STANDARD

– CA 12.9 Students analyze the origins, characteristics, and development of different political systems across time, with emphasis on the quest for political democracy, its advances, and its obstacles.

– 1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of federal, con federal, and unitary systems of government.

Objective•Students will be able to

explain the advantages and disadvantages of federal, con federal, and unitary systems of government by completing a graphic organizer.

Describe the different types of governments that exist in the world today & Explain the type of government the United States has.

Bell Ringer:

Forms of GovernmentCIVICS

Governments are classified according to:

1. Who can participate 2. How government power is distributed geographically 3. The relationship between the 3 branches of government

• Power rests with people• Can be direct or indirect

• Direct (pure) democracy, not on national level, but some towns make decisions with citizens at town meetings• Indirect (representative) democracy, small groups of people are elected to represent citizens and express their will. Elections are held to ensure accountability.The People are the government!!!

• Power rests with a single person (autocracy) or a small group of elites (oligarchy)• All are AUTHORITARIAN… and most are totalitarian…• Single person dictatorships are rare today, but do exist• Dictatorships are militaristic and usually take power by force• They often try to expand power through foreign aggression.

Bashar al-Assad

Robert Mugabe

Others:

BelarusIran

ThailandUzbekistanAzerbaijan

TurkmenistanSudan

RwandaCuba

How power is distributed in Democracies

• Unitary• Federal• Confederate

Unitary System – gives all “key ” powers to the national or central government

• States are created and given limited sovereignty

• Great Britain, Italy, France– Efficient but too much

centralized power

Federal System/Federalism – divides the powers of government between national and state governments

• Federalism combines concern with the public good and protection of individual rights

Confederate System (Confederacy) – a loose union of independent states

• The U.S. Articles of the Confederation failed before the Constitution instituted a Federal System

• The Confederate States of America during the American Civil War

• The Commonwealth of Independent States – 12 republics of the former Soviet Union is the only Confederation in the world today.

Relationship between Legislative & Executive Branches

Political Scientists have identified 2 basic

relationships:

1) Presidential

2) Parlimentary

Presidential Government Parliamentary Government

Legislative and executive branches are separate… but the

people vote for them independently.

Legislature President Legislative and executive branches are separate… but the people only vote the legislature. The legislature’s majority party or an alliance of parties then chooses the executive, and he chooses a cabinet. If the prime minister and cabinet get a vote of “no confidence” a new government has to be chosen.

Legislature Prime Minister/Premier

Voters Voters

Complete a Summary & Add

Questions

Create an ABSTRACT

Cow-ism’s• Socialism -- If you have 2 cows, you give one to your

neighbor.• Communism -- If you have 2 cows, you give them to the

government; and the government gives you some milk.

• Russian Communism -- You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk.

• Cambodian Communism -- You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.

• Fascism -- If you have 2 cows, you keep the cows but give the milk to the government, who then sells you the milk at a high price.

• Nazism -- If you have 2 cows, the government shoots you and keeps the cows.

Cow-ism’s•Capitalism -- (Reaganomics) If you have 2 cows, you sell one and buy a bull; you then sell all the excess milk to the government who in turn ships it to fascist and communist governments.

• Anarchism -- If you have 2 cows, your neighbor on your left takes one cow, and the one on the right takes the other; while your backyard neighbor takes the milk, the bucket and the stool.

• Dictatorship -- You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

• Pure Democracy -- You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

• Representative Democracy -- You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

• Pure Anarchy -- You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

Complete Activity• Make a graphic organizer that displays the

advantages and disadvantages of the following systems of government .

Form Definition Pros Cons

Unitary

Federal

Confederal