Summary Maatschappijleer vwo 4 hoofdstuk 3 (tto)

3.1 what is democracy
 Politics is about making choices that all the citizens of a country are required to
follow
 Public interests: prosperity, public health, infrastructure, education, safety
 Democracy= a form of government in which the people directly or indirectly
influence political decision making
 A form of direct democracy is referendum: a public vote about a specific political
issue
 Indirect democracy (parliamentary democracy) : the people don’t make decisions
directly, the parliament does that
 Characteristics of parliamentary democracy:
 - rights of minorities
 - separation of powers
 - people elect representatives
 - government and parliament make laws together
 - individual freedom
 - fundamental political rights
 - freedom of the press

 Authoritarian regime = all power is held by one person (dictator), one family, a small
group of people, or the military
 Most extreme form is dictatorship
 Key characteristics:
 - no separation of powers
 - No independent judges
 - elections involve fraud, manipulation and violence
 - opposition parties are banned
 - no fundamental right
 - no freedom of press
 Censorship = government control of the media
 Some authoritarian regimes are based on an ideology
 -> in North Korea and China communist parties have control
 -> in Iran is religious regime (people are allowed to vote but religious leaders have to
approve all decisions)
 -> military regimes : army has complete control

3.2 political movements
 Ideology = a set of ideas about what is important in society and about the best way
for people to co-exist
 Left wing: active government intervention to reduce inequality-> more taxes
 Right wing: people are responsible for bettering their lives -> government should
avoid interference
 Centrist: in the middle
 3 political ideologies:
 Liberalism : people are not the same but they are all equal
 Socialism: emphasises that not everyone has equal opportunities and privileges