Governmental systems

Essay by SteamboatHigh School, 11th grade March 2006

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What is government? A government is supposed to benefit the people of the state. In most cases the rich and powerful use the government to benefit themselves, but the ideal government would benefit all people. These social structures have different froms. Democracy, Dictatorships, Feudalism and Communism are all forms of government that have been used in the history and are used today. Japan and Europe's history are both marked with feudalism. We will go over how different government systems affect the people of the state. We will compare and contrast the effect of Feudalism has had on Japan and Europe, and touch upon fascism.

The Japanese feudal period lasted about 700 years, from the 13th to 20th centuries. Eventually western influences made Japan modernize. Warrior nobles ruled the Japanese Feudal system under a system similar to what Europe was practicing at that time. Japanese feudalism was based on the fiefs given to the noble warriors for their performance of military duties for the rulers.

Some might say that this lead to the ideas of Bushido and the way of the warrior. These codes share likenesses to the code of chivalry in Europe. Bushido required that the samurai warrior die fighting rather than surrender because " Death is lighter than a feather, but duty is heavier than a mountain. The social class in Feudal Japan is as follows.

The Emperor is the numero uno in appearance. Although he does do much actually, he is elevated to be a worshiped figure. This status usually was overwhelming to the emperor, and as a result, the sometimes became monks, which gave them more personal freedom.

The real power lay with the Kuge, the class of inherited nobility that occupied powerful positions in the government. The Kuge were very grand and separated from the reality...