Government

Governments make the laws that people use in their everyday lives. Governments collect taxes and print money. They enforce the laws that people must obey. Governments are the systems people use to regulate their lives. There are three basic types of governments.

Monarchy

The King of Sweden

Monarchy is the oldest form of government. In this type of government decisions are made by a monarch, a king or queen. There are not many monarchies left in the world. In many countries that once had powerful monarchs the powers of the king or queen have been reduced and the monarch functions only as a symbol of the country.

Parliamentary Government

The Parliament of Canada

In a parliamentary form of government there are two or more political parties that compete to form the government. The United Kingdom, Canada and Japan are examples of countries that have parliamentary systems. The citizens of the country cast their votes for the party that they think can best run the country. The party that gets the most votes gets control of the government.

Presidential Government          

Barack Obama, President of the United States

The United States has a presidential form of government. In this form of government two or more political parties compete by having a nominee from the parties run for president. The nominee who gets the most votes becomes the president.

Some Differences Between the Parliamentary and Presidential Governments

In a parliamentary form of government the leader is called a prime minister. In this system citizens vote for the party they want to be the government. All the important positions in the government are people from the same party. This makes it easy for the party in power to make the policies it wants.

The leader of a presidential form of government is called a president. In this form of government the citizens vote for the person they want to be president. However, a president is not free to make the policies he or she wants. In the US the president shares power with legislators called Senators and Representatives.  The  president, can't make new policies without the agreement of a majority of the Senators and Representatives.

In a parliamentary system the prime minister can easily be removed from the government if he is a bad leader or if members of his party lose confidence in him. In the presidential system it is much harder to remove the president from office. So much so it almost never happens and the president stays in office until the next election.

Click on Read More for some vocabulary exercises.

Match the Word to the Definition

1. laws   (n)                      (a)  a person who has been chosen
2. enforce (v)                   (b)  the biggest of several groups of people or things
3. obey (v)                       (c)  an offical rule that explains how to act in a certain situation
4. regulate (v)                  (d)  a person who is a member of a country or city
5. function (v)                  (e)  the rules of a government or organization
6. symbol (n)                    (f)  a government official who makes laws
7. citizen (n)                     (g)  to make sure that a law will be obeyed
8. cast (a vote) (v)            (h)  to control something by making laws and rules
9. nominee (n)                  (i)  a decision made by voting
10. policy (n)                      (j)  to vote in an election
11. legislator (n)                 (k) someone or something's purpose or job
12. majority (n)                   (l)  to follow a rule or law
13. election (n)                   (m) a person or thing that represents a group or idea

Fill in the Blank
Use the correct form of the word. Use each word only once.

1. People who don't __________ the laws may have trouble.
2. He is a __________ of the United States so he can't cast a vote in Japan.
3. The bear is the __________ of Russia.
4. The __________ of the police is to enforce the laws.
5. Hillary Clinton wants to be the Democratic __________ for president in the next election.
6. The __________ regulate the laws of their country.
7. Our __________ are decided by majority vote.

Answers to Match the Word to the Definition
1. e     2. g     3. l     4. h     5. k     6. m     7. d     8. j     9. a     10. e     11. f     12. b     13. i

Answers to Fill in the Blank
1. obey     2. citizen     3. symbol     4. function     5. nominee     6. legislators     7. policies