Transcript Government Basics

Government
Basics
Ways Governments Distribute
Power
• Unitary
• Confederation
• Federal
Federal
• Power is divided between one central
authority and several regional authorities
• Example: United States has federal government
that meets in Washington DC and state
governments in each state
– Federal Government – Power to declare war
– State Government – Power to set speed limit
• Countries in Middle East: Pakistan, United Arab
Emirates, Iraq (new government)
Federation / Federal
Ways Government Distributes Power
Regional
Authority
Regional
Authority
Central
Authority
Regional
Authority
Regional
Authority
Unitary
• Power is held by ONE central authority
• Regional authorities do NOT have power
• Examples in Middle East: Afghanistan,
Egypt, Israel, Iran, Syria, Qatar, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and
Yemen
Unitary
Ways Government Distributes Power
Regional
Authority
Regional
Authority
Central
Authority
Regional
Authority
Regional
Authority
Confederation
• Voluntary association of states that often
only give a few powers to the central
authority
• States generally have great deal of
independence and are more important
than the central government
• Example: OPEC – Member nations
(regional authority) only give OPEC
(central authority) right to decide amount
and price of barrel of oil
Confederation
Ways Government Distributes Power
Regional
Authority
Regional
Authority
Central
Authority
Regional
Authority
Regional
Authority
Question:
Do the citizens (people) of
the nation have a say in
their government?
Governments and Citizen
Participation: Autocracy
• Autocratic – one person possesses
unlimited power; citizens have limited if
any role in government
• Forms of Autocratic Governments:
– Absolute or Totalitarian Dictatorships
– Absolute Monarchies
Government and Citizen
Participation: Oligarchy
• Government by the FEW; citizens have
very limited role in government
• Government run by small group that gets
power from military, social status, wealth,
religion, or a combination of these
• Examples:
– Communist countries like China – leaders in
political party and military control government
– Afghanistan under the Taliban
Government and Citizen
Participation: Democracy
• Citizens influence the government by
voting; citizen participation is highest in
this form of government
• Two basic types of democratic
governments:
– Parliamentary Democracy
– Presidential Democracy