List of forms of government


This article lists forms of government and political systems, according to a series of different ways of categorizing them. The systems listed are not mutually exclusive, and often have overlapping definitions.

Forms of government by power structure

Forms of government by power source

Types of democracy

In democracies, large proportions of the population are provided the means either to make decisions themselves or to elect representatives to make those decisions instead. Usually, though not necessarily, this means voting. Significant in most vote-based democracies are political parties: groups of people with similar ideas about how a country or region should be governed. Different political parties will have different ideas about how the government should handle different problems.
Note: These categories are not exclusive.
Many democracies are vulnerable to various forms of abuse, which may transform the government into an autocracy or oligarchy. Most autocracies or oligarchies still call themselves democracies. Ex: Democratic People's Republic of Korea
TermDefinitionExamples
DemarchyVariant of democracy; government in which the state is governed by randomly selected decision makers who have been selected by sortition from a broadly inclusive pool of eligible citizens. These groups, sometimes termed "policy juries", "citizens' juries", or "consensus conferences", deliberately make decisions about public policies in much the same way that juries decide criminal cases. Demarchy, in theory, could overcome some of the functional problems of conventional representative democracy, which is widely subject to manipulation by special interests and a division between professional policymakers vs. a largely passive, uninvolved and often uninformed electorate. According to Australian philosopher John Burnheim, random selection of policymakers would make it easier for everyday citizens to meaningfully participate, and harder for special interests to corrupt the process.
More generally, random selection of decision makers from a larger group is known as sortition. The Athenian democracy made much use of sortition, with nearly all government offices filled by lottery rather than by election. Candidates were almost always male, Greek, educated citizens holding a minimum of wealth and status.
Direct democracyVariant of democracy; government in which the people represent themselves and vote directly for new laws and public policy. Swiss cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Glarus
ElectocracyVariant of democracy; a form of representative democracy where citizens are able to vote for their government but cannot participate directly in governmental decision making and where the government does not share any power almost as the government has absolute power
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    • Liberal democracyVariant of democracy; a form of government in which representative democracy operates under the principles of liberalism. It is characterised by fair, free, and competitive elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into different branches of government, the rule of law in everyday life as part of an open society, and the protection of human rights and civil liberties for all persons. To define the system in practice, liberal democracies often draw upon a constitution, either formally written or uncodified, to delineate the powers of government and enshrine the social contract. After a period of sustained expansion throughout the 20th century, liberal democracy became the predominant political system in the world. A liberal democracy may take various constitutional forms: it may be a republic, such as France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, or the United States; or a constitutional monarchy, such as Japan or Spain. It may have a presidential system, a semi-presidential system, or a parliamentary system.
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    • Liquid democracyVariant of democracy; government in which the people represent themselves or choose to temporarily delegate their vote to another voter to vote for new laws and public policy.Experiments have mostly been conducted on a local-level or exclusively through online platforms
    Representative democracyVariant of democracy; wherein the people or citizens of a country elect representatives to create and implement public policy in place of active participation by the people.Almost all of the democratic systems there are.
    Social democracyVariant of democracy; social democracy rejects the "either/or" phobiocratic/polarization interpretation of capitalism versus socialism. Social democracy argues that all citizens should be legally entitled to certain social rights. These are made up of universal access to public services such as: education, health care, workers' compensation, public transportation, and other services including child care and care for the elderly. Social democracy is connected with the trade union labour movement and supports collective bargaining rights for workers. Contemporary social democracy advocates freedom from discrimination based on differences of: ability/disability, age, ethnicity, sex, gender, language, race, religion, sexual orientation, and social class.
    Soviet democracyVariant of democracy; The citizens are governing by directly elected councils. The councils are directly responsible to their electors and are bound by their instructions. Such an imperative mandate is in contrast to a free mandate, in which the elected delegates are only responsible to their conscience. Delegates may accordingly be dismissed from their post at any time or be voted out.In some degree the final years of the Russian Empire
    Totalitarian democracyVariant of democracy; a form of electocracy in which lawfully elected representatives maintain the integrity of a nation state whose citizens, while granted the right to vote, have little or no participation in the decision-making process of the government.
  • German Democratic Republic

    • Types of oligarchy

    are societies controlled and organised by a small class of privileged people, with no intervention from the most part of society; this small elite is defined as sharing some common trait.
    De jure democratic governments with a de facto oligarchy are ruled by a small group of segregated, powerful or influential people who usually share similar interests or family relations. These people may spread power and elect candidates equally or not equally. An oligarchy is different from a true democracy because very few people are given the chance to change things. An oligarchy does not have to be hereditary or monarchic. An oligarchy does not have one clear ruler but several rulers.
    Some historical examples of oligarchy are the Roman Republic, in which only males of the nobility could run for office and only wealthy males could vote, and the Athenian democracy, which used sortition to elect candidates, almost always male, Greek, educated citizens holding a minimum of land, wealth and status. Some critics of capitalism and/or representative democracy think of the United States and the United Kingdom as oligarchies.
    Note: These categories are not exclusive.
    TermDefinition
    AristocracyRule by the nobility; a system of governance where political power is in the hands of a small class of privileged individuals who claim a higher birth than the rest of society.
    ErgatocracyRule by the proletariat, the workers, or the working class. Examples of ergatocracy include communist revolutionaries and rebels which control most of society and create an alternative economy for people and workers. See Dictatorship of the proletariat.
    GeniocracyRule by the intelligent; a system of governance where creativity, innovation, intelligence and wisdom are required for those who wish to govern. Comparable to noocracy.
    KraterocracyRule by the strong; a system of governance where those who are strong enough to seize power through physical force, social maneuvering or political cunning.
    KritarchyRule by various judges, the kritarchs; a system of governance composed of law enforcement institutions in which the state and the legal systems are traditionally or constitutionally the same entity. The kritarchs, magistrates and other adjudicators have the legal power to legislate and administer the enforcement of government laws in addition to the interposition of laws and the resolution of disputes. Somalia, ruled by judges with the tradition of xeer, as well as the Islamic Courts Union, is a historical example.
    MeritocracyRule by the meritorious; a system of governance where groups are selected on the basis of people's ability, knowledge in a given area, and contributions to society.
    NetocracyRule by social connections; a term invented by the editorial board of the American technology magazine Wired in the early 1990s. A portmanteau of Internet and aristocracy, netocracy refers to a perceived global upper-class that bases its power on a technological advantage and networking skills, in comparison to what is portrayed as a bourgeoisie of a gradually diminishing importance. The netocracy concept has been compared with Richard Florida's concept of the creative class. Bard and Söderqvist have also defined an under-class in opposition to the netocracy, which they refer to as the consumitariat.
    NoocracyRule by the wise; a system of governance in which decision making is in the hands of philosophers.
    PlutocracyRule by the wealthy; a system wherein governance is indebted to, dependent upon or heavily influenced by the desires of the rich. Plutocratic influence can alter any form of government. For instance, in a republic, if a significant number of elected representative positions are dependent upon financial support from wealthy sources, it is a plutocratic republic.
    ParticracyRule by a dominant political party.
    StratocracyRule by military service; a system of governance composed of military government in which the state and the military are traditionally or constitutionally the same entity. Citizens with mandatory or voluntary active military service or who have been honorably discharged have the right to govern. The Spartan city-state is a historical example; its social system and constitution were completely focused on military training and excellence. Stratocratic ideology often attaches to the honor-oriented timocracy.
    TechnocracyRule by the educated or technical experts; a system of governance where people who are skilled or proficient govern in their respective areas of expertise in technology would be in control of all decision making. Doctors, engineers, scientists, professionals and technologists who have knowledge, expertise, or skills would compose the governing body instead of politicians, businessmen and economists. In a technocracy, decision makers would be selected based upon how knowledgeable and skillful they are in their field.
    TheocracyRule by a religious elite; a system of governance composed of religious institutions in which the state and the church are traditionally or constitutionally the same entity. The Vatican's, Iran's, Caliphates and other Islamic states are historically considered theocracies.
    TimocracyRule by the honourable; a system of governance ruled by honorable citizens and property owners. Socrates defines a timocracy as a government ruled by people who love honour and are selected according to the degree of honour they hold in society. This form of timocracy is very similar to meritocracy, in the sense that individuals of outstanding character or faculty are placed in the seat of power.

    Types of autocracy

    are ruled by a single entity with absolute power, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regular mechanisms of popular control. That entity may be an individual, as in a dictatorship or it may be a group, as in a one-party state. The word despotism means to "rule in the fashion of despots" and is often used to describe autocracy.
    Historical examples of autocracy include the Roman Empire, Nazi Germany and Soviet Union.
    TermDefinition
    Civilian DictatorshipA dictatorship where power resides in the hands of one single person or polity. That person may be, for example, an absolute monarch or a dictator, but can also be an elected president. The Roman Republic made dictators to lead during times of war; but the Roman dictators only held power for a small time. In modern times, an autocrat's rule is one that not stopped by any rules of law, constitutions, or other social and political institutions. After World War II, many governments in Latin America, Asia, and Africa were ruled by autocratic governments. Examples of dictators include: Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Idi Amin, Muammar Gaddafi, and Gamal Abdul Nasser.
    Military DictatorshipA dictatorship primarily enforced by the military. Military dictators are different from civilian dictators for a number of reasons: their motivations for seizing power, the institutions through which they organize their rule, and the ways in which they leave power. Often viewing itself as saving the nation from the corrupt or myopic civilian politicians, a military dictatorship justifies its position as “neutral” arbiters on the basis of their membership within the armed forces. For example, many juntas adopt titles, such as “National Redemption Council", “Committee of National Restoration", or “National Liberation Committee". Military leaders often rule as a junta, selecting one of them as the head.

    Pejorative attributes

    Regardless of the form of government, the actual governance may be influenced by sectors with political power which are not part of the formal government. These are terms that highlight certain actions of the governors, such as corruption, demagoguery, or fear mongering that may disrupt the intended way of working of the government if they are widespread enough.
    TermDefinition
    Banana republicA politically unstable and kleptocratic government that economically depends upon the exports of a limited resource, and usually features a society composed of stratified social classes, such as a great, impoverished ergatocracy and a ruling plutocracy, composed of the aristocracy of business, politics, and the military. In political science, the term banana republic denotes a country dependent upon limited primary-sector productions, which is ruled by a plutocracy who exploit the national economy by means of a politico-economic oligarchy. In American literature, the term banana republic originally denoted the fictional Republic of Anchuria, a servile dictatorship that abetted, or supported for kickbacks, the exploitation of large-scale plantation agriculture, especially banana cultivation. In U.S. politics, the term is a pejorative political descriptor coined by the American writer O. Henry in Cabbages and Kings, a book of thematically related short stories derived from his 1896–1897 residence in Honduras, where he was hiding from U.S. law for bank embezzlement.
    BankocracyRule by banks; a system of governance with excessive power or influence of banks and other financial authorities on public policy-making. It can also refer to a form of government where financial institutions rule society.
    CorporatocracyRule by corporations; a system of governance where an economic and political system is controlled by corporations or corporate interests. Its use is generally pejorative. Examples include company rule in India, United States and business voters for the City of London Corporation.
    KakistocracyRule by the stupid; a system of governance where the worst or least-qualified citizens govern or dictate policies. Due to human nature being inherently flawed, it has been suggested that every government which has ever existed has been a prime example of kakistocracy.
    KleptocracyRule by thieves; a system of governance where its officials and the ruling class in general pursue personal wealth and political power at the expense of the wider population. In strict terms kleptocracy is not a form of government but a characteristic of a government engaged in such behavior. Examples include Mexico as being considered a "narcokleptocracy", since its democratic government is perceived to be corrupted by those who profit from trade in illegal drugs smuggled into the United States.
    NepotocracyRule by nephews; favouritism granted to relatives regardless of :wikt:merit|merit; a system of governance in which importance is given to the relatives of those already in power, like a nephew. In such governments even if the relatives aren't qualified they are given positions of authority just because they know someone who already has authority. Pope Alexander VI was accused of this.
    OchlocracyRule by the crowd; a system of governance where mob rule is government by mob or a mass of people, or the intimidation of legitimate authorities. As a pejorative for majoritarianism, it is akin to the Latin phrase mobile vulgus meaning "the fickle crowd", from which the English term "mob" was originally derived in the 1680s. Ochlocratic governments are often a democracy spoiled by demagoguery, "tyranny of the majority" and the rule of passion over reason; such governments can be as oppressive as autocratic tyrants. Ochlocracy is synonymous in meaning and usage to the modern, informal term "mobocracy".

    Other attributes

    Forms of government by power ideology

    Types of monarchy

    Countries with monarchy attributes are those where a family or group of families, called the, represents national identity, with power traditionally assigned to one of its individuals, called the monarch, who mostly rule kingdoms. The actual role of the monarch and other members of royalty varies from purely symbolical to partial and restricted to completely despotic. Traditionally and in most cases, the post of the monarch is inherited, but there are also elective monarchies where the monarch is elected.
    TermDefinition
    Absolute monarchyA traditional and historical system where the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government. Many nations of Europe during the Middle Ages were absolute monarchies. Modern examples include mainly Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Brunei and one African country, Eswatini.
    Constitutional monarchyAlso called parliamentary monarchy, the monarch's powers are limited by law or by a formal constitution, usually assigning them to those of the head of state. Many modern developed countries, including the United Kingdom, Norway, Netherlands, Australia, Canada, Spain and Japan, are constitutional monarchy systems.
    Crowned republicA form of government where the monarch is an official ceremonial entity with no political power. The royal family and the monarch are intended to represent the country and may perform speeches or attend an important ceremonial events as a symbolical guide to the people, but hold no actual power in decision-making, appointments, et cetera.
    Elective monarchyA form of government where the monarch is elected, a modern example being the King of Cambodia, who is chosen by the Royal Council of the Throne; Vatican City is also often considered a modern elective monarchy.

    Types of republic

    Rule by a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. A common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. Montesquieu included both democracies, where all the people have a share in rule, and aristocracies or oligarchies, where only some of the people rule, as republican forms of government.
    Note: These categories are not exclusive.
    TermDefinition
    Constitutional republicRepublics where there is rule by a government whose powers are limited by law or a formal constitution, and chosen by a vote amongst the populace. Typically, laws cannot be passed which violate said constitution, unless the constitution itself is altered by law. This theoretically serves to protect minority groups from being subjected to the tyranny of the majority, or mob rule. Examples include the United States, South Africa, India, etc.
    Democratic republicRepublics where the laws are ultimately decided by popular vote, whether by a body of elected representatives or directly by the public, and there is no restriction on which laws are passed so long as they have majority support. Constitutional law is either non-existent or poses little obstacle to legislation.
    Federal republicRepublics that are a federation of states or provinces, where there is a national law encompassing the nation as a whole but where each state or province is free to legislate and enforce its own laws and affairs so long as they don't conflict with federal law. Examples include United States, Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Germany, India, Mexico, Russia, and Switzerland.
    Islamic republicRepublics governed in accordance with Islamic law. Examples include Afghanistan, Iran, Mauritania, and Pakistan.
    Parliamentary republicRepublics, like Germany, India or Singapore, with an elected head of state, but where the head of state and head of government are kept separate with the head of government retaining most executive powers, or a head of state akin to a head of government, elected by a parliament.
    Presidential RepublicRepublics with an elected head of state, where the head of state is also the head of the government. Examples include United States, Mexico, Brazil, and Indonesia.
    People's republicRepublics that include countries like China and Vietnam that are de jure governed for and by the people. The term People's Republic is used to differentiate themselves from the earlier republic of their countries before the people's revolution, like the Republic of China.

    Forms of government by socio-political attributes

    By socio-economic attributes

    Historically, most political systems originated as socioeconomic ideologies. Experience with those movements in power and the strong ties they may have to particular forms of government can cause them to be considered as forms of government in themselves.
    Note: These categories are not exclusive.
    TermDefinition
    AnarchismA system that advocates self-governed societies based on voluntary institutions. These are often described as stateless societies, although several authors have defined them more specifically as institutions based on non-hierarchical or free associations, while others have advocated for stateless societies with the inclusion of private property, property rights and hierarchical groups, so long as membership and association with those groups are entirely voluntary. Anarchism holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary and/or harmful.
    CapitalismA system in which the means of production are owned by private individuals, workers then negotiate with those individuals to use those means of production in exchange for a portion of what they produce, usually in the form of capital. The owners of the means of production are entitled to whatever portion of the products of the workers' labor that is agreed upon by the two parties.
    ColonialismA system in which a native group is subjugated by an external political power for their own economic and/or political benefit.
    CommunismA socialist system in which the means of production are commonly owned, and production is undertaken for use, rather than for profit. Communist society is thus, in theory, stateless, classless, moneyless, and democratic — it is usually regarded as the "final form" of a socialist or anarchist society.
    DespotismA system in which the laws and resources of a nation are controlled by one individual, usually a monarch or dictator, who holds absolute political power. Examples include the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt and the Roman emperors.
    DistributismA variant of capitalism which views widespread property ownership as fundamental right; the means of production are spread as widely as possible rather than being centralized under the control of the state, or a few individuals/corporations Distributism fundamentally opposes socialism and capitalism, which distributists view as equally flawed and exploitative. In contrast, distributism seeks to subordinate economic activity to human life as a whole, to our spiritual life, our intellectual life, our family life".
    FeudalismA system of land ownership and duties common to medieval Europe. Under feudalism, all the land in a kingdom belonged to the king. However, the king would give some of the land to the lords or nobles who fought for him. These presents of land were called manors. Then the nobles gave some of their land to vassals. The vassals then had to do duties for the nobles. The lands of vassals were called fiefs.
    A similar system is the Iqta, used by medieval Islamic societies of the middle east and north Africa. This functioned much like the feudal system but generally had titles that weren't granted to a family dynasty but to individuals at the behest of the sultan and generally only required a tax from the lower classes, instead of military service and/or manual labour like in the feudal system.
    MinarchismA variant of capitalism which advocates for the State to exist solely to provide a very small number of services. A popular model of the State proposed by minarchists is known as the night-watchman state, in which the only governmental functions are to protect citizens from aggression, theft, breach of contract, and fraud as defined by property laws, limiting it to three institutions: the military, the police, and courts.
    MonarchismA system in which the government is headed by an agreed upon head of the nobility who is known as the monarch, usually in the form of a king or emperor. In most monarchical systems the position of monarch is one inherited from a previous ruler by bloodline or marriage, but in other cases it may be a position elected by the nobility themselves, as was the case in the ancient Roman Kingdom and the medieval Holy Roman Empire.
    RepublicanismA system in which the laws and governmental policies of the state are considered a "public matter" and decided by the citizens of the society, whoever they may be. Most modern nation-states are examples of republics, but other examples include those of ancient Rome and Athens.
    SocialismA system in which workers, democratically and/or socially own the means of production. The economic framework may be decentralized and self-managed in autonomous economic units, as in libertarian systems, or centrally planned, as in authoritarian systems. Public services such as healthcare and education would be commonly, collectively, and/or state owned.
    TotalitarianismA system in which the land and resources of a nation are controlled by a centralised authoritarian state that holds absolute political power, usually under a dictatorship or single political party. Examples include Soviet Union and Nazi Germany.
    TribalismA system based on a small complex society of varying degrees of centralisation that is led by an individual known as a chief.

    By geo-cultural attributes

    Governments can also be categorized based on their size and scope of influence:
    TermDefinition
    National GovernmentThe government of a nation-state and is a characteristic of a unitary state. This is the same thing as a federal government which may have distinct powers at various levels authorized or delegated to it by its member states, though the adjective 'central' is sometimes used to describe it. The structure of central governments varies. Many countries have created autonomous regions by delegating powers from the central government to governments at a sub national level, such as a regional, state or local level. Based on a broad definition of a basic political system, there are two or more levels of government that exist within an established territory and govern through common institutions with overlapping or shared powers as prescribed by a constitution or other law.
    City-StateA sovereign state, also described as a type of small independent country, that usually consists of a single city and its dependent territories. Historically, this included cities such as Rome, Athens, Carthage, and the Italian city-states during the Renaissance. Today only a handful of sovereign city-states exist, with some disagreement as to which are city-states. A great deal of consensus exists that the term properly applies currently to Singapore, Monaco, and Vatican City. City states are also sometimes called micro-states which however also includes other configurations of very small countries.
    CommuneFrom the Medieval Latin communia. An intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, often having common values and beliefs, as well as shared property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work, income or assets.
    Intergovernmental OrganisationsAlso known as international governmental organizations : the type of organization most closely associated with the term 'international organization', these are organizations that are made up primarily of sovereign states. Notable examples include the United Nations, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Council of Europe, International Labour Organization and International Police Organization. The UN has used the term "intergovernmental organization" instead of "international organization" for clarity.
    World GovernmentThe notion of a common political authority for all of humanity, yielding a global government and a single state that exercises authority over the entire Earth. Such a government could come into existence either through violent and compulsory world domination or through peaceful and voluntary supranational union.

    Forms of government by other attributes

    By significant constitutional attributes

    Certain major characteristics are defining of certain types; others are historically associated with certain types of government.
    This list focuses on differing approaches that political systems take to the distribution of sovereignty, and the autonomy of regions within the state.
    These currently have no citable real-world examples outside of fiction.
    TermDefinition
    Corporate republicTheoretical form of government occasionally hypothesised in works of science fiction, though some historical nations such as medieval Florence might be said to have been governed as corporate republics. The colonial megacorporations such as the Dutch East India Company should possibly be considered corporate states, being semi-sovereign with the power to wage war and establish colonies.
    While retaining some semblance of republican government, a corporate republic would be run primarily like a business, involving a board of directors and executives. Utilities, including hospitals, schools, the military, and the police force, would be privatised. The social welfare function carried out by the state is instead carried out by corporations in the form of benefits to employees. Although corporate republics do not exist officially in the modern world, they are often used in works of fiction or political commentary as a warning of the perceived dangers of unbridled capitalism. In such works, they usually arise when a single, vastly powerful corporation deposes a weak government, over time or in a coup d'état.
    Some political scientists have also considered state socialist nations to be forms of corporate republics, with the state assuming full control of all economic and political life and establishing a monopoly on everything within national boundaries – effectively making the state itself amount to a giant corporation.
    CyberocracyTheoretical form of government that rules by the effective use of information
    MagocracyRule by a government with the highest and main authority being either a magician, sage, sorcerer, wizard, witch, or some other magic user. This is often similar to a theocratic structured regime and is largely portrayed in fiction and fantasy genre categories.
    UniocracyRuled by a singularity of all human minds connected via some form of technical or non-technical telepathy acting as a form of super computer to make decisions based on shared patterned experiences to deliver fair and accurate decisions to problems as they arrive. Also known as the "Hive Mind" principle, it differs from voting in that each person would make a decision while in the "hive" the synapses of all minds work together following a longer path of memories to make "one" decision.