Transcript Middle East Unit Three Government & Economics

A nation’s type of government refers to how that state’s
executive, legislative, and judicial organs are organized.
All nations need some sort of government to avoid anarchy.
Democratic governments are those that permit the nation’s
citizens to manage their government either directly or through
elected representatives.
This is opposed to authoritarian governments
that limit or prohibit the direct participation
of its citizens.
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a theory advocating elimination of private
property.
a system in which goods are owned in
common and are available to all as needed.
Typically a one party system in which all
political power rest with the party (i.e. China).
Theocracy
A form of government in which God or a
deity is recognized as the supreme civil
ruler. Often religious institutional
representatives (i.e.: a church), replaces or
is mixed into the civilian government.
Can be an Oligarchy, Representative
Democracy, and even a Monarchy.
Unitary government system – the central government holds
nearly all of the power.
Local governments such as state or county systems may have
some power at certain times, but they are basically under the control
of the central government.
Central government has the power to change the way state or
county governments operate or abolish them altogether.
Some unitary governments have elected officials who, once
elected, may make and enforce laws without taking the opinions of
those at lower levels of government into consideration.
In a monarchy (area ruled by a king or emperor), the ruler and his
advisors make most of the
decisions – this is an example
of a unitary government
Saudi Arabia is a monarchy
and is an example of a unitary
government
Blue Countries are Unitary
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Federal government system – a political system in
which power is shared among different levels of
government.
The states have some powers that the federal
government does not have such as the right to collect
property taxes and determine sales taxes.
The national government (or central government)
also has some powers that the state does not, such as
the right to declare war and make treaties with
foreign countries
In the Middle East, Israel is an
example of a Federal government
A confederation government system is one in which the local
governments hold all of the power and the central government
depends on the local governments for its existence
The central government has only as much power as the local
governments are willing to give
The United Nations is a good example of a confederation
The United Nations can only offer advice and assistance when
the member nations agree to cooperate
This organization is a regional group organized to help the
member countries cooperate on economic
matters, encourage cultural exchanges,
and to help keep peace and stability in
the region
In the Middle East, the Organization
of Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) is an example of a Confederation
government
An autocratic government is one in which the ruler has absolute
power to do whatever he wishes and make and enforce whatever
laws he chooses
Individuals who live under autocratic governments do not have
any rights to choose leaders or vote on which laws are made and
put into practice
Some autocratic governments may allow the people rights in
certain areas like managing local affairs, but the central
governments keeps control of all the most important aspects of
the country’s life
People usually have little or no power to
use against the government if they disagree
with decisions that government or ruler has
made
A monarchy such as Saudi Arabia, where
the king has ultimate power, is one example
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An oligarchy means “government by the few.”
In this form of government, a political party or other
small group takes over a government and makes all
of the major decisions.
The people of the country have little choice but to go
along with the decisions they make
This sort of government can be very similar to an
autocratic government.
Iran could be described as an
oligarchy, because a small group of
religious and political leaders makes
many of the important decisions
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In a democratic government system, the people play a much
greater role in decided who the rulers are and what decisions
are made
Democracy comes from the Greek word “demos,” which
means “people.”
In this form of government, a great deal of power is left in the
hands of the people
People who live in a democracy generally recognize that there
must be some rules to organize society, but the goal is to leave
as much individual freedom as possible.
Decisions are often made by a majority of
votes, but there are also laws in place to protect
individual rights.
In the Middle East, Israel is a good example
of a democracy
Those organizing the new government of Iraq
are hoping to establish a democratic system
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In a parliamentary form of democratic
government, the people vote for those who
represent the political party they feel best
represents their views of how the government
should operate.
The legislature they elect, parliament, makes
and carries out (enforces) the laws for the country.
The leader of a parliamentary form of government is usually
chosen by the party that winds the majority of
representatives in the legislature.
This leader is often called a prime minister or premier and is
recognized as the head of the government.
The prime minister leads the executive branch of the
government and must answer directly to the legislature for
the actions and policies recommended.
In many parliamentary governments, a head of state
(president or king/queen) serves as ceremonial leader
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The actual work of the parliament is led by the prime
minister, who represents the leading political party
in the country.
He or she rules with the help of a cabinet, or group
of advisors.
A prime minister may be votes out of office if the
party he or she leads lose power
In the Middle East, Israel has a parliamentary
government
Its citizens elect representative to the national
parliament called the Knesset.
The political party that gets the most votes in the
Knesset gets to choose the Prime Minister
A presidential form of democratic government has a president,
or chief executive, that is chosen separately from the legislature
The legislature passes the laws, and it is the duty of the
president to see that the laws are enforced
The president holed power separately from the legislature, but
he does not have the power to dismiss the legislature or force
them to make particular laws
The president is the official head of the government
The legislature does not have the power to dismiss the
president, except in extreme cases when the president has broken
a law
The president is BOTH the lead of state and the head of the
government
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In 1979, the Islamic, or Iranian, revolution
overthrew the monarchy that had ruled Iran for
centuries.
Today, Iran is a theocratic republic.
This means that the government is based on
religious principals (Islam) and the wishes of its
people.
The head of state is the Supreme Leader, who is
always an ayatollah, or recognized religious
authority.
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The Supreme Leader is chosen by the Assembly
of Experts and holds the position for life.
The assembly consists of 86 religious scholars.
The people elect the assembly and the
president by popular vote.
The president governs based on the religious
guidance of the ayatollah.
The supreme leader has final say over many of the
president’s decisions.
The president can serve two terms of four years each.
Iran’s legislature is called the Consultative assembly.
Citizens 16 and older can vote for the 290 members
of the Assembly.
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Israel has a representative parliamentary democracy.
The head of state is the president, who actually does
not have much power.
The Israeli prime minister is the head of the
government.
The legislature elects the president.
The president then chooses the head of the largest
political party to be the prime minister.
The prime minister must organize a coalition to
govern.
A coalition is a group of several different political
parties that have to cooperate in order to make
decisions.
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This type of government is known as a coalition
government.
The Israeli legislature is called the Knesset.
The Knesset holds most of the power in the Israeli
government.
Israelis eighteen and older elect these officials by
popular
vote.
While most of Israel’s Jewish citizens see themselves
as secular, meaning they do not feel the country’s
laws should be based solely on religious beliefs,
many Israeli laws are influenced by the Orthodox
Jews, those who want government policy to be made
according to religious law
These people represent about 25 percent of the Israeli
population.
Elections are held in Israel every four years
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Saudi Arabia's government is one of the few absolute
monarchies in the world today.
The government is a monarchy governed by Islamic
Shari’a Law.(law based on the Quran)
In 2004, however, the Saudi government began allowing
men who are 21 and older to vote for half of their local
officials.
Men can also vote for one-third of the members of the
legislature.
The king has a cabinet called the Council of Ministers.
The Council mostly consists of members of the royal
family.
The Saudi legislature is called the Consultative Council.
The king chooses two-thirds of the members of the
Council.
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Saudi Arabia is ruled by a hereditary monarchy, which means
the government is led by a king who comes from a family that
has ruled the country for several generations.
The King of Saudi Arabia has been a member of the al-Saud
family since the 1920’s.
The king and his advisors, many of whom are his family
members or influential business and religions leaders in the
country, make the laws
There is no written constitution, and the king rules for life
The people of Saudi Arabia do not choose the king
When a king dies, the Saudi family announces who the next
king will be from among their male family members
Conservative religious leaders also have a great
deal of influence in decisions made by the
monarchy
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In the United States and many western nations, religion and
politics tend to be separate.
In much of the Middle East, however, religion and politics are
often mixed.
Countries like Iran based their systems of gov’t on religion.
Religion is important even in countries that don’t base their
governments on religion.
Many political parties in the Middle East are religious
Many parties represent different branches of Islam.
Since the majority of the people in the region are Muslim,
religion also influences the way people vote
Israel is a democratic state, but it was founded as a Jewish
homeland.