Notes 11/9/17: types of Government

  • No two governments are alike.
  • They are shaped by their country’s unique ______, ______, politics, and economy.
  • Governments may be grouped into two broad categories: ______

and ______.

AUTHORITARIAN

  • In authoritarian regimes, power is held by an individual or group ______to the people.
  • An ______ is an example of this. It is a form of government in

which power rests with a ______number of people.

  • Some city-states from ancient Greece were oligarchies.
  • A monarchy is a government with a ______ruler.
  • Absolute monarchs have ______authority to do as they wish.
  • Today, many countries have monarchs but almost none are “absolute.”
  • ______also exercise complete control but usually take power by force.
  • Most rely on the ______and ______to stay in power.
  • They often tamper with elections or refuse to hold them.
  • They also ______basic ______.
  • Most dictators impose ______rule, in which the government controls almost ______aspects of people’s lives.
  • Totalitarian leaders typically have a ______for the economy and society.
  • They ban political ______, suppress individual ______, and dictate what people should believe.
  • To enforce their rules, they ______the media and use scare tactics and violence
  • Adolf ______in Germany and Joseph ______in the Soviet Union were totalitarian leaders.
  • Today, ______, ______, and ______are usually considered totalitarian states.

DEMOCRACIES

  • Almost all monarchies today are ______, in which the power of the hereditary ruler is limited by the country’s constitution and laws.
  • These governments generally follow ______practices.
  • The people participate in governing and elect ______to make laws.
  • The monarch serves as the ______head of state and national symbol of unity.
  • A ______is a democracy with a ______government in which no leaders inherit office.
  • It is also called a representative democracy or a constitutional republic.
  • The United States was the ______republic, but now there are many more.
  • Democracy has been ______.
  • Nearly ______of the world’s countries now have democratic governments.
  • All are representative democracies, though they vary in how they elect leaders and organize government.
  • Few democracies use a ______system.
  • Most follow ______model and use a parliamentary system.
  • The legislature is usually called a parliament and the ______a prime minister, though the terminology can vary.
  • In a parliamentary system, top officials perform both ______and legislative functions.
  • Prime ministers and their cabinet ministers are members of ______, so they help make the laws as well as carry them out.
  • In a presidential system, the executive and legislative branches operate

______.

  • In a presidential system, voters elect the president ______.
  • In a parliamentary system, members of ______elect or approve the prime minister.
  • In a presidential system, the president acts as both the head of ______(political

leader) and head of ______(ceremonial leader).

  • In parliamentary systems, someone other than the prime minister (a king, queen, or “president”) serves as head of state.
  • Because a parliamentary system does not separate the legislative and executive

branches, it has ______.

  • However, the unity among branches helps the government get things done.
  • The prime minister is typically from the ______in the legislature.
  • As a result, the government has fewer party conflicts over laws and policies like those that cause gridlock in the U.S. Congress.
  • Governments evolve as times change and people with new agendas come to power.