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List of forms of government
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article lists forms of government and political systems, according to a series of different ways of categorising them. The systems listed are of course not mutually exclusive, and often have overlapping definitions (for example autocracy, despotism, totalitarianism, monarchy and tyranny).
Contents |
The following list groups major political systems (recognized by political science) in alphabetical order. The various subtype political systems are listed below the main system of government.
- Anarchism (perhaps better defined as a system of non-hierarchical governance)
- Authoritarianism (Autocracy or Oligarchy)
- Absolutism
- Aristocracy
- Corporatism
- Despotism
- Dictatorship (not all dictatorships are autocracies)
- Gynecocracy
- Gerontocracy
- Kleptocracy
- Matriarchy
- Meritocracy
- Monarchy government called monarchy, which consisted of a king who had all the power over the area.
- Patriarchy
- Plutocracy
- Police state
- Robocracy
- Theocracy (hierocracy)
- Totalitarianism
- Fascism (extreme nationalism)
- Communist state
- Single-party state
- Tyranny
- Technocracy (bureaucratic)
- Democracy
This list focuses on differing approaches that political systems take to the distribution of sovereignty, and the autonomy of regions within the state.
- Sovereignty located exclusively at the centre
- Sovereignty located at the centre and in peripheral areas
This list shows a division based on differences in political franchise (suffrage).
- anarchy - rule by no one
- democracy - rule by majority
- oligarchy - rule by minority
- autocracy - rule by one
- republic - rule by law
Max Weber in his tripartite classification of authority distinguished three ideal types of political leadership, domination and authority:
- charismatic domination (familial and religious)
- traditional domination (patriarchs, patrimonalism, feudalism)
- legal domination (modern law and state, bureaucracy)
Finally, the list below present an etymologist's approach to forms of government: the following are real, possible or imaginary forms of government, all made different by the prefix and suffix combination. Nearly all use one of two suffixes: -archy meaning "leadership" (eg. anarchy - no leadership), and -cracy suffix from Greek "kratos" and means "strength" and "power" (e.g., democracy - people's power). The major exception is the Republic, which is derived from the Latin res publicae, which means "the public matter" or, more literally, "the thing of the people", i.e. socio-political affairs. For various extant terms, an example or annotation is juxtaposed.
- adhocracy government in an unstructured fashion; an unstructured organization
- anarchy absence of government
- andrarchy/androcracy government by men
- aristocracy government by the nobility (aristo="the best")
- atheocracy government where religion is forbidden
- autarchy government by an absolute ruler
- autocracy government by one individual, autarchy
- bureaucracy government by civil servants; also the civil servants themselves
- confederacy a union of sovereign states
- corporatocracy government by corporations (industry)
- demarchy government by the people by lot
- democracy government by the people, either direct (through referendum or popular assembly) or via elections (representative form)
- ethnocracy government by a particular ethnic group
- geniocracy government by those of a higher than average intelligence
- gerontocracy government by the aged - see the Spartan gerousia
- gynarchy government by women; gynocracy
- hierarchy government by a ranked body; government by priests
- hierocracy government by priests or religious ministers
- judiciocracy government by judges
- kakistocracy government by the worst
- kleptocracy government by thieves - not an existing form, but a negative appreciation of any regime where corruption is excessive
- kritarchy government by equal freedoms
- krytocracy government by judges
- magocracy government by the magically adept (fictional)
- malarchy government by bad leaders
- matriarchy government by women or mothers
- meritocracy government by those with merit
- minarchy government with the smallest possible bureaucracy or size
- monarchy government by one (usu. by hereditary rule)
- nomocracy government through established laws
- ochlocracy government by mobs
- oligarchy government by the few; sometimes specified after their fixed number :
- dyarchy government by two, as in a dual monarchy
- heptarchy government by seven people
- triumvirate government by three people
- tetrarchy government by four people
- omniarchy government by all
- panarchy universal rule or dominion
- pantarchy (literally) rule by all
- particracy government by political parties
- patriarchy government by fathers - the original Roman Senate, styling itself Patres ('fathers'), came close; usually just said of rule by men
- plantocracy government by plantation owners
- plutocracy government by the wealthy
- polyarchy government by many people, a vague antonym to monarchy and oligarchy
- pornocracy government by prostitution - none has yet to exist, although there is a period of the papacy known as the pornocracy.
- republic government by elected politicians
- robocracy government by robots or other artificial intelligences (maybe fictional)
- sociocracy government by equal individuals, based on consent
- stratocracy government by the armed forces - usually termed military dictatorship or junta
- synarchy joint sovereignty, just as the condominium of Andorra
- technocracy government by technical experts
- thalassocracy sovereignty of the seas
- theocracy government by a deity through clergy or by religious law
- timocracy government by the propertied class