Nature, purpose, & forms of government Flashcards
What is a government?
It is the authority that organizes and regulates how a society operates.
List the main purposes of the government (5)?
1) law and order (prevent/resolve conflicts)
2) foreign affairs
3) defense
4) social welfare
5) economic policies/regulations
How does different forms of government affect social welfare and human rights?
Some form of governments (e.g. democracy & republic) are more favorable to social welfare and human rights, whereas other forms (e.g. dictatorship) are not so favorable.
BTW social welfare are programs intended to help the poor and human rights are basic rights afforded to people by the government (e.g. right to life, liberty, & property).
What is a parliamentary system of government?
In the parliamentary system, the executive branch is part of the legislative branch.
The head of the majority party is selected as the prime minister (the central executive). He/she stays in power so long as he has the vote of confidence from his party, which is the majority party.
What is a federalism system of government?
In a federalism, government has two levels: a state level and federal level. Both levels have a level of interconnection and autonomy.
What are the constitutional structures?
The constitution created three branches of government at the federal level: legislative branch (Congress), executive branch (the president), and judicial branch (the Supreme court).
What are unitary structures?
A unitary political system is the opposite of federalism. In a unitary system, all (or most of) the power resides in the central government. Local governments are in large part selected by the central government.
Most common political system. Practiced in UK & France.
Main features of a democracy (6)?
1) popular sovereign: the right to rule is from the people
2) electoral system: established selection system
3) public participation: voting, running for office, etc.
4) separation of powers: checks
5) Human rights: inalienable rights
6) rule of law
Differentiate between direct democracy, representative democracy, & republic.
In direct democracy, people directly make the laws that govern them (think town-hall style), whereas in representative democracy, people elect officials to make and execute the laws. With both types of democracy, the majority rules to the extent that minority needs can be ignore/usurped.
Consequently, in contrast to the previous two, a republic is a representative democracy with a constitution that checks the rule of the majority. Basically, the people elect officials that then govern based on the constitution, not based on the whims of the people. In fact, officials will overturn laws that are unconstitutional–even if the laws are popular.
What is totalitarianism?
A form of government in which the government (usually under the command of one person) controls the politics and the economy of a nation state (country).
In totalitarianism, the government is usually imposed, and it usually does not encourage civic participation nor accord its people many freedoms/rights.
What is authoritarianism?
Authoritarianism is similar to totalitarianism in that both of them repress dissent and deny their people the right to politically participate in their governance.
However, the main difference between the two is that authoritarianism accords its people some social freedom/rights..
All in all, totalitarianism is a more extreme version of authoritarianism.
What is monarchy?
A form of government in which the people from the same family rule from generation to generation. A monarchy can either be constitutional or absolute.
