Forms of Government

Terms:

Autocracy - A form of government where one person is in charge

  • Monarchy is a type of autocracy where there is a king or queen and the power stays within the family

  • Dictatorship is another form of autocracy where a single person is in control of everything

Democracy - A form of government where the power is spread amongst the people

  • Representative democracy is where the citizens elect people to represent them

  • Direct democracy is where every citizen works in making decisions for the government

Oligarchy - A form of government where a group of people holds the power

  • A junta is an example of this as it is a small group of people in power

Theocracy - A form of government controlled by religious beliefs

Public Policy

  • Goals and programs our government creates and implements for society(to create order and take care of people)

  • Complicated process- involves various stages and “inputs”

  • Inputs: voters, media, special interest groups, politicians

Role of Government

  • What should the government do(National, state, and local)

  • Answers vary. Ideas differ

  • We do agree on some basic things- limited government, rule of law, democracy

Intro to Election Cycle

Voters/Decision Makers- NOT candidates

  • Party Elite- former or current elected officials, who choose the parties nominees

  • Party Leaders-focused on picking the winner, are generally more moderate

  • Party activists- ideological

  • The Base-reliable voters for a candidate or party

  • Electorate- voters

Most Americans are moderate voters, that being said the more moderate candidate have a higher chance of being elected

  • In 1972 McGovern lost by a landslide on the electoral vote because he was very left-leaning, Nixon ended up getting 520 out of 538 votes

Incumbent Advantage- candidates who already held office have a great advantage over their opponent

  • The average voter will likely choose the name they recognize on the ballot

  • Candidates who already held office already have staff in place

  • They already had a prior run where they gained support from voters

  • Previous candidates also have the most money to advertise themsleves from donations and previous campaign, also called a war chest