Rule of empire
For much of the 19th and 20th centuries, many European countries invaded other countries around the world, creating giant nationsknown as empires. The countries they conquered didn‘t have theirown governments, and were known as colonies or dependencies. - P36
The end of the empires
During the 20th century, many colonies successfully campaigned and foughtfor independence. Meanwhile, countries around the world began to agree thatempires were not a legitimate form of government. However, many formercolonies are still struggling with the after-effects of colonization. Find out moreon pages 75, 90, and 101. - P37
Majority rules
Many democracies use a simple system: whoever or whatever gets the mostvotes wins. This is called a majority. But sometimes, the majority winnermight not actually be what most people want. - P39
Sharing power
Representatives have to work together to make all kinds of decisions.
To prevent any one person from having too much power, mostdemocracies split up the government‘s responsibilities across threegroups, often called branches. - P40
Democracy in the USA
One of the world‘s most famous political systems is the one used by the United States of America. Authority is shared between three sections: a leader, called the President, and two groups ofrepresentatives called Congress and the Supreme Court. - P42
What Congress does
•suggests, debates and - if enough people agree - can sendnew laws to the President for approval.
•divides other areas of responsibility between two separate groups, called the House of Representatives (or House for short), and the Senate. - P42
What the Supreme Court does
Decides whether or not new laws might go against the Constitution (see page 25).
Led by a judge called the Chief Justice, and up toeight Associate Justices. New Justices are appointedby the President whenever there is a vacancy. - P43
Democracy in the UK
The UK is officially ruled by a monarch - the executive - but real political power belongs to the legislative branch, known as Parliament.
A similar system is used in many countries, such as Canada, Australia,
Spain, Norway, Sweden and Japan. Here‘s how it works in the UK: - P44
Navigating the system
A system in which civil servants run the day-to-day business of governmentis often called a bureaucracy. It means, ‘rule by people who sit behind desks‘.
Bureaucracies have strict rules about who civil servants can help, and what theycan and can‘t do. Sometimes, navigating the system can be a slow process... - P47
International politics
To avoid wars, governments from different countries often make agreements with one another, called treaties. Most aren‘t just aboutwar - treaties can make it easier for people to move around, or tradegoods, or share information.
- P50
Global authority
Five member states - China, France,
Russia, the UK and the US - have more power than the others.
They‘re known together as the UN Permanent Security Council.
If all five agree, the Council canauthorize military action against acountry, or impose sanctionsmaking it illegal to trade goods with that country. - P50
Chapter 3: Elections and voting
Governments don‘t stay in power forever, eventhough some would like to. If there was no way toget rid of a government, it could do whatever itliked, with no consequences. In democracies, if youdon‘t like the way a government is doing its job, youcan change it by voting in elections. - P55
Elections
In most elections, people put themselves forward as candidates.
This is known as standing for election. - P56
|