SCI 101 Introduction to

Social Sciences
Week 8 – Governments of the World
Lecturer Niyper Hayal Artaç
 Governments of the World
 There will be a focus on the description of five governments: France, Mexico, Russia, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia. Our goal in doing so is not to make you an expert on these

governments, but to show you the diversity that exists in governments and to show how the historical context within which each country developed has shaped its specific

form of government and how much variance there is among autocracies and among democracies.

French Government

 France, the country where democracy was reborn, is a good country with which to begin our consideration of governments besides our own.

 The current system of French govern­ment developed in reaction to the absolute monarchy that had become nonresponsive to the changing social conditions-specifically, the

emerging middle class.

 Bastille Day is the equivalent of our Fourth of July and commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison in Paris. The French celebrate it every year on the fourteenth of July.

 The storming of the Bastille in 1789 marked an uprising of the people, the French Revolution-the revolt in France against the monarchy and aristocracy, lasting from

1789 to 1799-and led to a decade of chaos and terror, with the revolutionaries tearing down the political structure and other social institutions of the country but not replacing

them.

 This chaos ended when dictator Napoleon Bonaparte took control. Although Napoleon reversed the process of democratization and returned France to an autocracy, after his reign

there was a gradual evolution away from autocracy and toward a liberal parliamentary system that characterizes the French government today.

 In 1871, after France was defeated in a short war with Germany, the Franco-Prussian War, all vestiges of autocracy were ended and the democratic French republic was established.

 Although the republics of France have always had a written constitution, the French constitution has never been as firmly established as the U.S. Constitution. In fact, there have

been sixteen constitutions since the revolution of 1789. There is some continuity, however, and their present constitution refers to the Declaration of the Rights of Man, part of the

preamble to the original constitution written in 1789.

 French Government
The French Parliamentary System

 France is now organized under what is called the Fifth Republic. Each of its republics has had a different constitution. Ever since the Third Republic, established in 1871,
France has had a modified parliamentary system, modeled after the British parliamentary system.

 Perhaps the most distinctive aspect of French government and politics has been their instability.

 During the seventy years of the Third Republic (1871-1940), France had more than a hundred prime ministers, each one holding office less then eight months. This
occurred because of the many political parties and the unwillingness of the members of the legislature to compromise.

 The Fourth Republic, established in 1946 after World War II, was even worse than the Third Republic. In response, on September 28, 1958, with the country on the brink
of civil war, the Fifth Republic was instituted, the Fifth Republic, it is much more difficult for the parliament to vote on a censure nation means the prime minister does
not get a vote of confidence and must resign or call for a new election.

 A vote of confidence is a formal and binding expression of preference in favor of the prime minister by the parliament.

 The legislative branch of French government is elected every five years and consists of two houses: the National Assembly, whose members are elected
directly by all citizens over age 18, and the Senate, which is chosen by an electoral college and provides strong representation. When there is disagreement between
the two houses, the National Assembly takes precedence.

The French Executive Branch

 The executive branch of the French government has two leaders: a prime minister and a President.

 The president is the head of state and the executive head of government. S/he is elected every five years by direct popular vote. The president appoints the
prime minister and together they choose the cabinet.
 Mexican Government
 The government of Mexico is particularly interesting for two reasons: (1) It reveals the blurred line between democratic and autocratic governments,
and (2) it demonstrates the governmental systems are in the process of change.

 Mexico is a democracy but until 1988 Mexico was ruled as an autocracy. But in 1988 this changed, and in 2000 a politician from a non-ruling party,
won the general election for president.

 Historical background: Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821 and initially set itself up as a monarchy, but the monarchy was quickly
overthrown and replaced with a republic marked by political and social confusion.

 In 1848, Mexico lost the Mexican-American War to the United States, and with that loss went about half its territory, including Texas, New Mexico, and
parts of what are now eight other states.

 The loss of that war led to a civil war in Mexico and ultimately to the country's annexation by Napoleon III of France. In 1867, Mexico again won its
inde­pendence, and Porfirio Diaz established a liberal dictatorship known as the Porfiriato. It was conducted under the general ideas of the liberals
who had won the civil war: the rule of law, a strong federal­ist government, and the separation of church and state. These ideas are reflected in
Mexico's current constitution as well.

 Politically, the constitution created an extremely powerful president who came close to choosing his or her successor. The legislative body consists of
a Chamber of Deputies and a Senate, both of which are elected by popular vote. The president can serve only one (six­year) term.

 To end the political turmoil that existed under the former constitution, the 1917 con­stitution gave the president enormous power. The president
has the veto, which means the power to veto any part of a bill, leaving the rest of it intact. This veto makes legislative compromises difficult because
the president has the power to accept part of the compromise and reject another part of it. The president also has the power to declare a state of
siege, which gives him enormous police power, and he can appoint a cabinet with­out consulting the legislative body.
 Mexican Government
 Although the constitution guarantees a strong president, the actual bureaucracy and insti­tutions have given the president
almost dictatorial authority. With the government controlling so many economic rights, individuals are indebted to the
president for their jobs. For example, to pick through garbage you must belong to a union, the leader of which is
appointed by the president. The union leader's job is to deliver the members' votes to the government.

 The constitution gives individuals significant social and economic rights and gives the government power to
implement rights. The result is a large, bureaucratic government structure with deep involvement in most
aspects of economic and social life. The members of this bureaucratic structure are appointed by the
government, to which they owe their allegiance.

 After the revolution, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), the political party that was by far the most important,
took control of the bureaucratic apparatus and used it to stay in power. The PRI remained the ruling party for more than
seventy years. It instituted land reform-the redistribution of land from the large landholders to the middle-sized farmers and
the peasantry-that was carried out under Lazaro Cardenas, one of the most famous presidents of Mexico.

 The dominance of the PRI began to wane in the late 1980s amid scandals, accusations of corruption, and even blatant
electoral fraud. Politics in Mexico entered a transition period to a more American form. A severe recession in 1995 along with
domestic unrest forced Mexico to adopt many financial and social reforms. These measures, meant to en­courage
international investment, further weakened the PRI.
 Mexican Government
 President Ernesto Zedillo, the PRI president in the late 1990s, made significant political concessions to the opposition. Congress was
given a much greater role in the political process while the role of the presidency was significantly reduced. Electoral and judicial
reforms were enacted to boost confidence in the Mexican political system. In recent years, Mexican elections have been fiercely
competitive, the PRI, National Action Party (PAN), and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) are the three main parties. The
very fact that elections have be­come competitive means there have been major changes in the Mexican bureaucratic structure.

 The 2006 election represented a turning point in Mexican politics. It marked the first time Mexican politicians utilized mass media
and an "American style" campaign to reach voters. It was a true election and suggested a shift away from a "who you know"
system of government to a "how well you can campaign" system of government. The election repre­sented a turning point
because it was accepted as legitimate and all parties ultimately ac­cepted the results.

 Specifically, when Felipe Calderon, a conservative PAN candidate, defeated Lopez Obrador, a liberal PDR can­didate in a close
election, Obrador supporters initially tried to overturn the results with sometimes violent demonstrations, riots and protests.

 Ultimately, these demonstrations ended, and Calderon was accepted by the large majority of the Mexican public as the
legitimate president. The acceptance of the vote was seen by many outside observers a great triumph for the Mexican electoral
system and a testament to the progress they made since the days when the PRI controlled government.
 Nigerian Government
 The African country called the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides a good example of the problems faced by the former African
European colonies.

 To understand the problems and government of Nigeria, it is helpful to take a brief look at the nation’s precolonial and colonial history.

 The roots of Nigeria lie in its tribal foundations, with each tribe representing a unique blend of language, religion, and cultures.

 The main tribes occupied separate geographic areas in the region: Muslims and Christians.

 Before British colonization, there were three distinct tribal regions. But for administrative ease, the British grouped together these
three regions Lagos, the Niger coast, and the Northern Protectorate – into the area that came to be known as Nigeria. Today, it
remains a country of more than 250 ethnic groups with varying languages and customs. Its official language is English that was
chosen to facilitate cultural and linguistic unity. Nigeria's other major languages are Haus, Yoruba, and Igbo.

 Since its early beginnings, through colonization, to the emergence of its first democratic republic, the history of Nigeria has been
marked by the ethic conflict, civil war and military rule. Since gaining independence from the British in 1960, Nigeria has
progressed through separate republics and survived aftermaths of their collapse.
 Nigerian Government
British Influence

 The British became interested in West Africa at the time of the slave trade. British-based companies such as the Royal Niger Company
occupied the region. As the companies slowly gained influence, so did the British Empire. This growth eventually climaxed in the establishment of
the Protectorate of Nigeria at the beginning of the twentieth century.

 Despite the revocation of the charters of several British companies, the influence of the British government in the region continued to
grow. With colonization un­der way, an influx of Christian missionaries brought churches and schools to the predominantly Muslim region.
Within the first few years of the new century, several protectorates had been established, growing outward from the original stronghold in Lagos
on the southern coast.

 Each protectorate came under the authority of a lieutenant governor, whose job was to keep order and generate revenue for the British
government. Slow steps toward the unification of the separate regions were taken in 1906, with the incorporation of Lagos into the Southern
Protectorate. Several ideas were proposed to unify the remaining regions, and by 1914 the British had established the unified modern foundations
of Nigeria.

 Meanwhile, the National Congress of British West Africa established itself as a growing force in the region. Through an ongoing fight with the
British government failed to establish this group as part of the legislative council, native Africans gained representation.

 In 1922, the British Empire ratified the first constitution of Nigeria. However, the constitution failed to give equal weight to all of the former
protectorates and it continued the strategy of indirect rule of the northern and predominantly Muslim areas by the Christian southern areas.
Britain made numerous efforts to unite the northern and southern areas. Over the years, Britain made numerous efforts to unite the northern and
southern regions of Nigeria.
 Nigerian Government
British Influence

 The sixty years of British rule were marked by continued fights for independence. With each of these fights, Britain allowed
greater local Nigerian self-government and created various constitutions that were meant to demonstrate the efficacy of self-
rule. Nigeria was given its independence in 1960 and it established a republican parliamentary system of government.
However, Britain found it difficult to govern the diverse cultural areas that made up the country too did the elected Nigerian
government. It faced fighting among political parties compromising religious division, and a lack of cohesiveness between the
former protonate regions. These problems set the stage for subsequent upheavals through various governmental structures.
A military coup in 1966 overthrew the first republic which led to civil war and turmoil. In 1979, one republic was created but in
1983 it ended in a coup and military rule.

 western countries became interested in Nigeria because it was becoming an important oil-producing country in the world.
They played a role in the establishment of a third republic.

 Nigeria emerged as a somewhat stable democracy in 1999 with the creation of a fourth republic. While this republic has been
marred by a pattern of violence and civil rest that undid the first three republics, it has survived even though it is
characterized by many of the inefficiencies and problems that plagued previous republics. Still, it is working and in the 2007
election, Umaru Yar'Adua of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) was elected president, even though his election was marred
by claims of electoral.
 Nigerian Government
Modern Nigeria’s Government: The Fourth Republic

 Though British rule was not especially successful, the constitutions that Britain created to govern Nigeria became important guides for the development of the

modern state of Nigeria.

 First, the legacy of British rule led to the creation of a government with both a leg ­islative and executive branch;

 second, it led to the establishment of a system of common law based on British common law; and

 third, it spurred the creation of political parties.

 In short, the constitutions embodying British ideas became integrated with domestic Nigerian traditions to create the modern structure of the Nigerian

government.

 The fourth republic can be considered a transition republic as control has shifted from the military rule of the third republic to civilian rule. Nigeria uses a

presidential system in which the president serves as both chief of state and head of the government.

 Nigeria has a bicameral legislature.

 Nigeria's legal system is composed of four distinct systems of law: English law, common law, customary law, and Sharia law.

 The judicial system has a Federal Court of Appeals ap­appointed by the federal government and a Supreme Court whose members are appointed by the president.

 The history of the Nigerian government demonstrates the problems that multicultural ­ism presents for democracy. For a democracy to work, its people must share

certain values, one of the most important of which is that people will not resort to armed conflict even when they feel they have been wronged. That value

depends on a level of goodwill and belief that others will not take advantage of situations when they are in power.
 Russian Government
 In 1991, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) ended and the republics that made it up each became independent states,
connected by history and a loose commonwealth.

 To understand the current government in Russia, we need to consider the history of the former Soviet government, which began in
1917.

 Before that time, the Soviet Union, then known as the Russian Empire, was a centralized autocracy ruled by czars.

 World War I created severe economic difficulties for the Russian Empire and led to political confusion and civil war in 1917, the
Bolsheviks, members of the more radical majority of the Russian Social Democratic Party, under the leadership of Vladimir Lenin took
over the Russian government and, after winning the civil war, established control over the country.

 In 1922, Lenin designed a federal type of constitution that incorporated republics surrounding Russian republics that had previously
been part of the Russian Empire. The Constitution marked the beginning of the USSR. Although it was revised in 1936 and again in
1977, this constitution was, in many of its parts, the same one in force until the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union.

 A key element of that constitution and the government of the Soviet Union was the relationship between the government and the
Communist Party.

 The Communist Party's dominant control of the Russian government meant the government was largely a rubber stamp and
administrative institution for carrying policies made by the party. There was a radical change in the Russian political system in the
late 1980s when Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced several liberalizing reforms. These reforms reduced the power of the
party and unleashed a wave of nationalism and economic upheaval.
 Russian Government
 The chaos preceding the breakup of the union upset several communist leaders and in 1991 a group of them attempted a
coup d'etat-an extraconstitutional takeover of a country. That coup failed because the military and a majority of the people in
the ft Soviet Union resisted, and leaders such as Boris Yeltsin, the head of the Russian republic refused to accept the coup and
began a struggle against it.

 The coup leaders were arrested and the Soviet Union ceased to exist. Each of the republics claimed its independence. In the
1990s a number of the republics joined together in the Commonwealth of Independent States but it was primarily a symbolic
organization.

 Chaos reigned in the early 1990s in all the countries that made up the former Soviet Union. After the aborted coup, the Soviet
Union broke apart.

 The legislative branch of the government, the Congress of People’s Deputies, dissolved itself, and the republics declared
themselves independent. Russia, the largest of the republics, took control of most of the former Soviet government.

 Russia created a governmental system consisting of a president and a legislative branch, called the Congress of People's
Deputies. The two branches of government shared roughly equal powers, causing many gridlocks in policy decisions in the
early years.

 A new constitution in 1993 created a stronger president but also maintained a Federal Assembly composed of an upper
Chamber of the Federation and a lower State Duma with checks on presidential power.
 Russian Government
 In 1999, Vladimir Putin was elected president Throughout his eight years in office, he was an extraordinarily popular president, in part
because he brought stability back to Russia, and in part because he brought pride back to being Russian. Because of a two-term
limitation on service as president, he could not run for election in 2008 but his handicapped successor, Dmitry Medvedev, won in a
landslide after hardly campaigning. After the election, Medvedev appointed Putin as Prime Minister, and together they have been
popular in Russia. They have remained less popular in the West, as they have tried to exert Russia's influence on the world political
scene.
 Saudi Arabian Government
 Unlike the other four countries we have considered, all of which are, to varying degrees democracies, Saudi Arabia makes no such
claim. It is a monarchy, and it provides us with an example of an authoritarian autocracy.

 The Saudi Arabian government is relatively modern; the present kingdom was established in 1932. Before that time, what is now Saudi
Arabia, like the other countries in the Arabian peninsula, was a collection of tribes generally following Islamic religious traditions. Life in
the individual tribes and among the various tribes was governed by those traditions and by the Qur'an, the primary Islamic religious
body of writings. Until the twentieth century, no single, long-term leader emerged from this collection of tribes.

 That changed in the early 1900s when Ibn Sa'ud conquered most of the tribes in central Arabia and became the political and spiritual
leader of the Bedouin tribe. He extended his authority during the first third of the twentieth century and created the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia in 1932.

 The kingdom has no written constitution, relying instead on historical precedent the Qur'an, and royal decrees as its guides. There are
no legislative bodies and no political parties. It is an absolute monarchy.

 But even absolute monarchies have their limits. Although the Saudi state has no con­stitution and no laws that restrict the king's
powers, the Qur'an and historical customs limit what the king does, and over time a quasi­constitutional system has developed. The
ruler is chosen by members of the royal family from among its members, subject to the ap­proval of a group of Muslim leaders (the
ulema). The ulema can remove the ruler, and he is also dependent for support on tribal leaders and, more recently, on important
businessmen. Notice that there is no question of female rule in Saudi Arabia because Islam's view of women precludes them from
taking any such role.
 Saudi Arabian Government
 Running a government is too much for any one person, and in 1953 King Sa'ud created a Council of Ministers to assist him, with a prime
minister playing a significant role partially independent of the king.

 The prime minister appoints the Council, along with other advisory councils who assist him in both legislative and exec­utive matters. This dual
power base created tension between the king and the prime minister that was temporarily resolved when the prime minister, Prince Faisal,
became king in 1964.

 King Faisal was assassinated in 1975 and the tension returned. King Faisal's successor was King Khalid, who died in 1982. Khalid was followed
by King Fahd, who solved the tension by naming himself as prime minister. When King Fahd's health became frail, his cousin, Crown Prince
Abdullah, was named prime minister.

 King Fahd died in 2005 and Abdullah became King. As is the case with many governments, especially those established in the twentieth
century, the Saudi system of government is still evolving. In 1980, a committee was established to define a basic system of rule-based entirely
on Islamic principles.

 In 1992, the committee reported to King Fahd, who set up a sixty-one-member Majlis Al-Shura, or Consultative Council. This council could make
recommendations to the king and prime minister but would have no ability to make law (the king retained that right). He also reorganized
provincial administrations and formalized the existing system of government, keeping the throne in the al-Sa'ud family in perpetuity.

 Although King Fahd announced that the political system would be directed by Sharia (Islamic law), he recognized that the public expects the
Majlis to be more than another rubber-stamping institution with the sole purpose of legitimizing the regime. Upon taking office, King Abdullah
declared that he would like to see the Majlis and the thirteen regional councils play a more influential role in policymak­ing in the future.
However, it is still uncertain how responsive the royal family will be to the advice of these ministers.
 Saudi Arabian Government
 People tolerate strong autocracies in which they have little or no power for numerous reasons including military force wielded by the
government, historical precedent, fear of the chaos that a change would bring, or satisfaction with the existing state of affairs. In the
Saudi case, despite the enormous income taken by the Saudi monarchy, the Saudi people are relatively satisfied. The reason is the
huge amount of oil income received by the government that allows it to undertake numerous social projects for the people. For
example, all Saudis are entitled to free medical care. These projects are financed without significant taxation, even while providing
lavish lifestyles for the Saudi royal family.

 The Persian Gulf War of 1991 eroded the ability of the monarchy-led government to "buy its legitimacy." Low oil prices squeezed the
government budget and led to severe austerity measures in the mid-1990s. Although those measures were somewhat relaxed by 1997,
agitation against the absolute monarchy of the al-Sa'ud family has continued to increase. King Abdullah has continued modernizing and
is in negotiation for membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and is trying to liberalize Saudi Arabia’s policy toward foreign
investment.

 The Saudi government finds itself in a difficult position. Internally, the ultra-religious Sunni Muslims advocate a return to a more strict
Islamic tradition while externally it faces intense criticism from human rights groups and Western-oriented Saudia who call for
increased democracy, less strict punishments for criminals than Shariah, and equal treatment for women under the law. In 2005,
municipal elections were held and were seen by some outside observers as a first step toward democracy in the kingdom.
 Some Lessons about Governments
 This survey of governments of the world should give you a sense of the variety and diversity of governments both democratic and
autocratic. From it, you can see that there are many types of democracy and autocracy and that it is difficult to compare one with the
other.

 Several general points about governments can be made:

1. Governments reflect their history (for example, the Nigerian government reflects its British heritage, and the strong French
government reflects its unstable history).

2. Governments are evolving. France, Nigeria, and Saudi Arabia do not have the same governmental structure they had fifty or
sixty years ago, and the Soviet Union no longer exists. These countries are unlikely to have the same governmental structure fifty years
from now as they have today. The rate of change depends on the historical tradition as current government practices become embodied in
society and place limitations on change.

3. Autocracies are more likely to change than long-standing democracies. The reason is that the process of change is easier.
When the former Soviet Union decided to change governmental form, it could do so relatively easily compared with the United States. Saudi
Arabia would be able to do so even more rapidly.

4. Changes in autocracies occur from within as much as from without. The changes in the Mexican and former Soviet
governments are examples. Often the process of liberaliza­tion brings about opposition that otherwise would have been silent or
suppressed.
 Key points

 The French government is a parliamentary democracy with both a president and a prime minister.

 The Mexican government has been a partial au­tocracy ruled by the PRI, but it is moving toward a competitive
democracy.

 The Nigerian government is a republic whose po­litical instability in large part reflects its colonial heritage.

 The governments of the republics of the former Soviet Union are in a state of transition.

 The Saudi government is an autocracy based largely on Islamic principles.

 Some lessons about governments that can be drawn from these examples include the following governments reflect
their history, governments are changing, autocracies can change quickly and autocracies often change from within.