MONDAY, AUGUST 18, 2014
DO NOW
O Today we are going to start talking about government
O On a sheet of notebook paper, put today’s date and
write the Standard. This gets filed in the ‘Maps and
Europe’ section of your notebook.
O SS6CG4 The student will compare and contrast
various forms of government.
O Then write the Essential Question
O EQ: How is power distributed in different forms of
government?
On the same piece of paper
O List as many laws as you can think of.
O Why are there rules in schools?
O Why do we have laws in society?
O Why do we punish people who break the law?
Why Do We Have
Rules and Laws?
O This classroom in the
picture above has no
rules. There is no one
in authority. There is
no one with the right
to tell others what to
do.
O Talk to your elbow
partner.
O What problems do you
see?
O What rights are being
taken away?
O This picture above
shows how one
person with authority
tried to solve some of
the problems you
identified.
O List the solutions you
see in the picture
O What have the
students gained?
O What have the
students lost?
SS6CG4 The student will compare
and contrast various forms of
government.
A. Describe the ways government
systems distribute power: unitary,
confederation, and federal.
Write the following
two definitions on the
same piece of paper
Government
O is a country’s system it
uses to make laws and run
the country
CONSTITUTION:
O written document that explains
the rights, responsibilities, and
duties of the central
government and states
DO NOW Tuesday, August 19, 2014
On
a sheet of paper, summarize our
conversation from yesterday.
A paragraph has about 4 – 5 sentences.
Consider these items:
Why
do we have laws in society?
Why do we punish people who break the
law?
First major milestone: Third grade reading
By Sandra Deal

Sixty-eight percent of fourth graders in Georgia are not reading
proficiently. Take a moment to consider that statistic. It is an enormous
one. Two-thirds of Georgia’s children have missed the first major
milestone of a successful education: the ability to read by the end of
the third grade.

Third grade is a critical transition point when children should be
making the shift from learning to read to reading to learn. Children
who miss this milestone are four times more likely to drop out of high
school than proficient readers. They will then enter a job market with
a 15 percent unemployment rate for those with a high school diploma
or less. Proficient fourth-grade readers, on the other hand, are more
likely to be high school graduates and economically successful adults.

This is about more than stumbling over words. Reading proficiency
affects a child’s entire educational future.
Unitary
• Power is in the hands of one person or a small
group.
• National government has more power than
local governments.
• Examples include:
– Iraq
– China
– Hitler
– Communism
Unitary
Definition
Power is
held by the
central
government
Picture
Example
China
Netherlands
Hitler
Iraq
Afghanistan
El Salvador
Sentence
This type of
government has a
constitution that
outlines the duties,
powers and people
of the central
government. The
central government
can give power to or
create lower levels
of government like
states or
communities.
Power is held by one central authority.
Confederation
• Local governments have more power than
national governments.
• Each country governs most of its own affairs
• Regions sometimes consider themselves
independent
Confederation
Definition
A group of
• Cor
states
communities
that come
together to
support each
other and to
work on
common
problems.
Picture
Example
Sentence
European
Union
Countries that
belong to the
European Union
work together to
accomplish a
common goal,
but each country
retains its own
independence.
United
Nations
OPEC
(Organization
of Petroleum
Exporting
Countries)
Voluntary association of independent
states that often only delegate a few
powers to the central authority
Federal (Federation)
• Power is divided between state and national
governments
• Local governments control local affairs but
also obey the national government
• Usually it is the government of large
democracies
Federal
Definition
Power is
divided
between one
central
and several
regional/
state
authorities.
Picture
Example
Sentence
United
States
Germany
Canada
Russia
France
In a federal
system, the
central gov’t has
powers only if it’s
written in the
constitution.
Powers not
written in the
constitution are
automatically
given to states or
provinces.
Power is equally divided between one
central and several regional authorities
Your turn!
• On the index card, write a potential test question
for each of the three types of government.
DO NOW WEDNESDAY, August 20, 2014
• You will need the note sheet from
yesterday
• Look at and study the diagrams you
drew of the 3 types of government
• On the next slide, you will be asked to
identify each of them
• I will call on students – will you be able
to earn a Thumser Buck??
#1
#2
#3
SS6CG4 The student will compare and contrast
various forms of government.
• B. Explain how governments determine citizen
participation: autocratic, oligarchic, and
democratic.
Autocratic
(a little bit your way -- McDonalds)
• Few people have most of the control over the
government. Most people have no power.
• Power is in the hands of one or few persons
Autocracy
Definition
Who holds the
power?
A country or
Unlimited
nation that is power for the
governed by a ruler
single person
with unlimited
power. Czarist
Russia was an
autocratic
government.
Who can be
elected?
Who can vote?
No one –
citizens have
no choice in
selecting a
ruler
No citizen
participation –
no elections
held
Your turn!
• Talk to your elbow partner about something
you just learned!
Oligarchy
(Olive Garden – more fun as a group)
• A small group of people control the
government
– Can be a military group
– Can be a religious group
• Most citizens are not able to affect the
government
Oligarchy
Definition
Who holds the
power?
A government Group answers
controlled by a only to each
small group of other
people
Who can be
elected?
Who can vote?
No one
outside the
ruling group –
the rulers are
selected by
the group
No citizen
participation –
leaders are
chosen from
within the
ruling group
and by
the ruling
group
Your turn!
• Talk to your other elbow partner about
something you just learned!
Democracy
(Burger King – have it your way)
• Citizens have more ability to vote than they do
in other governments
• Government leaders are voted into power,
directly or indirectly
• Citizen often participate in making of laws
Democracy
Definition
Who holds the
power?
Who can be
elected?
Who can vote?
A government
that
receives its
power
from the
people (Ex.
United States,
Canada,
Australia)
The voters
Any citizen
(with some
restrictions
like age, not in
jail, etc.)
Any citizen
(with some
restrictions
like age, not in
jail, etc.)
Create Your Own Country
Homework Assignment
• Due Date: FRIDAY, August 22
• Expectations: You should turn in your assignment as a
written or typed report. I want you to DESCRIBE your
country – its type of government and how it will run
• Description: Creating a country
– Think of a name, any name you want
– Design a flag
• What type of government will you have?
– Unitary, federal, confederation, autocracy, oligarchy, presidential
democracy, parliamentary democracy
– Don’t be afraid to choose ANY kind you want. You could have a
dictatorship if you want to. Just tell me why would you choose
this form of government.
Your turn!
• Talk to someone on the other side of the room
about something you just learned!
Parliamentary and presidential
forms of Democracy
• Two types of democratic governments in
Europe
– Parliamentary
• Common in Europe
• Example: United Kingdom
– Presidential
• Common in Americas
• Europe’s presidential democracies are often
organized differently than the U.S. model.
Parliamentary Democracy
• Parliamentary Democracy has 2 members of
the executive branch
– The parliamentary Head of Government is called a
Prime Minister
• This person holds most of the decision making power.
– The parliamentary Head of State is a king or queen
or premier.
• This person is a traditional leader who represents the
country and attends ceremonies.
Parliamentary System
• Prime Minister
– Heads the law making
– Parliament selects the prime minister
• Parliament is elected by the people
– Prime Minister can dissolve the Parliament
• Citizens elect the lawmakers
• Prime Minister heads the military and runs the
government and day-to-day operations.
• May have king or queen with little power.
Parliamentary Democracy
• Great Britain’s Prime
Minister during WWII
was Winston Churchill
• Great Britain’s current
Head of State is Queen
Elizabeth II
Parliamentary Democracy
• In a Parliamentary Democracy, citizens vote
for candidates in different Political Parties
(organized groups with similar political beliefs)
– Whichever Party has the most members voted
into Congress (majority party) gets to select a
Prime Minister from their party.
– Since the Prime Minister and Congress are the
same political party, it is easier to pass laws.
Presidential Democracy
• A Presidential Democracy has only 1 leader of
the executive branch
– This person is called the President
• Citizens vote for candidates in different
Political Parties
– The President chooses advisors who are called
Cabinet members.
– The President also has the power to decide
whether to sign a bill passed by the Congress into
law or to veto (reject) the bill.
Presidential Democracy
• In 2012 the nation voted on who their new leader will be in the
Executive Branch.
• The Candidates were Mitt Romney and Pres. Barack Obama
Presidential Democracy
• For this reason, the President
and Congress are often from
two opposing parties.
• This makes it more difficult to
make laws and pass legislation.
• The United States has a
Presidential Democracy, our
President is Barack Obama.
The Presidential System
• The President serves as
–
–
–
–
–
head of state
chief executive
symbol for the country
Ceremonial Leader
Runs the day to day basis
• The President is elected by the people
• Legislature makes the Laws
• Legislature and President serve a fixed amount of
time
Parliament vs. President
• Choose a king or queen for the class.
– Crown them. Make sure they smile and wave and look
pretty.
• Split class into 2 political parties.
– The Party with the most people gets to pick the Prime
Minister
• Prime Minister gets to propose 5 laws
– If the majority agrees, the law gets made
– Write the laws down on the board.
– EX: Raise your feet instead of your hands, etc.
President
•
•
•
•
Split class into 2 political parties
Each party picks 1 person to run as president
The class votes for the President
President (gets a necktie) proposes 5 laws
– All the laws that get a majority vote get made and
written on the board.
– What do you notice about the two forms?
Scenarios
• You live in a small country ruled by one man,
who is also the head of the military.
• You voted on who your town’s mayor would
be.
• In the city you live in, all of the politicians are
wealthy landowners who always make laws
that benefit only themselves.
Scenarios
• Although your country has elections, you are
only allowed to vote for your current leader.
• People who criticize or protest against the
government are jailed or executed.
• The majority of people in your state asked for
a tax break and received it.
• People in your country fought for the right to
vote and won it.
Scenarios
• You are the chief executive in your country’s
democratically-elected national government.
You were chosen by your co-workers in the
legislature.
• You are your country’s chief executive. You
were chosen by the citizens of your country.
• You came to power last election after your
party won a majority of seats in the national
legislature.
The Most Important Thing
• What are 2 important democratic features of
parliamentary and presidential forms of
government?