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This article lists forms of government and political system
Political system

A political system is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared to the law system, economic system, cultural system, and other social systems....
s, 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
Autocracy

An autocracy is a form of government in which the political power is held by a single, self-appointed ruler. The term autocrat is derived from the Greek language word 'a?t????t?? ....
, authoritarianism
Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism describes a form of government characterized by an emphasis on the authority of the state in a republic or union. It is a political system controlled by nonelected rulers who usually permit some degree of individual freedom....
, despotism
Despotism

Despotism is a form of government by a single authority, either an autocracy or oligarchy, which rules with absolute political power. In its classical form, a despotism is a state where a single individual wields all the power and authority embodying the state, and everyone else is a subsidiary person....
, totalitarianism
Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is a concept used to describe political systems whereby a state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private life. Totalitarian regimes or movements maintain themselves in political power by means of an official all-embracing ideology and propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, single-party st...
, monarchism
Monarchism

Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the Monarch....
 and tyranny).







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This article lists forms of government and political system
Political system

A political system is a system of politics and government. It is usually compared to the law system, economic system, cultural system, and other social systems....
s, 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
Autocracy

An autocracy is a form of government in which the political power is held by a single, self-appointed ruler. The term autocrat is derived from the Greek language word 'a?t????t?? ....
, authoritarianism
Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism describes a form of government characterized by an emphasis on the authority of the state in a republic or union. It is a political system controlled by nonelected rulers who usually permit some degree of individual freedom....
, despotism
Despotism

Despotism is a form of government by a single authority, either an autocracy or oligarchy, which rules with absolute political power. In its classical form, a despotism is a state where a single individual wields all the power and authority embodying the state, and everyone else is a subsidiary person....
, totalitarianism
Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is a concept used to describe political systems whereby a state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private life. Totalitarian regimes or movements maintain themselves in political power by means of an official all-embracing ideology and propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, single-party st...
, monarchism
Monarchism

Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment, preservation, or restoration of a monarchy as a form of government in a nation. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government out of principle, independent from the person, the Monarch....
 and tyranny).

By approach to regional autonomy

This list focuses on differing approaches that political systems take to the distribution of sovereignty
Sovereignty

File:Leviathan gr.jpgSovereignty is the exclusive right to control a government, a State, a people, or oneself. A sovereign is a supreme lawmaking authority....
, and the autonomy of regions within the state.

  • Sovereignty located exclusively at the centre
    • Empire
      Empire

      Empire derives from the Latin word imperium, denoting ?military command? in Roman. Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
    • Unitary state
      Unitary state

      A unitary state is a country whose three organs of state are governed as one single unit. The political power of government in such states may well be transferred to lower levels, to national, regional or local elected assemblies, governors and mayors , but the central government retains the principal right to recall such delegated power ....
  • Sovereignty located at the centre and in peripheral areas
    • Federation
      Federation

      A federation is a Political union comprising a number of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the state is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a Unilateralism decision of the central government....
       and Federal republic
      Federal republic

      A federal republic is a federation of states with a republic form of government. A federation is the central government. The states in a federation also maintain all sovereignty that they do not yield to the federation....
    • Confederation
      Confederation

      Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense , foreign affairs, or a common currency, with the central government being required to provide support for all members....
  • Diverging degrees of sovereignty
    • Asymmetrical federalism
    • Federacy
      Federacy

      A federacy is a form of government where one or several substate units enjoy considerably more independence than the majority of the substate units....
    • Associated state
      Associated state

      An associated state is the minor partner in a formal, free relationship between a political territory with a degree of statehood and a nation, for which no other specific term, such as protectorate, is adopted....
    • Devolved state - sovereignty can be abolished without changing the constitution


By political franchise

This list shows a division based on differences in political franchise (suffrage
Suffrage

Suffrage is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. In that context, it is also called political franchise or simply the franchise....
).

  • Monarchy
    Monarchy

    A monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged in an individual, who is the head of state, often for Life tenure or until abdication, and "is wholly set apart from all other members of the state." The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch....
     - rule by one
    Dictator

    A dictator is an authoritarian ruler who assumes sole and absolute power without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship....
  • Oligarchy
    Oligarchy

    Oligarchy is a form of government where political power effectively rests with a small Elitism segment of society distinguished by royalty, wealth, family, military influence or occult spiritual hegemony....
     - rule by minority
  • Republic
    Republic

    A republic is a state or country that is not led by a hereditary monarch but in which the people have an impact on its government. The word originates from the Latin term res publica....
     - rule by law
    LAW

    LAW may refer to:* Anti-tank warfare, e.g. the US Army M72 LAW or the British Army LAW 80*Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights ...
  • Democracy
    Democracy

    Democracy is a form of government in which power is held directly or indirectly by citizens under a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek language d?????at?a , "popular government" which was coined from d???? , "people" and ???t?? , "rule, strength" in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political syst...
     - rule by majority
    Majority

    A majority, also known as a simple majority in the United States of America, is a subset of a group that is more than half of the entire group....
  • Anarchism
    Anarchism

    Anarchism is a political philosophy encompassing anarchist schools of thought which consider the state to be unnecessary, harmful, and/or undesirable....
     - rule by all
    Majority

    A majority, also known as a simple majority in the United States of America, is a subset of a group that is more than half of the entire group....
    (any one person may step up)
  • Chaos
    Chaos

    Chaos typically refers to unpredictability, and is the antithesis of cosmos.The word did not mean "disorder" in classical-period ancient Greece....
     - rule by no one


According to Weber's tripartite classification of authority

Max Weber
Max Weber

Maximilian Carl Emil Weber was one of the most profoundly influential thinkers of the twentieth century. Born in Germany, Weber became a lawyer, politician, scholar, political economy, and sociology....
 in his tripartite classification of authority
Tripartite classification of authority

Max Weber distinguished three ideal types of political leadership, domination and authority:# charismatic authority ,# traditional authority and...
 distinguished three ideal type
Ideal type

Ideal type, also known as pure type or Idealtyp in the original German language, is a typological term most closely associated with sociologist Max Weber ....
s of political leadership, domination and authority:
  • Charismatic domination (familial and religious)
  • Traditional domination (patriarchs, patrimonalism, feudalism)
  • Legal domination (modern law and state, bureaucracy)


See also


  • Form of government
    Form of government

    A form of government is a term that refers to the set of political institutions by which a government of a state is organized in order to exert its powers over a body politic....


  • Golden Liberty
    Golden Liberty

    Golden Liberty , sometimes referred to as Golden Freedoms, Nobles' Democracy or Nobles' Commonwealth refers to a unique Aristocracy political system in the Kingdom of Poland and later, after the Union of Lublin , in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth....
  • List of countries by system of government
    List of countries by system of government

    This is a list of countries categorized by system of government....
  • Netocracy
    Netocracy

    Netocracy was a term invented by the editorial board of the American technology magazine Wired magazine in the early 1990s. A play on the words 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 bourg...
  • Separation of powers
    Separation of powers

    Separation of powers, a term ascribed to France Age of Enlightenment political philosopher Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu, is a model for the governance of democracy states, having its origins in an ancient idea of mixed government....


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