1. Regents Review Forms of Government

2. Democracy • Rule by the people • Officials are elected by voters • Basic rights (civil liberties)- freedom of speech, press, fair trial, freedom from imprisonment without proper cause.

3. Example • Athens- citizens could directly participate in the government. By voting on issues in the city state. • However, only a small number were citizens (women, foreigners, slaves- not citizens). • Established pattern for later democracies.

4. Feudalism • Decentralized government (weak central government)- spread out. • Wealth determined by land ownership. • Strict class structure.

5. Example • Europe during Middle Ages • Lived on manor. Lord, vassals, knights, serfs. • Catholic Church very powerful. • Honor code- Chivalry. • Japan- 1100’s- Shogun, daimyo, samurai, farmers, merchants and artisans. • Code of Bushido • Strict class structure.

6. Divine Right • Are also absolute monarchs • Derive their authority directly from god. • Compared to Mandate of Heaven (China).

7. Example • Louis XIV “The Sun King” • Built Versailles • Patronized the arts • Engaged in constant warfare

8. Absolutism • One ruler with complete power • Inherited position • Writers/ philosophers- Machiavelli and Hobbes said human nature is bad and need a strong ruler to maintain order.

9. Example • Henry VIII (England)- broke away from the Catholic Church. • Peter and Catherine The Great (Russia)- sought to expand and westernize.

10. Totalitarianism • 20th century system similar to absolutism. • Ruler seizes power • Government controls all aspects of your life- education, art, literature.

11. Example • Stalin (USSR)- glorification, purges, 5 Year plan. • Hitler (Germany)- Nuremberg Laws, Holocaust (genocide). • Mussolini (Italy)- censorship • Mao (China)- Cultural Revolution