Middle East Government Systems

Government/Civics Understandings SS7CG4 The student will compare and contrast various forms of government. a. Describe the ways government systems distribute power: unitary,

confederation, and federal.b. Explain how governments determine citizen participation:

autocratic, oligarchic, and democratic.c. Describe the two predominant forms of democratic governments:

parliamentary and presidential. SS7CG5 The student will explain the structures of the national governments of Southwest Asia (Middle East). a. Compare the parliamentary democracy of the State of Israel, the monarchy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the theocracy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, distinguishing the form of leadership and the role of the citizen in terms of voting rights and personal freedoms.

There are two main ways to think about governments:1. Government divides power among itself. Who has power

the central government or regional (state ) government? Examples of this are Unitary, Confederation, and Federal governments.

2. Government shares power with the citizens. This is called Citizen Participation. If one person has all the power citizen participation is low, if many people have power (can vote) citizen participation is high.

Governments ALWAYS • Divide power among themselves (Central and Regions) • Divide power between the government and people

(citizen participation). You need to know both for all governments studied.

Unitary: Confederation Federation

Central Power Has all power Has little or no power

Shares power with Regional/State power

Regional / State Power

Very limited power, given by Central government

Hold MOST power

Shares power with Central / Federal power

Autocracy Oligarchy Democracy

Number of people in Government

1 few Most

Role of Citizen Participation

None Small or small number of people

Almost all

How government divides power to

itself

Citizen Participation

Central Authority

UnitaryPower is held by one central power:

Regions may have limited power given to them by the stateRegional

Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Central Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

• Voluntary association of independent states that often only delegate a few powers to the central authority.•Less binding than a federation.

Confederation

Federation / Federal

Regional Authority

Central Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Regional Authority

Power is divided between one central and several

regional authorities.

Power is shared between States (regional authorities) and Central Government

Citizen Participation

DemocracyOligarchicAutocratic

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AutocraticOne person possesses

unlimited power.The citizen has limited, if any, role in government.

Autocracy• The oldest form of government.•Maintain power through inheritance or ruthless use of military and police power.•Types: DictatorshipMonarchy• There is little or NO citizen

participation

OligarchyGovernment by the few.

The citizen has a very limited role.

•The group gets its power from military power, social power, wealth, religion or a combination.• Political opposition is usually suppressed- sometimes violently.• Examples- Communist

countries such as China or Nobility in Medieval Europe

Democracy

Parliamentary:People vote for the

Political party they feel best represents their

views.

May have a Prime Minister elected

by the legislature.

Presidential:A system of government in which the president is

constitutionally independent of the

legislature.

President is elected directly by people.

People play greater role in deciding government leaders, often by voting.

. Monarchy:Saudi Arabia

King is the political leader by

right of birth called hereditary

monarchy.

Theocracy:Iran

Government in which a Deity (God) is

recognized as the ruler. Usually has

“representative” who speaks for God and

acts as King.

Parliamentary Democracy:

IsraelPeople elect a political

party which is represented in the Knesset (legislative

branch) and the Prime minister is the

leader