Module 06: Government Structure & Institutions

Governments do not only divide power between branches. They also divide power across levels. A country may have a national government, regional governments, state governments, provincial governments, city governments, county governments, or local councils. One of the major questions in political science is how power is divided between them.

Governments can organize executive and legislative power in different ways. Three common systems are (1) presidential systems, (2) parliamentary systems, and (3) semi-presidential systems.

Many governments divide political power into three major functions: (1) legislative power, (2) executive power, and (3) judicial power. These are often called the branches of government.

Every government needs rules. A government may have leaders, officials, courts, laws, police, elections, agencies, and military power, but those things do not automatically explain how the government is supposed to work. Who has authority? What limits exist on that authority? What rights do citizens have? What happens when different parts of government disagree?

Module 6 explains how governments are organized internally through constitutions, branches of government, executive-legislative systems, and territorial divisions of power. It begins by showing that constitutions are the basic rules that define authority, limit power, protect rights, and create procedures for political conflict. It then explains the three main branches of government—legislative, executive, and judicial—and shows how separation of powers and checks and balances are meant to prevent too much power from being concentrated in one place.