DHS 2024 GP Y5 Lecture - Governments Part 1

1 © 2024 DHS | GP | Y5 Dunman High School H1 General Paper Governments – Part 1: What, why, how, and how far? [T1W10] Name Class Organisation of these notes: A. What are they? What are the types and elements of governments? B. Why? What for? What essential purposes and roles do governments serve? What duties and responsibilities do we expect them to fulfil? C. How? Through what tools and attributes do governments fulfil these roles? D. However… What are the risks of governments having power? How far should governments be trusted with power? E. How far? How far should governments be checked and constrained? What are the risks of checking and constraining a government too much? F. Conclusion: How may we judge governments? What does good governance depend on? G. A-Level exam questions related to governments, grouped into sub-topics, from 2004 to 2023

2 © 2024 DHS | GP | Y5 A. What are they? What are the types and elements of governments? Prominent types of governments today: More top-down control More checks and participation from the ground up 1. Military junta (eg. Myanmar) : Military generals govern the country, usually after seizing power in a coup. 2. Absolute monarchy (eg. Saudi Arabia, Brunei): A monarch, such as a king or sultan, governs the country. Th is monarch is usually from a distinguished family that has been in power for decades or centuries, and the people have developed a long tradition of respect for that family or at least acceptance of its dominant position. The monarchy may govern with the help of advisors or alliances with other powerful families in the country. (A country with a monarchy is a kingdom. A country without any monarchy is a republic, meaning the country belongs to the public i.e. the people, and not to any king.) 3. One-party state (eg. China): A political party governs the country, with little or no opposition from any other party. Unlike a monarchy or junta, a one-party state’s ruling party can contain a much larger number of members from across society . This large size of the ruling party can enable it to make more connections with people across society. A one- party state’s ruling party can let the people influence policy, such as by surveying the people for their opinions and allowing people to submit petitions to the government. But the party cannot be voted out of power. It loses power only if it is overthrown or collapses. 4. Mixed government – constitutional monarchy and democracy (eg. the UK): This political system combines different types of government. A constitutional monarch is a monarch whose powers are limited; they usually just play a ceremonial and symbolic role, and leave the actual governing to the people’s democratic representatives. Such a country is usually simply referred to as a ‘democracy’, since the democratic part is usually the most active part of that governmen