The document discusses various forms of government including presidential systems, parliamentary systems, federations, unitary systems, republics, and monarchies. It provides definitions and examples for each type. A presidential system has a separately elected executive president and independent legislature, while a parliamentary system has an executive branch drawn from the legislature. Federations involve a division of power between central and regional/state governments. Unitary systems concentrate power in a central government. Republics are forms of government where the head of state is not a monarch. Monarchies can be absolute, with total monarchal power, or constitutional/limited with monarchal authority constrained by law or convention.

1. FORMS OF GOVERNMENT
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2.  Form of government is a system by which
a state is governed. There are various
forms of state and government and in
practice; it is possible to combine
multiple forms.
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3.  The term ‘government’ is often used to
refer to the body of people and
institutions that make and enforce laws
for a society (Abdul Rashid & Syed
Serajul, 2005).
 Though the governments may differ from
one society to the other, they all share
certain characteristics that make them
different from all other forms of human
organizations.
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4.  Aristotle’s classification of governments
(source: Abdul Rashid & Syed Serajul,
2005)
RULE BY
Form One Few Many
Good Monarchy Aristocracy Polity
Bad Tyranny Oligarchy Democracy
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5. 5

6.  The presidential system is where the
legislature and the executive are two
distinct departments of government. In
other word, it is a system with separate
election of an executive president.
 It is a democratic system.
 Legislature and executive are elected
independently of each other.
 eg. United States of America.
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7.  The President will form his own ‘cabinet’
made up of ministers.
 The members of the cabinet are not
members of the legislature.
 The president is independent of the
legislature.
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8. 1. It retains a representative character anh
his position does not depend on the
legislature.
2. Unity of control –fast decision and well
organized policy.
3. Appointment of experts .
4. Able to concentrate on administrative
work alone.
5. Separation of powers –there exist a
greater sense of stability.
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9. 1. A time consuming system –delay in
term of agreement.
2. Lack of initiative between executive and
legislature.
3. Autocratic, irresponsible and dangerous
system.
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10.  It is a system with the election of
parliament only, which in turn elects a
prime minister.
 Executive and legislative branches is
unified and coordinate under the control
of the same persons.
 Clear distinction between the head of the
state and the head of the government.
 e.g. Britain, Malaysia and Singapore.
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11. 1. Ensures harmonious cooperation
between the executives and legislative
branches of government.
2. Recognizes the ultimate sovereignty of
the people.
3. A government by criticism.
4. Flexibility and elasticity.
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12. 1. Violates the theory of separation of
powers.
2. The system is unstable –it remains in
office only as long as it can retain
parliamentary majority.
3. Majority and opposition.
4. Inefficient system.
5. Growing size of the cabinet.
6. Monopolize by majority party.
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13.  “Federation” comes from the Latin word
“foedus” meaning “treaty” or
“agreement”. It is a treaty or agreement
between independent states and the new
unit of government. A new state is
created when sovereign states surrender
their sovereignty and agree to become
its components parts.
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14.  Therefore a federation is a state comprised
of a number of self-government regions
(states) united by a central (federal)
government.
 In a federal, the sovereign political power is
exercised at two levels namely the national
and regional level.
 For example, the Federal Constitution of
Malaysia (Ninth Schedule) contains the
Federal List, State List and Concurrent List.
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15.  Reasons for starting a federal union (Roskin
and Medeiros):
a) National security : small and weak states
cannot defend themselves against
powerful aggressors.
b) Economic purpose : create a wide market
without worrying about tariff barriers.
For example, the European Union (EU).
c) National unity : federalism is often the
only way to protect national unity as it
allows the different states to maintain
their own cultures.
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16.  e.g. Malaysia, United States of America (a
confederation where the central
government is considerably weaker than
the state government) and Australia.
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17.  Basic features of a Federation:
1) It allows the federating units to preserve their identity; retain
their independent jurisdiction, except in matters of national
interest.
2) The states willingly lose sovereignty to form a federation; the
result is a new sovereign state.
3) Mechanism of a federal is that it has two level of government
namely the national or central government and regional or state
government.
4) Powers of government are divided and distributed into central
and state government.
5) Federation is made deliberately and since powers are divided
and distributed, a written constitution is needed. It involves
rigid constitution so that the central and regional government
cannot take away the other’s power.The process of amending
constitution is in the constitution itself.
6) Federation is a permanent union.
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18.  Important elements of federal
government:
1. A written constitution
2. A rigid constitution
3. Presence of Federal Court
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19. 1. Federation is a combination of unity and
diversity.
2. To allow larger scope for local
developments and administrative
experimentation.
3. Ensures political liberty of the people.
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20. 1. Contest between government.
2. Rigid constitution.
3. Difficulty of coordination.
4. Financially expensive.
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21.  In a unitary, there is only one integrated
system of government and the supreme
power belongs to the central
government. In other words, the
government structure consists only of
central government (supreme power)
and local government (delegated
power).
 e.g. Britain
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22.  Characteristics or features of a unitary
government :
1) Judiciary System : there is only one court
system; the high court. Judicial officers are
appointed by the national government.
2) Law Making : only the central government
has the absolute rights and powers in the
administration; therefore conflict of
opinions will not occur.
3) Sub-divisions : there is no power (or very
limited power) for the local government.
They just carry out duties based on the
order or directive of the central government.
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23.  Therefore a unitary state is a state in
which no other governmental body but
the central government has any areas of
policy that are exclusively under its
control.
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24. 1. Effective and flexible – the system
allows modification and adjustment to
the organization.
2. Unity –all powers of government are
concentrated in the hands of a single set
of authorities.
3. Speed – speed of decision and firmness
of action.
4. Minimize conflict – no overlapping of
jurisdiction.
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25. 1. Work overloaded – the central
government need to manage both
national and international problems.
2. Unsuitable for large areas and diverse
population.
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26.  A republic is a form of government where a
monarch is not the head of state. Derived from
the Latin word “res publica” meaning “public
affair”. It is suggested an ownership and
control of the state by the population at large.
Thus, it is a political system without a
monarch.
 The chief executive is the president, elected
by the people for a number of years (term),
not for life and he exercise authority
according to the constitution. Examples of
republic are India, France, China, Singapore
and so on.
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27.  Basically it means hereditary rule by one
person. Monarchy comes from the Greek
word “monos arkhein” meaning “one
ruler” is a form of government that has a
monarch as Head of State/country.
 The term monarchy is also used to refer
to the people and institutions that make
up the royal establishment, or to the
realm or land in which the monarchy
functions.
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28.  There are two types of monarchy;
1. Absolute monarchy
2. Limited/constitutional monarchy
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29. 1. Absolute monarchy
 Absolute monarchy is where the ruler
has the power to rule their country and
citizens freely with no laws telling the
monarchy what to do.
 The source of all political authority is in
a supreme ruler.
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30.  An absolute monarch has total power
over its people and land.

There are only a few absolute
monarchies in the modern world such as
Swaziland and Brunei.
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31. 1. It is beneficial to a weak government
during periods of chaos and crises or
emergencies.
2. He is able to keep a greater uniformity
of purpose (objective) in the state.
3. His policy is more stable and
consistent.
4. He has the right and free to choose and
direct his own officials.
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32. 1. The government is conducted by a
single person and he may administer
according to his own good sense of
what can be good and right for his
subjects (citizens).
2. A despotic king always claimed that he
got his authority directly from god and
that he ruled by divine right. He is
answerable to none, except God.
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33. 2. Limited/Constitutional monarchy
 The authority of the monarch is limited
either by a written constitution or by
certain fundamental conventions (eg.
Unwritten constitution).
 Thus, a constitutional monarchy is a form
of government established under a
constitutional system, which
acknowledges a hereditary or elected
monarch as head of state.
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34.  Examples of limited or constitutional
monarchy include Malaysia, Britain,
Thailand and so forth.
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35. End of slides.
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