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Forms of Government: Home

A topic guide with resources on the major forms of government and political thought.

Internet Resources

This guide covers concepts related to the forms of government and political ideology. Information presented here covers resources available bot online and in McKee Library's collection.  

Research & Reference

Databases

Forms of Government | World101

 

Knowing how people elect their leaders and how those leaders govern nations is crucial to understanding how the world works. How countries elect their government and what type of government rules can have serious consequences in a nation’s future. Leaders can be democratic or authoritarian, or in between. Governments can also be democratically elected or manipulate elections, authoritarian systems can be toppled by reforms and revolutions, while democracies can gradually become less free by what we call democratic backsliding. 

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBFXD06fudM

Perspectives

Comparing Political Regimes: A Thematic Introduction to Comparative Politics

The third edition is thoroughly revised and updated. It now incorporates the two new countries that have appeared since the last edition - Kosovo and South Sudan - and covers the regime changes that have occurred in many countries, including the liberalization (but not yet actual democratization) of the Arab Spring. Extra material has also been added on demography and political economy, especially with regards to economic development, and on secession of regions.

Forms of Government and the Rise of Democracy

For as long as individuals have lived alongside one another there have been governing structuresOCobodies established to maintain order and justice, entrusted to provide basic needs and services to their constituents. Disparate beliefs and interests have given rise to many forms of government throughout history, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. This engaging volume allows readers to examine the various forms of government that have developed around the world, with a special focus on the ascension of democracy.

Empires in World History

Empires--vast states of territories and peoples united by force and ambition--have dominated the political landscape for more than two millennia. Empires in World History departs from conventional European and nation-centered perspectives to take a remarkable look at how empires relied on diversity to shape the global order. Beginning with ancient Rome and China and continuing across Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa, Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper examine empires' conquests, rivalries, and strategies of domination--with an emphasis on how empires accommodated, created, and manipulated differences among populations. Burbank and Cooper examine Rome and China from the third century BCE, empires that sustained state power for centuries. They delve into the militant monotheism of Byzantium, the Islamic Caliphates, and the short-lived Carolingians, as well as the pragmatically tolerant rule of the Mongols and Ottomans, who combined religious protection with the politics of loyalty. Burbank and Cooper discuss the influence of empire on capitalism and popular sovereignty, the limitations and instability of Europe's colonial projects, Russia's repertoire of exploitation and differentiation, as well as the "empire of liberty"--devised by American revolutionaries and later extended across a continent and beyond. With its investigation into the relationship between diversity and imperial states, Empires in World History offers a fresh approach to understanding the impact of empires on the past and present.

Ideology: a Very Short Introduction

Ideology is one of the most controversial terms in the political vocabulary, exciting both revulsion and inspiration. This book examines the reasons for those views, and explains why ideologies deserve respect as a major form of political thinking. It investigates the centrality of ideologyboth as a political phenomenon and as an organizing framework of political thought and action. It explores the changing understandings of ideology as a concept, and the arguments of the main ideologies. By employing the latest insights from a range of disciplines, the reader is introduced to thevitality and force of a crucial resource at the disposal of societies, through which sense and purpose is assigned to the political world.

Systematic Politics

In this new work, Professor Catlin goes back to cover the developments of thirty years, integrating the work of his contemporary colleagues and relating it to the broad tradition of Western philosophy.

Introduction: Crash Course U.S. Government and Politics

 

In which Craig Benzine introduces a brand new Crash Course about U.S. Government and Politics! This course will provide you with an overview of how the government of the United States is supposed to function, and we'll get into how it actually does function. The two aren't always the same thing. We'll be learning about the branches of government, politics, elections, political parties, pizza parties, and much, much more!

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrk4oY7UxpQ&t=2s