Unit 3
Governments
Governments
Definition of Government: The act or process of governing, especially the control
and administration of public policy (creation, enforcement, and interpretation of
laws) in a political unit (city, state, country, etc.).
Types of Governments:
Anarchy: Anarchy is the absence of governmental authority. Ex: Somalia, which has no central
governmental authority.
Communism: communism is a form of government in which all property (businesses, means of
production, etc.) is owned and administrated by the government on behalf of the people. Typically the
government plans all economic production. The goal of such governments is to create an egalitarian
or equal society. In most communist countries, basic rights and freedoms are ignored or violated in
order to achieve this “utopia” or perfect society. Ex: The Former Soviet Union; China; North Korea
Confederation: a confederation is a form of government in which a weak central government shares
power and authority with smaller, but more powerful, regional or state governments. Ex: The
Confederate States of America during the US Civil War; the United Arab Emirates.
Democracy: A democracy is any type of government in which primary political power is held by the
people of that country. Typically, in democracies, individual rights and freedoms are considered
extremely important.
-Representative democracy – the most common way in which democracy is practiced.
People elect representatives to govern on their behalf.
-Direct democracy – sometimes thought of as “true” democracy, a form of government in
which decisions and laws are put directly to the people for their vote. Typically occurs at
the local and state, vs. national, level.
Types of Governments (Cont.)
-Dictatorship: a dictatorship is a form of government in which power rests in the hands of a single
individual (or small group of individuals) who is not a king or queen (monarch).
-Federation: a federation, or federal style, government is one in which a powerful national
government shares power with weaker state governments.
-Monarchy: a monarchy is a form of government which is ruled by a king or queen. There are two
primary types of monarchies.
-Absolute monarchy: monarchy in which total (absolute) power rests in the hands of
the monarch
-Constitutional monarchy: monarchy in which power is shared between a monarch and
some type of lawmaking body such as a congress or parliament, and the powers of each
are detailed in a constitution
-Republic: any government in which the people elect representatives to make and enforce laws.
-Socialism: type of government in which some or all important social services are provided to the
people by the government, and often the government owns and controls certain key industries;
generally socialist countries also have high rates of taxation
-Theocracy: any form of government in which some or all laws are based on religious laws and
beliefs.
-Totalitarian: any form of government in which the state controls every aspect of citizens’ lives.
This control includes political, economic, social, and religious matters. Typically totalitarian
governments control all forms of media (the press, TV, movies, art, the Internet, etc.), allowing
citizens to see and hear only what the government wants them to see or hear. Basic freedoms,
such as freedom of speech and expression, are repressed. The use of propaganda (information
presented in a biased manner intended to convince someone of a particular viewpoint) is typical in
totalitarian governments, as is the use of a secret police used to spy on the citizenry and to ensure
absolute obedience to the state.
The symbols of Communism:
the hammer, representing
the working class, the sickle,
representing the peasantry,
and red, the color of
international communism.
During the American Civil
War, the North was known
as the Union (a federation)
and the South was known as
the Confederacy (a
confederation).
Dictators who took power through different
means and methods:
Adolf Hitler, who, once voted into office as
Chancellor of Germany, declared a state of
emergency and himself to be the “Fuhrer”; Josef
Stalin, took power in the Soviet Union, and then
eliminated or “purged” anyone he saw as a threat
to his power; Agosto Pinochet, a Chilean general
who seized power in a military coup in 1973; and
Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who inherited power
from his father, Kim Jong Il.
Classical
Greece was
one of the
ancient
world’s first
democracies.
King Salman of Saudi
Arabia, an absolute
monarchy
Queen
Elizabeth II of
Great Britain, a
constitutional
monarchy.
The Supreme
Leader of Iran,
Islamic cleric
Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei.
Iran is an
example of a
theocracy.
The use of propaganda is common in countries
with totalitarian governments. Here are
propaganda posters from Nazi Germany, the
Soviet Union, and North Korea.