238
The Jefferson Memorial,
Washington, D.C.The adminisTraTion of a counTry’s affairs is undertaken by
a government whose policies direct decision making. Governments have
many roles: they decide how money raised through taxes will be divided
among the different public services, such as health, education, welfare,
and defense. They also maintain the police for the safety of society, and
the armed forces for the defense of the nation. as a result
of differing cultural and political traditions,
government and policies vary from country to
country. There are, however, three main types
of government: republican, monarchical, and
dictatorial. most countries are republics,
with people voting in an election to choose
their government and head of state.
in a monarchy, the head of the royal
family is the head of state. countries
in which a single ruler has seized
absolute power—often through
a military takeover—are known
as dictatorships.seaTs of power
every government has a meeting place where members
discuss policies and pass laws. The seat of power also houses
the administrators who assist the government. The us
government has its seat of power in washington, d.c.,
where a political history is evident in buildings
such as the Jefferson memorial (right), which
commemorates the early 19th-century
president, Thomas Jefferson. in the
us government there are two groups
of elected representatives, the senate
and the house of representatives,
known as congress.monarchy
in a monarchy a king
or queen rules the country.
Today, only a few monarchs, such as the king
of saudi arabia, have political power; but four
centuries ago, in europe,
monarchs made
the laws and
collected
taxes.presidency
in a republic, such as south africa, the
people vote for their head of state. in this
case, the president holds real political
power, and is responsible for the
administration of the country
and for its foreign policy. in
france, power is divided
between the president and
the prime minister. in some
countries, such as india, the
president is more of a symbolic
figurehead, who takes on a
ceremonial role, rather like
that of some monarchs.anarchism
not everyone
believes in governments.
anarchists prefer a society without
central control. The 19th-century
picture below shows a bomb placed
at a paris opera house by french
anti-government protestors.plaTo
more than 2,000 years ago, the
Greek philosopher plato wrote
the first book about governments
and how they rule people—what
today we call politics. his book,
The Republic, set out ideas for how
a perfect state might be governed.238- Government and politics
Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki
is sworn in as president
of the Republic of South
Africa in 1999.US_238_US_Government_Politics_1.indd 238 29/01/16 10:30 am