Government and Economy types explained.

1. PSCI 211 – Comparative Government – David Takitaki
GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMY

2. Why Do We Have Government?
A Simple History

3. Why Government?
 In the absence of government (called the
“State of Nature”) everyone must defend
themselves from threats and other people.
 With no laws, moral standards or
enforcement mechanisms, living in the state
of nature is dangerous.
 People begin cooperating for protection.
 Those cooperatives require resources.
 The cooperatives claim territory.

4. Why Government?
 Early cooperatives were based on family. As
families grew, they became tribes.
 The eldest male was usually the
strongest, and therefore was “Chief” and in
control. He made the rules.
 The rules the Chief created for his tribe were
laws, the territory they claimed for resources
was the border of their “state”, and the
authority he possessed made him a despotic
ruler. It was the first form of Government.

5. 5 Types of Government
Understanding the basics

6. Type 1: Anarchy
 Anarchy is commonly defined as the absence
of a governing power.
 Individuals living in the State of Nature were
living in an anarchy.
 Some (including John Locke) thought anarchy
would be desirable if people would restrain
themselves.

7. Type 2: Despotism
 A Despotism is a government with only one
ruler.
 A Monarchy is a despotic system of
government with a King or Queen as a ruler.
 An Empire is a despotic system that places an
Emperor or Empress in charge of a diverse
group of states. An empire can also be ruled
by a group, making it an…

8. Type 3: Oligarchy
 An Oligarchy is a system in which the power
exists in the hands of a few elite people.
 The elite few who rule in an Oligarchy can be
determined by class, conquest, wealth and a
variety of other factors.
 It is generally considered that the common
people have little influence over who rules in
an oligarchy. If the people have a voice, than
the system of government is more of a…

9. Type 4: Representative
Democracy
 In a Representative Democracy, the people
select individuals who in turn make decisions
and wield the power of the government.
 The United States is officially considered a
republic, and makes use of Representative
Democracy on the state and federal level.
 The state of California has a unique ballot-
proposal system that allows citizens to vote
on policy issues. This is a form of…

10. Type 5: Direct Democracy
 In a Direct Democracy, the voters do not elect
representatives to make decisions.
Instead, issues are brought directly to the
people for a popular vote.
 Despite being the most “democratic” form of
government, the logistics and complexity of
the issues faced by our government makes
the utilization of direct democracy very
difficult.

11. Economic Systems
Managing the money

12. Economic Systems
 Some terms used today to describe
governmental structures are actually
describing economic systems.
 The various types of government can adopt a
variety of economic policies.
 These are rough categories, most economies
are not “pure” versions of any of these types.

13. Capitalism
 Capitalist systems stress private ownership
and management of resources.
 “Pure” capitalism would call for no
government involvement or regulation of
products or services.
 The term caveat emptor or “buyer beware” is
a rule of thumb in a pure capitalism.
 Upton Sinclar’s novel “The Jungle” exposed
food sanitation issues and resulted in
expanded government regulation.

14. Anti-Capitalism

15. Socialism
 Socialism calls for state control of resources
and the provision of services.
 Socialism has many varieties, including social
democracy (which stresses values and not
state control) and Marxist Socialism (which
sees socialism as a stepping stone to
Communism.)

16. Anti-Socialism

17. Other Key Types
Types that blur the lines.

18. Communism
 In its pure form, Communism is both a
governmental system and an economic
system.
 Communism calls for the absence of
government, with collective ownership of all
resources and collective decision-making.
 Most “Communist” countries have not been
Communist at all, instead combining Fascism
with either Oligarchy or Despotism.

19. Totalitarianism
 Totalitarianism is the belief that the
government (regardless of the system, but
usually a Despotism) should have unlimited
authority.
 Encourages government involvement in all
aspects of personal life.

20. Fascism
 While some argue that Fascism is either the
extreme right or the extreme left, Fascism
cannot be accurately measured on the typical
liberal/conservative spectrum.
 Fascist regimes are usually Oligarchies, with
the controlling party being the elite group.
 Fascist regimes use radical nationalism, calls
for racial and ethnic purity, propaganda, and
suggestions of mysticism to gain power.