Worksheets › Class 7 › From the Rulers to the Ruled: Types of Governments › Cheat sheet
Class 7 From the Rulers to the Ruled: Types of Governments: cheat sheet
CBSE Social Science. The functions of government and its main types: democracy (direct, parliamentary, presidential), monarchy, republic, dictatorship and oligarchy.
Key ideas
- A government has three functions: legislative (making rules), executive (carrying them out) and judicial (seeing they are followed).
- Democracy is rule of the people; in a representative democracy citizens elect people to decide for them, in a direct one they decide themselves.
- In a parliamentary democracy like India, the prime minister and ministers are members of the legislature.
- In a presidential democracy, like the USA, the president is elected separately and heads the government.
- In a constitutional monarchy, like the United Kingdom, the monarch has little real power and an elected parliament governs.
- A republic has an elected head, not a hereditary monarch.
- In a dictatorship one person or a small group holds absolute power; in an oligarchy a few people rule.
- Accountability means the government answers to the people who elected it.
Remember
| Democracy | rule of the people |
| Oligarchy | Greek: rule by a few |
| Republic | head of state is elected |
| Lower House of Parliament | Lok Sabha |
| General elections in India | every five years |
| Uttaramerur inscriptions | 10th century: elections to a village sabha |
| Yogakshema | Kautilya’s word for the welfare of the people |
Watch out
- Mixing up parliamentary (ministers from the legislature) and presidential (president elected separately) democracy.
- Thinking every monarchy is ruled by the monarch: in a constitutional monarchy parliament governs.
- Mixing up a republic (elected head) and a democracy (rule of the people): a country can be both.
Worked example
Suppose a country holds elections every 5 years from 2030, and another every 4 years from 2032. In which year after 2032 will both hold elections in the same year?
Working: list 2030 + 5, + 10, … and 2032 + 4, + 8, … until they meet
Answer: 2040
Practise From the Rulers to the Ruled: Types of Governments
Revise with this page, then practise: every From the Rulers to the Ruled: Types of Governments sheet in the app is new, with an answer key and working.
Coming soon for Android and iPhone.