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Forms of government: Difference between revisions
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[[category: Social Studies Skills]] | [[category: Social Studies Skills]] | ||
=== [[Distribution of Power]] === | === [[Distribution of Power|Distribution of power]] === | ||
* open v. closed societies | * open v. closed societies | ||
* | * centralized v. decentralized government | ||
* relevant vocabulary includes: | |||
** authority | |||
** autonomy | |||
** extents v. limits of power/authority | |||
** legitimacy | |||
** mandate/s | |||
** overlapping authorities | |||
questions to ask about "distribution of power" | questions to ask about "distribution of power" | ||
> do you have to share power? / decision making/ | > do you have to share power? / decision making/ | ||
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> how do you maintain legitimacy? | > how do you maintain legitimacy? | ||
== State == | |||
* a "state" is an independent political entity | |||
* | ** a nation or country that exercises its own authority and sovereignty | ||
* note that US (American) "states" share power with the central government | |||
** the U.S. Constitution combines them into a single nation through a system of shared powers | |||
== Basic forms of government == | |||
* tribal | |||
** population 10-100 people | |||
** communal authority | |||
*chiefdom | |||
**population: 50-1,0000+ | |||
**centralized authority | |||
*state | |||
**population: 1,000-+ | |||
**centralized authority | |||
adapted from Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs & Steel," p. << to do chart | |||
== Greek word origins of forms of government == | == Greek word origins of forms of government == | ||
note the hierarchy here from elite / centralized to democratic /popular rule | note the hierarchy here from elite / centralized to democratic /popular rule | ||
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* | * | ||
=== Modern words for forms of government === | |||
* authoritative | |||
* democracy | |||
* fascism | |||
* laissez-faire | |||
* mixed | |||
* regulatory state | |||
* republic | |||
* totalitarianism | |||
==== authoritarian state ==== | |||
* authority through state apparatus (elements), including | |||
** bureaucracy | |||
** judicial system controlled by central authority | |||
** military | |||
** police / secret police | |||
** state-owned media | |||
* authoritarian states frequently pretend to employ democratic structures | |||
** but those institutions are centrally and not popularly (the people) controlled | |||
==== fascist state / fascism ==== | |||
* from the Roman symbol of authority based upon a "fasces" | |||
** which is a bundle of sticks, i.e., they are stronger when together, break easily when separated | |||
** the "fasces" is a common emblem across history and types of government | |||
*** including in the U.S. in order to symbolize strength through unity | |||
* fascism as a political system was created by Italy under Mussolini and Germany under Hitler in the 1920s/1930s | |||
* fascism uses authoritarian and totalitarian methods and structures | |||
** it is basically the same thing | |||
** however, some political scientists distinguish fascism by use of "charismatic" leadership | |||
*** = the power is built upon leaders who make popular appeals to the people for their support | |||
*** that is, the people support the fascist government | |||
*** charismatic leadership is referred to in fascism as "cult of personality" | |||
==== totalitarian state ==== | |||
* same as "authoritarian" except the totalitarian state abolishes all pretense (pretending) of democracy | |||
** i.e., the people have no representative institutions | |||
** as opposed to authoritarian states that pretend to maintain democratic institutions | |||
== Monarchy == | == Monarchy == | ||