Page 173 - SST Class 06
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Forms of Government 26
q Forms of government q Functioning of a democratic government
q Participation and accountability in the union government q Participation and accountability in states, districts and villages
q Resolution of conflict q Concerns for equality and justice
Introduction q A democratic government is answerable to the
people for all its actions, but an authoritarian
The government is the most important component
government is not.
of a state and its form determines the powers
exercised by it. A country may opt for a specific form q The citizens are given certain basic or
of government keeping in view its circumstances and Fundamental Rights and liberties under a
needs. democratic government; while in an
authoritarian government, rights and liberties
FORMS OF GOVERNMENT depend on the sweet will of the government.
The form of the government differs from country q A democratic government is welfare-oriented
to country depending on the circumstances, and looks after the needs of the people; while
needs, traditions etc. By the form of government is an authoritarian government furthers its own
meant the powers exercised by those in authority interests.
and the functions performed by them. A modern q A democratic government allows the people to
state has to perform a large number of different raise their voice, but an authoritarian
functions, so the government has to work on government does not allow the people to
different levels. express themselves.
The form of a government can be classified on Parliamentary or Presidential
different grounds. For our basic understanding in
You have read that there are three organs of the
this class, we shall restrict our study to the
government—legislature, executive and judiciary.
following classifications :
Whether a government is parliamentary or
Democratic or Authoritarian presidential, depends on the type of relations
On the basis of the place of an individual in the between the legislature and the executive. We can
state and his rights and liberties, a government can compare the two forms of government under the
be democratic or authoritarian. A democratic following points :
government is almost opposite to an authoritarian q In a parliamentary government, the head of the
government. We can compare the two in the state and the head of the government are two
following points : different people; the head of the state has only
q A democratic government is elected by the nominal powers and the head of the
people for a fixed term, that is, the government government has the real powers. In a
can be changed by the people in elections; presidential government, the President is the
while an authoritarian government holds the real executive.
power by force and it cannot be changed by q In a parliamentary government, the head of the
the people. government is a member of the legislature and
Forms of Government
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