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REQUIREMENT
5
Read through pages
19-29 in the
merit badge book and use the information below to complete requirement 5 on the
worksheet.
Do the following:
5.a. Discuss the differences
between constitutional and non-constitutional governments.
A constitution is a set of rules concerning the structure,
powers, and limitations placed on a government. The U.S. Constitution, for
instance, deals with the structure of government (providing for the
Congress, a president, and a court system), the powers of government
(allowing the government to print money, impose taxes, declare war, and so on),
and places limitations on government (the government may not infringe on
free speech, impose a religion, randomly search houses, and so on).
A constitutional government is one that has and follows
constitutional rules. For a citizen, such governments are predictable. Since
there are limits established on what a government can do, the rights of citizens
are assured.
A non-constitutional government either does not have or
does not follow constitutional rules. Rather, the government does whatever those
currently in power choose to do. For a citizen, such governments are
unpredictable and they may violate a person’s rights with impunity.
5.b. Name at least five different types of government
currently in power in the world.
Several of the types of government in the merit badge book
overlap, but brief discussions of several forms of government are linked below.
Governments can fall into
one of three general categories, varying by who exercises power:
1.
Rule by one person (known as autocracies).
The main form of autocracy is:
Absolute
Monarchy. Power is held by one individual, typically a “king.”
2.
Rule by a few persons (known as oligarchies).
Several forms of oligarchy are:
Military
Junta. Power is held by a small group of military officers.
Theocracy.
Power is held by a group of religious leaders.
3.
Rule by many persons (known as democracies).
Several forms of democracy are:
Direct
Democracy. Power is wielded directly by the population of a
country, i.e., the people vote on each law they want.
Representative
Democracy. Power is wielded indirectly by the population of a
country, i.e., the people elect representatives who then decide on laws to
adopt.
Representative democracies today take two common forms:
a. Presidential
Government. The people vote separately for the legislative branch
(Congress) and the executive branch (President).
b. Parliamentary
Government. The people vote only for the legislative branch (the
parliament), and the parliament then chooses one of its’ members for the
executive branch (the Prime Minister).
5.c. Show on a world map countries that use each of
these five different forms of government.
To research governmental types in different countries, you
can use the CIA World
Factbook. Select a country from the menu, and then click on “Government”
to get details on the type of government found in the country.
You can use the Altapedia
World Map to identify the countries you are using.
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