Forms of Government

Monarchy

• Rule by a monarch

• Mon- (one) -archy (rule/command)

• Monarch = King/Queen, Emperor/Empress, Tsar/Tsarina, etc.

• Title is inherited, typically passed down from parent to child

• How much power a monarch has depends on the type of monarchy

• Two types of monarchies

  • Absolute Monarchy

  • Constitutional Monarchy​

Absolute Monarchy

• Monarch holds all the power

• May have advisors to help make decisions but final decision is up to Monarch

  • Can control all aspects of society

• People have no say in the government

• Historically, Absolute Monarchs believed in Divine Right

  • Right to rule granted by God

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Constitutional Monarchy

• ​Also called a parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy

• Monarch's power is limited by a constitution

• Constitution = ​document with the fundamental laws and ideals for a nation

• Monarch typically will only be the head of state or a ceremonial leader

• ​Decision making is shared with an elected Parliament

Direct Democracy

• ​also called pure democracy

• Comes from two Greek words

  • Demos = referring to all citizens living in an area

  • Krat​os = power/rule

• ​Citizens vote on all decisions made by the government

• Created by the Athenians around 500 BCE

• Works best for smaller groups of people ​

Representative Democracy

• ​also called a Republic

• Citizens vote for their leader directly but do not vote on most laws or rules

• Citizens vote for a representative to make and vote on those laws ​for them

• Most democracies today are representative democracies

• Key words to look for to know if something is a democracy:

  • Vote, Elected, Election​, Republic

Oligarchy

• A small group of people in control of a government

  • Members will typically be an elite

    • Higher class or extremely wealthy

• Origin of word:

  • Oligarkhia (Greek word)

  • Oligoi = Few

  • Arkhein = to rule

• Citizens do not get to choose who their rulers are​

Dictatorship

• Form of government where one person, or a small group, has absolute power without a constitution to limit power

• Modern Dictatorships:

  • ​Control of Gov. is typically taken by force

    • Revolution, Coup D'Etat

  • Will typically use military to ​maintain control of country

  • Typically will eliminate threats to their power

  • Typically controls media in their country

• Ancient​ Dictatorships:

  • Used in Rome during times of war

  • Dictators would only rule for maximum 6 months​

Autocracy

• Government where one person has absolute power

• ​Word meaning:

  • Auto = self

  • -cracy = rule

• Dictatorships and absolute monarchies are both Autocracies

• Control all aspects of life in their counties​

• Citizens do not get to elect ruler​

Totalitarian

• Form of government that asserts total control over the lives of its citizens

• Attempts to control and direct all part of individual life through coercion and repression

• ​Does not allow individual freedom

Theocracy

• A system of government where priests rule in the name of a god

• "theo" = god

• "-cracy" = rule/power

• Uses holy books to guide creation of laws and government decisions

Fascism

• Government system that emphasizes extreme nationalism, militarism, and the supremacy of both the nation and the single, powerful leader over the individual citizen

  • ​Nationalism = ideology (belief system) that emphasizes loyalty and devotion to a particular country

  • Militarism = a country's desire to strengthen and use their armed forces to make themselves more powerful

• Created by Benito Mussolini in 1919

• Adopted by Hitler​ when he became Chancellor, destroyed the existing government and created the single-party government of the Third Reich

Anarchy

• ​The absence of government

• Also viewed as chaos or lawlessness

• ​Anarchists = people who wants to abolish (get rid of) government

• Anarchism = belief that society should have no government, laws, police, or any other authority ​

Communism

• Theoretical Communism aka Marxism

  • Created by Karl Marx​

    • Wanted the workers (proletariat) to overthrow those who controlled the means of production (bourgeoisie) and create a society where there is no government because everyone is equal and all property is shared

      • Marx viewed it as the purest form of democracy

• Actual Communism

  • Government has total control over society, gov. owns everything

  • Typically led by dictators

  • Government typically oppresses people and have been extremely violent

Socialism

• Political and economic theory in favor of the means of production being controlled by the community as a whole

• In actuality, governments will regulate ​or own major industries but people can still own small businesses

  • Laws that reduce pollution, protect children and workers in the workplace, water quality laws, etc.

• Citizens pay higher taxes ​in exchange for services that benefit the whole community

  • Healthcare, public schools, public transportation, government maintained roads/bridges/water/etc.,