The functions and forms of

government
Government
 At the end of this unit you should be
able to…
 List 5 primary functions of government & explain
them
 Identify 3 contrasting views of government
 Know the difference between a democracy & an
autocracy
 List some distinguishing characteristics of a
democracy
 Explain the democratic concept of the individual
 List 4 characteristics of an autocracy
 List the common justifications for an autocracy
 Of all the social institutions, the
government alone sets the laws and has
the authority to kill.

 Of all the social institutions, government is

the one that has the power to do the
most good and the most harm.
GOVERNMENT TOUCHES OUR LIVES IN A MILLION WAYS

Why do we let it?

Why do we need it?

What is government anyway and what is the

purpose of government?
The institution of Government

Government is a basic or
universal social institution
Universal institutions revolve
around basic human needs
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF GOVERNMENT?
 When societies become large, they need
direction and control, provided by the
institution of the government.

 In
all societies of any size some form of
organized government develops
because there is a need for an agency
capable of exercising overall social
control.
 THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT
1. Maintaining Internal Order and External
Security

2. Ensuring Justice

3. Safeguarding Individual Freedoms

4. Regulating Individuals’ Actions

5. Promoting the general welfare

 THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT
1. Maintaining Internal Order and External
Security

 The basic job of a government is to protect

its citizens against internal and external
enemies.

 Government is the one agency that is

equipped to protect a nation
 THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT
2. Ensuring Justice

- Every modern government claims

commitment to justice

- Judges and courts exist in some form almost

everywhere

- When government fails to perform this function,

lawlessness begins to spread
 THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT
3. Safeguarding Individual Freedoms
 Without government there can be no
organized, stable society; without a
stable society, there can be little real
freedom for individuals

 All governments claim to protect

certain freedoms by maintaining law
and order
 THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT
4. Regulating Individuals’ Actions

Government has established procedures

for regulating groups and institutions to
protect the public because many have
selfish interests that go against the general
welfare.
e.g. banks, service utilities


 THE FUNCTIONS OF GOVERNMENT
5. Promoting the general welfare
 The government :
 Regulates the economy, levies taxes, provides and protects
services to benefit individuals, groups & society generally
 Prohibits certain services too

 Welfare activities of government include:

 Health services, education, pensions & benefits, public
housing projects

 Peopleare more likely to support a government that

shows concern for their welfare
 Three contrasting views on the
nature of government

 Government as a necessary evil

 Government as a positive good

 Government as an unnecessary evil

 There are elements of truth in all these views

 VIEWS OF THE NATURE OF GOVERNMENT

 Another way to classify people’s views

about government is by how strong a
role they think the government should
have; i.e. How much control should
government have over our lives and
personal freedoms?
 FORMS OF GOVERNMENT
 Two primary forms are democracy and autocracy

 Democracy: from the Greek words…

 Demos = people ; Kratos = rule
 Democracy means rule of the people (the people rule)

 Autocracy: from the Greek words…

 Auto = self ; kratos = rule (I rule)
 Autocracy means rule by one person (or select group) who
has uncontrolled or unlimited authority over others
 Democracies
 Democracies are governments based on a popular
vote; elections decide who will be in power

 Democracy means different things to different

people. Many people see their own system as
democratic and other systems as non-democratic.

 “Democracy is the worst form of government

except for all others”
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A DEMOCRACY
A. Popular sovereignty - the right of individuals to
select their leaders by voting for them
 The essential requirement for political democracy
is that the people are sovereign – not a king, or a
class, or an elite.
 in order for the people to control the government
there must be
 Freedom of speech
 Effectiverepresentation of the people
 Free elections
 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A DEMOCRACY
B. THE LIBERAL TRADITION - liberal government
guarantees basic rights and freedoms such as

 the
right to a trial, freedom of speech and religion
and assembly, freedom to form a political opposition.

 The
liberal tradition is considered an essential part of
Western democracy
 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A DEMOCRACY

C. LIMITED GOVERNMENT – this means that individuals,

groups & associations are considered to have
freedoms that in theory may not be taken away,
such as …

 The right to have periodically have the right to elect or

reject the government
 the right to mobilize public opinion
 the right to demand that the government operate
within the law; e.g. the police cannot search your house
without having a good reason to do so, they need a
search warrant etc.
 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A DEMOCRACY
 Key
words that indicate important aspects of the
democratic method of doing something (eg.
governing) are:
 Free discussion
 Accommodation or compromise
 Moderation
 Tolerance
 Reconciliation

 It means that the majority will guarantee and respect the rights of
the minorities and that it will allow the minorities the right to
become the majority

 It means that no goal is worth the price of sacrificing democratic

methods
THE DEMOCRATIC CONCEPT OF THE INDIVIDUAL
 Everysocial, philosophical and political
system is based on certain assumptions
about the nature of human beings.

 Democracy makes the following

assumptions about people
 THE DEMOCRATIC CONCEPT OF THE
INDIVIDUAL
A. RATIONALITY (people are rational beings)

 Democracy assumes that people are capable

of developing a culture in which individuals have
learned to listen to discussions and arguments,
and in which they will try to discover the truth by
a rational weighing up of the evidence.

 They assume the people will realize they cannot

get all that they want from government and that
it is in everyone’s interest (individuals and groups)
to make compromises when necessary
 THE DEMOCRATIC CONCEPT OF THE
INDIVIDUAL
B. EQUALITY
 Democracy holds that all human beings should be
regarded as equal – not in their abilities, or strength etc,
but in the sight of God and before the law.

 Equality means that everyone should be given equal

opportunity to take part in the political process, to
vote, to hold a position, to have opinions

 Equality
assumes that public laws apply equally to
everyone and that there will be no favouritism
 THE DEMOCRATIC CONCEPT OF THE
INDIVIDUAL
C. PRIMACY OF THE INDIVIDUAL

 Democracy as a concept, and democratic

governments, emphasize the dignity and worth of
the individual.

 The government exists for the individual, to

enhance the dignity of the individual and provide
for the richest and fullest development of
individuals

 Freedom and equality are permitted but not if they

interfere with the freedom of others, or disrupt the
social order.
 DEMOCRACY EXISTS IN MANY FORMS

Itmay be direct, representative,

presidential, parliamentary.

It
can exist in a republic or a
constitutional monarchy.
 AUTOCRACIES
 An autocracy is a government where a single
person or a small group of people has unlimited
power

 Inthe 21st century, 2 types of autocracies

remain.
 AUTOCRACIES
 AUTHORITARIAN AUTOCRACY
 An authoritarian autocracy is one in which the society is
ruled by a dictator or clique (small privileged group)
which forbids all activities that threaten its position.

 TOTALITARIAN AUTOCRACY
 a modern totalitarian autocracy wants to control all
aspects of an individual’s life, not only all economic and
political matters but the attitudes, values, and beliefs of its
population. Most totalitarian governments are based on
an ideology that allows them to justify their actions in the
interest creating a better world.
 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF AN AUTOCRACY
1. LOYALTY TO THE PARTY AND THE STATE.
 totalitarian autocracies demand complete loyalty and obedience to the
party and the state. If there is any conflict of interest, people must
subordinate their own wishes to those of the party and the state.
2. RULE BY LEADERS
3. ONE PARTY MONOPOLY
 Autocracy desires control – it generally tolerates no organized
opposition, but it sometimes makes use of a political party
4. A CONTROLLED PRESS
 To maintain control and ensure support, a leader often has to
control the media & press.

 Propaganda is the product of the state controlling the press

and structuring the flow of information to the people in such
a way that it makes the state look good. The people are
denied the chance to hear the other side of an issue
 HOW DO AUTOCRACIES JUSTIFY THEIR FORMS OF
GOVERNMENT?
 We need to keep control to stop the repressive
effects of the market
 If we were not in charge, some other group that is
much less caring about the country would take
over.
 We are caretakers until democracy can be
properly established.
 The country is not yet ready for democracy – the
people are not educated or experienced enough
for democracy to work.
There is some truth in these arguments
 Modern democracies were developed to reflect
western cultural values and institutions and these don’t
always transplant well into another cultural context

 It’s also difficult to make democracy work well in

countries with two or more separate and opposing
cultures.

 Classifying a country as an autocracy does not mean it

is bad. It simply means it is not responsive to the will of
the people the way democracies are. (Autocrats do
not expect people to know what is good for them –
they tell them). But they can also listen to the people
and carry out popular wishes.
Conclusion

Governments are far from simple. There

is an art to government. The goals of a
government may remain the same but the
way those goals are achieved varies with
changing times.