary Systems

parliamentary system

What is an advantage and a disadvantage of parliamentary systems?