UNIT 1: FOUNDATIONS OF GOVERNMENT
LESSON 2: TYPES OF GOVERNMENT
TYPES OF GOVERNMENT
 Governments are classified in a few different ways:
1. Types of democracies
2. How power is divided in a country
 There are three main systems of government: unitary, confederate, and federal.
UNITARY SYSTEM
 all key powers belong to the central government.
 Lower governments are given directions by central
government
 Examples: Great Britain, Japan, and France
CONFEDERACY
 A confederate system Is a loose union of
independent and sovereign states
 The states grant a central government directions and
powers
 The U.S. was a confederacy from 1781-1787; it didn’t
work 
 Examples: few countries are confederacies
FEDERAL SYSTEM
 government divides the powers of government
between the national and state or provincial
government

Each level of government has sovereignty in some
areas
 Example: The United States
CLASSIFICATION OF GOVERNMENT
 Governments can be classified in many ways:
1. how power and benefits are assigned.
2. Who governs?
3. Who or what gives the government its power?
4. Who benefits from government?
AUTHORITARIAN GOVERNMENTS
 Authoritarian governments control all aspects of
citizens’ economic, political, and social lives
 These governments are also called totalitarian – Nazi
Germany is an example of authoritarian/totalitarian
governments
 In authoritarian nations, there are few, if any, political
freedoms such as the freedom of speech or freedom
of assembly; media is controlled by the state
 ruthless force or the threat of force is used to
maintain order.
MONARCHY
 s another form of government in which one person
has great power; a king, queen, or emperor inherits
the throne and heads the state.
 A monarchy is one of the oldest forms of
government
 Most monarchies are limited in some way by
tradition or law. These are called constitutional
monarchies
DEMOCRACY
 democracies derive their power from the consent
and trust of the people.
 Democracies can be direct or representative:
1. A direct democracy is a government in which all
citizens cast a vote directly on government issues
and laws.
2. In an indirect or representative democracy, the
people elect representatives and give them the
responsibility to make laws and conduct government
 The U.S. is an indirect democracy, also called a
republic