Philosophies and Forms of Government



Effects of Good Government on the City, Ambrogio Lorenzetti (1338-1339)

 

Forms of Government

 

Direct Democracy

 

 

Representative Democracy

 

 

Republic

 

 

Monarchy

 

 

Oligarchy 

 

Autocracy

 

 

Theocracy

House of Commons, United Kingdom, 2010

British Parliamentary System 

 

CROSS-LINK: England as an Exception to the Growth of Royal Power in Europe

 

Kleptocracy

 

Plutorcacy

 

PAGE SUMMARY

  • First, governments are fluid - it’s very much possible for them to change - not always easy, but possible.

 

  • Secondly, governments do not necessarily serve the constituents - we like to think that the reality is that governments generally serve to help the people, but really most times governments help serve the government.

 

  • Lastly, just because a government seems bad, does not necessarily mean that it will change, building off of the previous points, governments often aggregate power, and make it difficult to be usurped. 

Submitted by Mason Peng, March 2021 

 

  Click here for a timeline of different trends in forms of government throughout history.

 

 

 March of Democracy. See 4,000 years of democracy in 90 seconds.

 

Click here for a Khan Academy video discussing the different forms of government rule

 


The CIA's list of different forms of government

 

Full Presidential System

 

Executive Presidency Linked to a Parliament

 

Semi-Presidential System

 

Parliamentary Constitutional Monarch

 

Absolute Monarchies

 

Single Party Government

 

Military Dictatorship

 

 Direct Democracy


Political decision making and control is done by all the citizens who choose to participate.

 

Defining Democracy, from the Museum of Australian Democracy


"A form of democratic government whereby citizens have the right to participate in decision making through referenda on legislative initiatives. Direct democracy can exist in parallel to representative democracy, for example, where ballot initiatives allow citizens to vote on legislative initiatives, or replace representative democracy. "

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Click here to see archival footage of a Vermont town meeting in 1950. Town meetings in many New England towns operate much the same today.

 

 

 

 

Representative Democracy

 

 


The House of Burgesses was the first legislative assembly in the American colonies,

and was a leading model of democracy coming into the modern era.

 

Chamber of the House of Burgesses, Virginia


Political decision making and control is done by representatives elected by the people who have the responsibility of acting in the people's interest, but not always according to their wishes.

 
"A form of democratic government whereby citizens’ interests are represented by elected officials in open elections. Representatives act in the interests of their electors, either by bringing together electors’ views, or through personal initiative and independence between elections."

 

 

external image 500px-Hebrew_timeline.svg.png Timeline of U.S Federal History

https://networks.h-net.org/node/5301/pages/1030420/timeline-federal-history

 

 


For more, link to House of Burgesses from Mt. Vernon website

 

  Over 70 countries have have had women leaders, many of them representative democratic countries. Despite the impressive gains in equality and representation, women still lack greatly in parliament representation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Republic

 

"A political system in which a country is ruled by law, has representative government, and is democratic in nature." A republic has a head of state who is not a monarch, often a president. There are a number of different kinds of republic including parliamentary, federal or democratic republics.

Although it is sometimes used interchangeably with representative democracy, republic is vague enough that a number of more authoritarian states are called republics including Iran and China. To see more about the difference between these terms, see this article.

 

 

 There are many different types of Republics; these include but are not limited to:

 

 

 

 

Electoral Systems

 

Types of Electoral Systems from the World Policy Institute.

 

For more information, link to Democracy: Electoral Systems from the same organization.

 

 

Monarchy

 

Queen Elizabeth II, 2007

 

Queen Elizabeth II, 2007

"A form of government in which political power belongs largely to one ruler, generally called a king or queen, who receives his or her position by claim of divine or inherited right. "

Meet the World's Other 25 Royal Families, Washington Post (July 23, 2013)

Constitutional monarchy describes a state in which the monarch does not exercise political power.

 


Absolute monarchy describes a state in which the monarch has ultimate authority and exercises political power.

 

 


Click here for a short list of great female monarchs along with a small biography about each of them.

 

 

The World's Oldest Monarch:  Kingdom of Denmark

 

 

Oligarchy

 

A form of government where a select few, usually considered the "ruling class," holds all of the political power. Oftentimes this ruling class distinction is economic in nature; for example, some consider free-market capitalism in the United States to be oligarchic as a result of massive campaign funding from large corporations. Sometimes referred to as an aristocracy.

 

 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/oligarchy 

 

There are a few different types of oligarchy, including:

 


Click here for a link to a video that makes the case that the United States is an oligarchy, not a democracy. 

 

 

 

   Coat of Arms of North Korea

 

 

 

Autocracy

 

A form of government where power is held by one person.

 



Difference between totalitarian regime and dictatorship:

 
- Regime: wide focus on control of political, social, and cultural aspects of a society.

 
- Dictatorship: narrow focus on political control.

 

Link to Fascism and Totalitarianism

 

 

 

Theocracy

 

Vladmir Putin & Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

Vladmir Putin & Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
A form of government where power is held by a religious group, and where the law of the land is often dictated by the tenets of the religion in power. Theocracy has historically been a powerful force in the Middle East for centuries, manifesting itself most fully after the Arab Conquests and during the long-lasting Ottoman Empire.

 

 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/theocracy   

 


In Iran, Sharia law under a theocracy has had negative impacts on women's social and legal status. Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 women have made progress.

 

Click here for an article discussing the mistreatment of women in theocracies

 

 

The British Parliamentary Political System 

360 Degree View of Parliament Square in London

 


The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories.



Definition of a Parliamentary System

"British General Election Briefing," by Ben Schott in the The New York Times, April 18, 2010 (Week in Review, p. 11) makes the following points about British electoral system which is known as a parliamentary democracy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Link to online flash cards that review different types of government.

 

Is a Parliamentary Form of Government Better Than a Presidential Form of Government, from Debate.org

 

Click here for a link to a website that gives full transcripts of British Parliamentary meetings, sessions and debates, dating back to 1789

 

Click here for a biography on Constance Markievics, who was the first woman elected to British Parliament in the year 1918

 

 

Kleptocracy

 

A system of government where corrupt leaders exploit people and resources to enhance their personal wealth and power

 

 Click here for a YouTube video on Kleptocracy, describing its characteristics and some examples of current kleptocracies around the world

 

Plutocracy

 

A system where society is controlled by people of great wealth.

 

Click here for a YouTube video breaking down what a plutocracy is, describing what they are and how they operate

 

The Country with the World's Worst Inequality is . . . 

 

 

Learning Activities

 

Click here for a lesson plan on researching different forms of governments from around the world.

 

Click here for a link to a google drive containing a lesson plan and activity for understanding different forms of government.

 

 

Types of Government a lesson plan on different types of government from the UK Parliament.

 

 

Click here for a fun Layers of Learning Game, in which kids learn about different forms of government


Click here for a lesson plan designed to teach students about different forms of government

 

Click the link below for a interactive game for students to play to help learn the forms of government

https://wordwall.net/resource/495933/forms-of-government

 

 Which of the following is a form of government in which a select few known as the "ruling class" holds all the political power?

 

A. Republic

B. Monarchy

C. Oligarchy

D. Theocracy

 

Answer: C

 

 This form of government is held by a religious group, where laws are dictated by religious tenets. This form of government is popular in the Middle East. What is it called?

 

A. Autocracy

B. Kleptocracy

C. Oligarchy

D. Theocracy


Answer: D

 



Sources
http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/SARC/E-Democracy/Final_Report/Glossary.htm
http://www.regentsprep.org/Regents/global/vocab/topic_alpha.cfm?topic=r
http://www.multied.com/Civics/M.html