TYPES OF GOVERNMENT

The following information outlines some of the most common forms of

government. Read the information below and provide advantages and
disadvantages that may be associated with these governments. Try to
think of examples where these types of government exist in the real
word. First let’s define government…..
Government is….

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What does government do?

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THEOCRACY: The combination of strong national pride and strong

religious beliefs has lead to the control of the government by religious leaders.

Advantages:_______________________________________________________

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Disadvantages: ____________________________________________________

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Country:_______________________

MONARCHY: Power is inherited and passed down the Royal family line
(hereditary).

Advantages:_______________________________________________________

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Disadvantages: ____________________________________________________
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Country: ________________________

DICTATORSHIP: Power is in the hands of ONE individual, who usually

has the support of the army.

Advantages:_______________________________________________________

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Disadvantages: ____________________________________________________

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Country:___________________________

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY: Power lies in the hands of

officials who are elected by the people. Individuality and freedom of expression
are valued in a democracy. Power is placed in the hands of a few representatives
that the people elect into power. They have limited terms and if the people feel
the elected official is doing a bad job, they can elect a new person.

Advantages: ______________________________________________________

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Disadvantages: ____________________________________________________

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Country: ______________________________
DIRECT DEMOCRACY:
Advantages:_______________________________________________________

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Disadvantages:
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Country:_______________________

COMMUNIST: government owns all land and property, all production and
distribution is controlled by the state, in theory everyone is equal and works
towards sharing wealth.

Advantages:_______________________________________________________

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Disadvantages:
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Country: ____________________________
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THEOCRACY:

Theocracy has always been plagued by a number of sins. In Islamic countries where
theocracy is prevalent, it is observed that a number of negative norms have developed.
Here the rights to women have been curtailed to a large extent. According to Zalman
(2004) in Islamic countries such as Afghanistan the right to women are either narrowed
down using religion as an excuse or not mentioned at all. They are deprived of basic rights
such as education and welfare. They are considered lower than men and often subject to a
lot of domestic abuses and violence. Beauchamp (2006) stated that “Theocrats, Christian
or Islamic, view the world through the same condemnatory prism-and see sinners who
must be punished.” There are very few positives about such a regime. It is observed in
some instances that there is a high level of morality and social welfare. This is because the
people tend to become very religious and pious.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF DEMOCRACY:

Government officials in numerous democratic countries have been found guilty of unjust
atrocities. They have been caught red handed accepting or demanding bribe, passing bills
or laws which are against common welfare and other such incidents. In democratic
countries like India and Bangladesh the scenario is even worse. Here the common people
are threatened by hired thugs and miscreants to vote for particular political parties. Things
such as booth capturing and violence do not allow the elections to proceed in a smooth
way. Often because of such incidents there is an unjust outcome to the elections. At the
time of elections, representatives spend huge amounts of money on publicity and social
propaganda; this money could well be used for more constructive purposes. They also
make false and misleading promises to the masses and cheat them to attain their votes.
Unlike in a theocratic country, the people in a democratic country are free to express their
views and are free to do as per their choice. This allows opportunity for growth and
innovations and people in such countries have fewer burdens as compared to people of
theocratic countries. Laws and norms are rationally devised and do not have a religious
angle to it. There are free markets for goods and services which encourages trade and
commerce. The state is secular and does not discriminate on the basis of religion, caste,
sex or creed. There is a sense of equality and there is equal opportunity.

MONARCHY
In advantages of monarchy like in england:

1) they have not to elect new person for a new term which reduce a heavy amount of
expenditures in election.

2) peoples has much respect for them than an elected person as he or she is for a
term only.

3) the king or queen represents a historical authority. who serve nation in history.

4)they know they are not for a term period so they have not lust of money or misuse
their authority so there are minimum chances for corruption.

In disadvantages there are:

1) A single person rules in a state for a long time (mostly for life time) so peoples
have no chance to remove him if he or she is not functioning properly or according to
the will of people.

2) when a person knows that is an authority for life time he/she does not take any
attention to work for the betterment of peoples as he/she knows that they are not
answerable to anyone.

3) a huge amount of money spends on king/queen and their family for nothing.

Direct Democracy puts the steering wheel of government in the hands of the people, and it takes it out of
the hands of an unresponsive elite with its own agenda.

ADVANTAGES

• It gives us a tool to initiate a referendum on EU membership at the time of our choosing, and not
when the Government decides. It ensures that an organised and mobilised British public would
decide when to call a referendum, and not an elite behind the scenes of government. We're not
asking, we're telling!
• It re-invigourates our democracy and enlivens our political debate. It counters cynicism and
apathy.
• It raises issues the elites want to suppress.
• It restores authority to we the people. It makes the people responsible for policy, not the Parties. It
means government is people-driven, not elite-driven.
• It removes power from the hands of elites and affirms that power lies with the people.
• It allows the politicians to represent the will of the electorate, not the will of the Party.
• It is a curb on the imbalanced use of power. It makes the politicians responsible to the people,
not to the two party system, big business, pressure groups and power groups. It returns them to their
proper role as servants of the people.
• It generates community involvement.
• It provides a way to repeal bad legislation and makes for better legislation. It gives us a
mechanism to say Stop, and Try This.
• Politicians are forced to act on petitions received, instead of throwing them away. No more wasted
time collecting signatures.
• It allows us to regain control over Parliament and the direction of this country. It allows us to
determine our own destiny. It allows the people to decide what kind of country we are to become,
rather than the spin-doctors and the media.
• It contributes to a sense of national ethos.
 • It restores representative parliamentary government, where the members re-present the policies
of the people.
• It restores accountability to the politicians. We call the tune. Politicians are more inclined to be
responsive to the demands of the people.

DISADVANTAGES?

• Voter fatigue - To participate or not is the voter's choice.

• Cost - Minimal for the sake of better government.
• Pressure Group Dominance - A possibility; some people are more politically active than others.
However, at the end of the day, it will be all the people who will decide the outcome.
• Government and Media will Attempt to Influence - The role of the media is crucial and new
regulations will be essential. For example, without regulations then - if there were a referendum on
the single currency - it's entirely possible that a pro-single currency theme would get written into
EastEnders!
• Government will Attempt to Baffle Electorate with a Choice of Means rather than Ends - We
want a choice of ends, not means. The issue voted on must indicate the end desired not the means
necessary to achieve it, which is often beyond the competence of the electorate to decide. Our job is
to indicate goals. As voters, we do not need to have the competence to know how they will be
achieved or to make choices between different methods of achieving them. That's a job for
technicians. It is our job to demand the ends we want and to elect to power those who will ensure we
get what we demand, and who can be held to account if they do not deliver.
• Too many Referenda - Some people try to dismiss Direct Democracy by moaning that we'll be
having a referendum on every issue. Of course, there will be an increase in referenda, but seriously,
if this is a problem for you then what's your idea of democracy?

COMMUNISM
Many problems in society are due to unequal distribution of wealth, so distribution of the
wealth was thought to be a means to bringing about happiness and prosperity to all. Thus
the original ideal of communism was not an immoral way of thinking. Disadvantages are
that the rich wants to stay rich and will always rebel against giving any of their riches to the
poor. Communism forces them to do this

Advantages of Communism

• Communism is an internally stable economic system, in that those that participate benefit and those
that don't are culled - creating an incentive to participate.
• Communism requires common goals and agreed upon rules/laws to allocate responsibilities and
resources. If successful, this leads to a spirit of sharing - which builds stronger social communities,
creating a stabler economy.
• Due to their sense of cooperation, healthy communistic systems are very efficient at distributing
resources within their localized areas - particularly in times of need.

Disadvantages of Communism

• Large or geographically broad populations tend to be diverse, making it difficult to maintain a

common goal or set of rules for shared effort and resources.
• Large, diversified societies tend to gravitate towards systems of heirarchy, reducing the perception
of fair distribution of work and resources - which can destablize a communistic society.
• Allowing an influx external culture increases the likelyhood of destablizing the homogeneity of the
society. As such, communistic systems tend to block out external cultures and exclude outside
competition, weakening the system's ability to learn from, or compete with, external economies.