Module 6:
Government Structure & Institutions

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.

The module also compares different ways governments structure political authority. It explains presidential, parliamentary, and semi-presidential systems as different ways of organizing the relationship between the executive and legislature, and federal, unitary, and confederal systems as different ways of dividing power across national and regional levels. Overall, the module argues that understanding government structure helps explain not just who has power, but how power is arranged, limited, and exercised within the state.