There are three main types of governments: autocracy, oligarchy, and democracy. Autocracy is rule by one person, like a dictator, while oligarchy involves rule by a small group. Democracy gives citizens a say through voting and most modern democracies are republics where citizens elect representatives. Democracies can be presidential, with citizens voting directly for the head of state and government, or parliamentary, where the legislature selects the head of government. Governments provide structure, laws, services, and defense for their countries. Power is shared in different ways between federal, unitary, and confederate systems.

1. Government Terms

2. Autocracy: One Person Citizens have little control over the government Power is in the hands of one person Government Forms: Dictatorship Examples: Germany’s Hitler, U.S.S.R.’s Stalin, Czar Nicholas II in Russia Absolute Monarchy – one king in power with complete control Examples: France’s King Louis XVI, Spain’s King Ferdinand

3. Autocracies of the World

4. Oligarchy: A Small Group Only a few people in a small group of royalty, wealth, family, or military influence make political decisions for the country’s people. Government Forms: Communism – a small group controls all the economic resources and government Examples: former Soviet Union, Cuba, China

5. Democracy: The Citizens The citizens have a say in their government by voting in elections. Most democracies today are republics , where the people elect leaders to represent them in the government. Most countries in the world are democracies.

6. Democratic Governments There are two predominate forms of democratic governments Parliamentary Presidential Both are designed to represent and protect the rights of the people

7. Presidential Democracy Citizens usually vote for members of the executive AND legislative branch Citizens directly vote for the leader A single person is elected as the leader The president is both head of government (chief executive) and head of state Examples: U.S.A., Russia, Mexico

8. Parliamentary Democracy Citizens vote for members of the legislative branch, and then the legislature chooses the leader Head of government and head of state are TWO different people Examples: United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia

9. Executive Legislature Citizens Citizens Legislature Executive Elect Elect Select Elect Parliamentary System Presidential System

10. Why Do We Have Governments? All countries require governments to function. Governments provide laws, structure, public services, and national defense. There are different types of governments: democracies republics monarchies dictatorships

11. How Is Power Shared? Federal Confederation Unitary

12. Federal Government Federal – Power is shared by a powerful central government and the state or local governments. States or provinces are given considerable self rule, usually through their own legislatures. Examples: United States Russian Federation Germany

13. Federal Governments of the World (All countries in green)

14. Unitary Government Unitary – a system in which the power is held by one central authority All power is given to the one branch of government. Examples: France United Kingdom (U.K.) Sweden Spain Former Soviet Union

15. Unitary Governments of the World (All countries in blue)

16. Confederation Confederation - a system in which power is shared by an alliance or union of political organizations Independent states voluntarily work together for some common purpose and agree to certain limits on their freedom of action as a confederation. Examples: European Union Switzerland