WHAT FORMS OF
GOVERNMENT ARE OUT
THERE?
Exploring Governments Throughout the World
Where did the Founders get a model
for government?
The Founders modeled our government based on
the Roman Republic.
“Republic” comes from the latin “res publica”
which means thing or property of the people.
So, a republic is a country that has a
government in which power is held by the
people.
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What is a “Democracy”?


Democracy is literally defined as “rule of the people”
This means that a government that takes the form of a
democracy is one in which all citizens can exercise
some kind of political power
 What
are some examples of “political power” citizens can
exercise?
 Voting
 Running
for office
 Contacting public officials
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What kinds of republican government
are there?

Direct Democracy
Based on the definition of “democracy” how would you
define a direct democracy?
 Draw a picture to illustrate your definition of direct
democracy!


Representative Democracy

What is a “representative”?

An elected person to act and speak on behalf of others
Based on the definition of “representative” and
“democracy”, how you would define representative
democracy?
 Draw a picture to illustrate your definition of representative
democracy!

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What is direct democracy?

Direct democracy is a government where the
people have an individual voice in government.
Government
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What would you say…

The advantages are to
direct democracy?

 Every
individual has a
voice in government
 Works well in small
communities.
 If
 Too
many voices at once
 Only works in small
communities
 Not efficient
we take a vote in the
Government
classroom,
we are acting
as a direct democracy. What
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The disadvantages are
to direct democracy?
 What
do you mean?
is the common good?
• Individual becomes greater
than the common good
It is what is best for the
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2012
most
amount
of people…
Common Good


Common good – good of the community as a whole
When do we act in favor of the common good on a
daily basis?
 For
example, if I were ordering pizza for the whole
class, would I just order my favorite (and we will
pretend my favorite is anchovies with pineapple)
or would I get something that the class as a whole
would enjoy (like plain cheese or peperoni)?
 Acting in favor of the common good puts the group
before the individual.
 Why
is this a good thing?
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What is Representative Democracy?

Representative democracy is a system where individuals
have a voice in government through elected
representatives
Government
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What would you say…

The advantages are to
representative democracy?




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Representatives are elected
to represent the common
good instead of individual
interests
Representatives make the
system more efficient – it’s
their job to know the laws
and the system
People get a say in
government through someone
elected by the people
Works well in large areas
with diverse populations

The disadvantages are
to representative
democracy?
 Individuals
must set
aside their private
interests and personal
concerns for the sake of
the whole – some
people are not
comfortable with this
SPEED DATE!





Everyone stand up.
Half of the class, go to one side of the room. The
other side of the class, go to the other side.
Line up facing each other.
You will have 1 minute each. One side will speak,
the other side will listen only. After one minute, the
other side may speak. You must use the entire
minute to explain your answer!
After each side has spoken, one line will shift
ONE MINUTE
down one person. The person on the end will go
to the other end of the line.
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Answer this question:
What do you think is
more important:
Individual interests or
the common good?
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So we learned about representative
governments….
What other kinds of governments
are out there?
•
•
•
•
•
•
Direct Democracy
Representative Democracy
Saudi
Communism
Arabia
Monarchy
Oligarchy
North Korea
Autocracy
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Vietnam
As these governments are being
discussed…



Draw a diagram of the government we are
discussing.
Think about the definition and illustrate the
definition in a way that makes sense to you.
Some examples would be the direct democracy and
representative democracy diagrams:
Government
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Government
Communism

In a communist government, the government
believes in owning all means of production
and eliminating private property
 This
means that all things are owned by the
government and shared by the people.
 The intention of this system is to ensure that
everyone has equal access and property
 However,
this system can become corrupt quickly
with the government removing all rights of the Vietnam
people
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Monarchy




A monarchy has a king, queen, emperor
or empress.
The ruling position can be passed on to
the ruler’s heirs.
In some traditional monarchies, the
monarch has absolute power, like in
Saudi Arabia.
But a constitutional monarchy, like the
United Kingdom, also has a democratic
government that limits the monarch's
control.
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King Abdullah of Saudi
Arabia
Image from the New York Post
Queen Elizabeth II
Oligarchy



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A government in which control is exercised
by a small group of individuals whose
authority generally is based on wealth or
power
This power may not always be exercised
openly. Oligarchs sometimes prefer to
remain the “power behind the throne.”
A modern example of oligarchy
could be seen in South Africa during
the 20th century where oligarchy was
based on racism.
Autocracy



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A government ruled by a
single leader who has unlimited
power and denies peoples’
fundamental rights.
In a military dictatorship, the
army is in control. One person
is in charge and often takes
over by force.
Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini,
Sadam Hussein were examples
In your group…




Compare your illustrations of different kinds of
government
Using the large chart paper, create one diagram
for each government as a group. Be sure to talk
through the definitions and incorporate everyone’s
ideas.
DO
NOT write the name of the
government on the
CONSTITUTIONAL
DICTATORHIP
chart paper.
MONARCHY
Once finished, post your 4 diagrams on the wall by
COMMUNISM
your table.
OLIGARCHY
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What government is that?

Once you have posted your government diagram:
 Rotating
clockwise, go to the posters posted by the
other groups and write which government they were
illustrating on the poster. Work as a group to make
your guess.
Group
5
Group
1
Group
4
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Group
2
Group
3
WHAT DO THESE
GOVERNMENTS
LOOK LIKE?
Communism
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Constitutional
Monarchy
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Government
Oligarchy
Government
Government
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Autocracy
Government
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What else is there?

Another type of government is anarchy.
 Anarchy
is when there is a complete breakdown of
government and the people fall into a start of chaos.
There is no organization or control.
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What else is there?

Socialism is an economic system and political theory
First, what is an economic system?
 A system of production and consumption of goods and
services of a community

This includes the wealth and resources of a nation
 The government’s role (or absence of a role) in the
regulation of business and production.


1.
2.
Socialism is an economic system which
Promotes collective or governmental ownership
Administration of the means of production and
distribution of goods by government or collective
groups
1.
This results in no free, competitive, private businesses
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