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19
PENNSVALLEY
Lesson 10:
Governments of theWorld
What is government? Government is an organized set of rules and laws that rulers use to run a
country or area. If we had no government, we would have no laws and rules by which people should
live. Without government, things would get very chaotic. This is known as anarchy. Let’s look at a
variety of governments, or political systems, for managing countries.
1. In a
Theocracy,
power is held by a religious ruler, such as themullahs of Iran.
2. In a
One-Party State,
all power in the country is held by one political party. China and Cuba have
communist governments and are examples of this form of government.
3. In an
AbsoluteMonarchy,
power is held by a king or queen.
4. In a
Dictatorship
, the country is ruled by a single ruler.When he (or she) gains power, usually by
means of themilitary, he eliminates all opposition to him.
5. In a
MilitaryGovernment
, the army usually seizes power from aweak government. Power is held
by one, or more, high rankingmilitary officer.
6. In a
Multiparty Democracy
, people are given the choice to elect candidates from among several
parties.There are twomain forms of this government.
A) In a
Constitutional Monarch
, the ruling royal family or emperor is the head of government.
However, themonarchhasno real power.Power isheldby thePrimeMinisterwho is the ruler
of the largest party inParliament, the name of the ruling body.
B) In a
Presidential Republic
, the voters choose a leader and elect people to parliament
and/or Congress. The leader of the government can be called the prime minister or
president.This is now themost common form of government in theworld.
7.Not everyplace rules itself.Many places are too small, too weak, and/or too remote. These places
aremanaged by other countries and are known as a
DependentTerritory
.
ACTIVITY:
A) Classify each country listed below as to which form of government it has.You will need to use the
Internet and other references to research the types of governments. B) If a country is a multiparty
democracy, use initials to indicatewhether it isaConstitutionalMonarch (CM) or Presidential Republic
(PR). C) Create a separate space for dependent territory below and write in the margin whether a
place is classified as this.
Note:
A country could fall under two forms of government. For example, amilitary government could
be a dictatorship, or aOne-Party State.
China, Cuba, Greenland, India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Libya, Myanmar, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia, Tonga, UnitedKingdom, UnitedStates, VaticanCity
Theocracy
Multiparty
OneParty
Dictatorship
Absolute
Military
Democracy
State
Monarch
Government
Geography Skills
