Below is the reading provided in class for students on Thursday, 9/1 (B-DAY) & Tuesday, 9/6 (A-DAY), to complete their "Systems of Government Chart". This assignment will be due on Wednesday, 9/7 (B-DAY) & Thursday, 9/8 (A-DAY).
Distribution of Power
Directions: As you read, complete your chart using sentences or phrases that help define the following terms: federal system,
unitary system, parliamentary system, and confederal system.
Effective
government in any form requires a method for distributing authority, or power,
within the country.
Federal
Systems.
Large and diverse countries often have a federal system of government where
power is “layered” or shared among different levels. The United States
government is an example of a federal system. There is a central government
with an executive branch, legislative branch and judicial branch. The head of
the executive branch is the president. There are also state governments with
executive, legislative and judicial branches. The head of the executive branch
of a state government is the governor. The state legislatures pass laws having
to do with state affairs; the state executive carries them out; and state
judiciaries interpret them.
Federal
systems also include independent local governments such as county governments
and city governments. The citizens elect many of the public officials in
counties and cities.
Unitary
Systems.
In countries with a similar population and with a common tradition, language,
and sense of national history, the central governments may not be federal but
unitary. With a unitary system, government power is held at the center and the
central, or national, government performs all of the governmental functions. Local
governments within this system manage issues within their area, but their
powers are determined and assigned by the national government. The national
government has the ability to tax and major lawmaking powers rest almost
entirely with the national government.
Parliamentary
Systems. In
a parliamentary system, the government power lies with the legislative body and
the leader of the country is part of the legislature. Citizens elect leaders
indirectly through political parties. In
these types of elections, citizens vote for the political party of their choice,
and the party chooses who will represent that party in the government. In parliamentary systems, the percentage of
the vote received by any party determines how much representation that party
will have in the legislature. In Israel,
for example, any political party that earns at least 2% of the vote will earn
at least one seat in Israel’s national legislature (the Knesset). In parliamentary systems, the prime minister
is the head of state (government). Some parliamentary systems elect their prime
minister through an election by the legislature while other parliamentary
systems hold an election by the citizens.
Confederations. Independent
states sometimes join together to create a type of central government known as
a confederation. The central government only exists to provide specific
services that are determined by the independent members. The central government
of a confederation is the weakest of all of the government systems. Member
states in a confederation maintain their own individual power and delegate to
the central government only those powers that are essential for its
maintenance. The individual states or countries making up the confederations
have the power to tax and make their own laws. The central government serves as
a coordinator to protect the interests of all its members. It also represents
the confederation in matters with outside governments, but its actions are
reviewed and approved by the states.
No
modern nation is organized as a confederation, yet some international
organizations, such as the United Nations (UN) and North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) function as confederations.
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