Chapter Overviews

Chapter 25: Political Systems in Today's World

Chapter Overviews

[logo] Essential Question
How do governments vary around the world, and what collective challenges do they face in today's interdependent world?

Section 1 Democratic Governments
There are more than 190 countries in the world, each having one of three basic types of government: long-standing democracies, nations that are in transition to democracy, and authoritarian. Parliamentary governments are democracies in which executive and legislative functions reside in an elected assembly, or parliament. Great Britain and Japan have parliaments with a prime minister. The United States and France have presidential democracies.

Since communism collapsed in 1989, many countries in eastern Europe have been working to establish democracies. Poland's Solidarity Party led the struggle for democracy but recently has been weakened along with the country's economy. Countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa have been transitioning to democracies. South Africa, long ruled by minority whites, ended its policy of apartheid in the early 1990s. Nelson Mandela, leader of the African National Congress, became the first black president of South Africa in 1994. In Mexico, the Institutional Revolutionary Party—the long-standing and only political party for decades—lost in elections in 2000.

Section 2 Authoritarian Governments
Many authoritarian governments still exist. The People's Republic of China has one political party, the Communist Party, and the government commits numerous abuses of human rights. At the same time, it has pursued economic reforms that are reducing the government's tight grip on the people. Since 1959, Fidel Castro, and more recently his brother Raúl, led Cuba's dictatorship, which was sustained by the Soviet Union. The end of the Cold War left Cuba isolated, but it has shown no movement toward democratic reforms. North Korea's totalitarian government centers on unquestioning loyalty to Kim Jong Il. North Koreans suffer great hardship and are almost totally cut off from outside sources of information. Islamic governments rule in most Middle Eastern countries and Indonesia. Militant Muslims want to drive moderate Islamic governments from power and have been most successful in Iran.

Section 3 International Organizations
The United Nations (UN) is an international organization with 192 member countries. Its main headquarters is in New York City. The UN's main purposes are to maintain international peace, develop friendly relations among nations, promote justice and cooperation, and seek solutions to global problems. The General Assembly is the only UN body to which all member nations belong. It holds regular and special sessions to debate international issues and recommend courses of action. The General Assembly appoints the UN secretary-general, the chief officer, to a five-year term of office. The Security Council has five permanent members—the United States, Great Britain, Russia, France, and China. It also has 10 nonpermanent members elected by the General Assembly every two years. The Security Council meets throughout the year and holds emergency sessions to cope with crises in international affairs. It often tries to persuade quarreling nations to solve differences peacefully. It can also send UN troops, drawn from various nations, to try to prevent or stop a war.

The European Union is a regional economic and political bloc with 27 member nations. The Council of the European Union—a gathering of foreign ministers or state secretaries—decides the key directions for EU policy. The European Parliament (EP) is the legislative branch of the EU, with 732 members divided among countries on the basis of population. The EP works with the Council to form the annual budget for the EU and to supervise the operations of smaller EU institutions.

Section 4 Global Issues
As the world becomes more interconnected, all nations are impacted by global issues. International terrorism has become one of the greatest dangers of the new global era. Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda has recruited Muslims and channeled money and arms to drive Westerners from the Middle East. On September 11, 2001, members of al-Qaeda hijacked commercial airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, with a fourth plane crashing in Pennsylvania. Another problem the world faces is nuclear proliferation. In 1968 the major nuclear powers created the Non-Proliferation Treaty to deny nuclear weapons technology to other nations. However, cheaper, more readily obtainable substances can now be used to make weapons of mass destruction.

Protecting human rights has become a major concern for the international community. In 1948 the UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Addressing social and economic as well as political rights, the 30 articles of the Declaration form a comprehensive statement of "inalienable rights of all members of the human family." Environmental issues include exploding population growth, increasing consumption of natural resources, and the growing discharge of pollution. A core dilemma is helping less-developed nations grow their economies while protecting the environment.