Download Political Systems

Governments and Economies
of the World
Political Systems
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Dictatorship
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Control of the government: One person / a small
group
Voting: None
Very little freedoms and choices
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No free speech, free media, freedom of religion, etc.
Examples: Iran, Vietnam, China, Cuba
Totalitarianism
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Extreme form of dictatorship
Government has total control of your life
Examples: (Fascism & Nazism; Hitler, Stalin, North Korea)
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Democracy
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Control: Citizens control the government through
voting and serving in the government
Voting: Free elections, open participation
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Referred to as a “Western-style government”
Two types:
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Direct Democracy: The people make all of the actual
decisions
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Examples: Ancient Greece (Athens), No modern national
examples
Indirect Democracy: The people elect others to make the
decisions
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Examples: US, Western Europe…most countries in world
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Monarchy
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Control: Monarch (king or queen) maintains power
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Power kept within the family
Two types:
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Constitutional Monarchy: Monarch has limited power;
shares power with an elected body: Parliament
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Democratic government
Examples: UK, Spain, Netherlands, Nepal, Japan
Absolute Monarchy: no citizen control; Monarch holds all
the power
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“Dictatorship”
Example: Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Oman
Economic Systems
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Capitalism
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Prices are set by the market
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Supply and Demand determines market decisions
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Wages, prices, what to sell, popular vs. unpopular
goods/services, etc.
Also known as: Market Economy, Free-Market, Free
Enterprise
Works with: Democracy
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Demand increases
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Supply drops
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
Communism
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Created to be an ‘solution’ to capitalism:
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Capitalism creates unfairness in society
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Solution: Government owns all business, means of
production
Prices are set by the central government
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Goal: Make everyone equal
Government makes all market decisions
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Owners don’t ‘do’ anything and make lots of money
Workers do all the work and make a lot less
Government determines what is made/sold, prices, wages, jobs,
etc. so everyone is ‘equal’
No private business allowed; no classes
Prices are kept artificially low so everyone in society
can afford goods
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Leads to shortages, corruption, etc.

Est. by Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto (1848)
Also known as: Command Economy
Only works with: Fully socialized countries
Followers: Communists, Marxists
Countries: USSR, China, Vietnam, Laos, N. Korea,
Cuba
Communism must have Socialism to work
Socialism does not need to have Communism

Socialism
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Government’s goal is to reduce the extremes of
inequality

The ‘people’ (government) owns major sectors of the
economy.
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Gov’t makes decisions for society to keep everyone
equal (Big Brother)
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ie: Major manufacturing/industry, public services
(transportation, water, power, etc)
Private ownership is banned (makes you unequal)
Provides most services for people so everyone has them
Different ‘levels’ of socialism

Entire government is socialized


Usually Communist
Usually a dictatorship
China, Cuba, USSR
Some systems in non-socialist gov’ts can be ‘socialized’
Communism
Capitalism
Things common to both
Communism and
Capitalism
Things common to both
Communism and
Socialism
Things common to both
Capitalism and Democracy
Things common to both
Socialism and Democracy
Socialism
Democracy
Communism
Capitalism
Things common to both
Communism and Capitalism
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Things common to both
Communism and Socialism
Things common to both
Capitalism and Democracy
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Things common to both
Socialism and Democracy
Socialism
Democracy
Economic Terms

Currency
Arabic Countries
Australia
China
Europe
India
Japan
Dinar
Dollar
Renminbi
Euro
Rupee
Yen
$
¥
€
Rp
Mexico
Peso
$ or Mex$
UK
US
Pound
Dollar
₤
$
¥
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Recession
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A minor/short-term slow-down of the economy
Caused by inflation, drop in stock market, high
unemployment, outside shock (war, spike in price of oil,
etc.)
Depression
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A severe or long-term slow-down of the economy
Can take years to recover
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Inflation
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When the price of goods increase
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Causes
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Measured by comparing what a set number of products cost
over time.
Drop in supply of major goods
Too much currency in the system
Effects
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People cannot afford what they used to
Unemployment increases
Economic recession or depression
Value of currency plummets

Savings and currency lose value
US = -1.48%
Measuring & Comparing Economies

GNP (Gross National Product)

Total value of goods produced by a nation both inside
and outside the country (by companies who are based there)
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US gets all credit for all US-based companies, despite where
the stuff is actually made
Used to indicate the overall wealth of a nation
GDP (Gross Domestic Product)
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Total value produced inside a country (by any company
producing items in that country)
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US gets credit for all stuff made in US, despite where it’s based
Used to indicate the productivity of a nation
GDP per capita : Total GDP ÷ population

Used to compare countries fairly; ‘evens’ out population
Example:
 Bottling plants in US, Mexico, France and India
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US GNP counts… All of the Coca-Cola produced worldwide
US GDP counts… All of the Coca-Cola produced in US
France’s GDP counts… All of the Coke produced in France
Other ways to economically compare nations:
Industrialization
 Infrastructure
 Literacy rate
 Telecommunications
 Workforce usage
 Poverty line/unemployment rate
You can tell how well off a country is by what these
categories look like for the country

GNP (World’s Top 10; 2007)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
World
$52,621,403,000,000
United States
Japan
Germany
China
United Kingdom
France
Italy
Spain
Canada
Brazil
$13,886,000,000,000
$4,813,341,000,000
$3,197,029,000,000
$3,120,891,000,000
$2,608,513,000,000
$2,447,090,000,000
$1,991,284,000,000
$1,321,756,000,000
$1,300,025,000,000
$1,133,030,000,000
GDP (World’s Top 10; 2007)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
World
$54,311,608,000,000
European Union
United States
Japan
Germany
China
United Kingdom
France
Italy
Spain
Canada
$16,830,100,000,000
$13,843,825,000,000
$4,383,762,000,000
$3,322,147,000,000
$3,250,827,000,000
$2,772,570,000,000
$2,560,255,000,000
$2,104,666,000,000
$1,438,959,000,000
$1,432,140,000,000
GDP Per Capita (Top 15; 2007)
1 Luxembourg $104,673 9
Finland
$46,602
2 Norway
$83,922
10 Netherlands $46,261
3 Qatar
$72,849
11 United States
$45,845
4 Iceland
$63,830
12
$45,575
5 Ireland
$59,924
13 Austria
$45,181
6 Switzerland $58,084
14 Canada
$43,485
7 Denmark
$57,261
15 Australia
$43,312
8 Sweden
$49,655
United Kingdom
GDP Per Capita (Bottom 10)
170
Sierra Leone
$ 290
171
Eritrea
$ 281
172
Malawi
$ 264
173
Ethiopia
$ 252
174
Myanmar
$ 235
175
Guinea-Bissau
$ 206
176
Liberia
$ 195
177
Congo, (DRC)
$ 166
178
Burundi
$ 128
179
Zimbabwe
$ 55
Communism
Capitalism
Things common to both
Communism and
Capitalism
Get rid of classes
Economic systems
Prices set by market
Needs Socialist gov’t
Supply and Demand
Never works practically
Works with Democracy
‘Solution’ to Capitalism
Free Enterprise
Gov’t runs the market
Things common to both
Communism and Socialism
Things common to both
Capitalism and Democracy
Goal = equality
Goal = freedom
Private business banned
Works together
Corruption
People run everything
Paid for through taxes
Private business allowed
Citizens vote for gov’t
Often a dictatorship
Provides services to people
Political Systems
“Western style gov’t”
Gov’t makes decisions
Don’t need Communism
Free elections
Works with Communism
Direct vs. Indirect
Things common to both
Socialism and Democracy
Socialism
Democracy
Communism
Capitalism
Things common to both
Communism and
Capitalism
Gov’t runs economy
People forced to stay
Doesn’t work on lg scale
Karl Marx
Limited freedoms
Works w/ Socialism
Economic systems
Things common to both
Communism and Socialism
Things common to both
Capitalism and Democracy
Work together
Free choices
Classes allowed
People run it all
Goal is equality
Don’t need Communism
Provides services to people
Gov’t pays for stuff
Higher taxes to pay for stuff
Private business
Supply and Demand
Market/businesses
makes decisions
Freedom of choices
Creates classes
Works w/ demc’y
Political systems
Voting for gov’t
People run the gov’t
Direct vs. Indirect
Don’t need Communism
Things common to both
Socialism and Democracy
Socialism
Democracy
Communism
Capitalism
Things common to both
Communism and Capitalism
Karl Marx
‘Solution’ to Capitalism
No private business
Gov’t controls economy
Needs Socialism to work
Usually needs dictator
Economic systems
Need taxes
Things common to both
Communism and Socialism
Things common to both
Capitalism and Democracy
People power
Goal is to make everyone
equal
Gov’t owns everything (no
private)
Gov’t decides everything
Systems are nationalized
No private ownership of prop.
Taxes pay for everything
Free Market
Private ownership
People decide everything
Supply and Demand
Free choice - economically
Political systems
People decide – voting
Citizen control gov’t
Free elections
Direct vs. Indirect
Power is spread out
“Western Style Gov’t”
Things common to both
Socialism and Democracy
Socialism
Democracy
Communism
Capitalism
Things common to both
Communism and Capitalism
Gov’t owns business
Gov’t controls economy
Impractical in large scale
No private business
Gov’t decides everything
‘Solution’ to capitalism
Forced to stay in country
Economic Systems
Things common to both
Communism and Socialism
Things common to both
Capitalism and Democracy
Free choices
People decide stuff
Less gov’t control
Free to leave
Goal is equality
Not as forceful
Gov’t owns property
Gov’t provides everything
Gov’t decides everything
politically
100% = dicatorship
Taxes pay for everything
Market decides things
Supply and Demand
Works with Democracy
Private businesses!!!!!
“Free Market”
Taxes finance things
Political systems
Free voting/elections
Citizens control gov’t
More rights
People have a say
Direct vs. Indirect
“Western Style Gov’t”
Most used type of gov’t
Things common to both
Socialism and Democracy
Socialism
Democracy