U.S. Government and Civics / Unit 1: Foundations of Government
1.2 Forms of Government
Notes
Governments differ in who holds power and how power is divided.
- Autocracy: one person rules with unlimited power (an absolute monarch or a dictator). Oligarchy: a small group rules.
- Democracy: the people rule. In a direct democracy citizens vote on laws themselves; in a representative democracy (republic) they elect officials to make laws.
- Unitary system: the central government holds all power and may create or abolish local units (for example, the United Kingdom and France).
- Federal system: power is divided between a national government and state governments (the United States).
- Confederation: independent states form a weak central government (the U.S. under the Articles of Confederation).
- Presidential system: the executive is separate from the legislature. Parliamentary system: the legislature chooses the prime minister.
| System | Where power is held |
|---|---|
| Unitary | Central government |
| Federal | Shared between national and state governments |
| Confederal | Mostly in the member states |
Practice
In a New England town meeting, residents gather and vote on the town budget themselves. This is an example of:
Citizens vote on the decision directly instead of electing others to decide.
In which system can the central government create or abolish local governments as it chooses?
In a unitary system all power belongs to the central government.
In a parliamentary system, the head of government (prime minister) is usually:
The prime minister comes from and answers to the legislature.
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