Democratic forms of government have a long
history. The ancient Greek leader Cleisthenes set up
an early form of democracy in the city-state of
Athens. All citizens, for example, could belong to the
Assembly, in which they were considered equal
before the law and guaranteed freedom of speech.
The citizens in Cleisthenes’ democracy, however,
made up only 20 percent of Athenians. Noncitizens–
women, foreign-born males, and slaves–were still
excluded from political life.
3.4 analyse factors that influence development within regions
• The world is made of about 200
independent countries, each with a
government that makes and
enforces laws binding on all people
living in its territory.
• Unitary System A unitary system of
government gives all key powers to
the national or central government.
The national government then
creates local governments with
limited authority.
• Federal System A federal system
of government divides governmental
powers between the national
government and state or provincial
governments.
• The United States, Mexico, and
Switzerland are examples of federal
governments.
• Autocracy In an autocracy a single
individual is the absolute ruler.
• In a totalitarian dictatorship, a
leader seeks to control all aspects of
a country’s social and economic life.
• In an absolute monarchy, the ruler
inherits his or her position and
exercises supreme power.
• Oligarchy In an oligarchy a small
group holds power.
• The group’s authority comes from
wealth, social status, or military
power.
• Autocracies and oligarchies do not
allow the existence of opposition
groups.
• Democracy In a democracy, leaders rule
with the consent of the people.
• In a republic voters elect all major
officials, who are responsible to the
people.
• Traditional Economy Customs and
traditions determine the rules for
economic activity in traditional
economies, but few areas in the
world have such economies today.
• Market Economy In a market
economy, individuals and private
groups decide what they will produce
and what they will purchase.
• A mixed-market economy is one in
which the government supports and
regulates free enterprise through
decisions that affect the marketplace.
• Command Economy In a command
economy, the government owns the
means of producing and distributing
goods and controls all economic
decision making.
• Socialism and Communism A
command economy is called either
socialism or communism, depending
on how much the government is
involved.
• Strict governmental control of the
economy and all other aspects of
society is known as communism.
• Under socialism a government allows a
fairly wide range of enterprise
alongside government-run activities.
• The aims of socialism are to equally
distribute wealth and promote
economic opportunity among all
people, to place the control of major
decisions about production in the
government, and to advance public
ownership of most land, factories, and
other means of production.