Types of Government Distribution of Power Why do

Types of Government Distribution of Power

Why do we have governments? n n Governments provide laws, structure, public services, and national defense. They are organized ways for creating laws/rules designed to protect the well-being of the general public and to help manage conflict.

Why do we have governments? n n n They determine the power structure (who has the power) within a country. Sometimes power is centralized (one person or party controls the government) and sometimes power is shared. What do you think would happen if we did not have governments?

Governments - Power by Level n There are different types of government (democracies, republics, monarchies, dictatorships). n Some types use different levels of government to divide powers (not branches)

Levels of Government n n n Unitary Confederation Federal

Unitary Governments n All power belongs to one single agency. n Power is usually given to other smaller local governments just to make it easier on the central agency.

Example of Unitary Government n Great Britain n Parliament makes up the whole government n There are some local governments, but they were just created to make it easier on Parliament could eliminate these governments at any time

Unitary Governments of the World

Federal Governments Also known as Federalism n Power is divided into levels - one central government and several local governments n No one level can gain more power without the consent of the other level n Each level has their own powers, and these cannot be changed without the consent of the people n Some powers are shared n

Example of Federal Governments n United n. One States central government (National) n. Several local government (States) n. The Constitution divided powers between these two levels and this cannot change unless the

Federal Governments of the World

CONFEDERATION Alliance of several independent states, with one common constitution, power is shared n There is a bigger government (The Confederate Government) that only gets powers that ALL states agree on. n These powers usually deal with “big” issues like international trade/ national defense n States are allowed to maintain their n

n n n Example of a Confederate States of America Separated from the United States during the Civil War 11 States wanted to be independent of the U. S. Government and have total control over their state. Created 1 constitution for all of the states They did this because they didn’t like the fact that the federal government had some powers over them

How is the power distributed?