Democracy: the power belongs to the people. The people either exercise their power by voting for representatives, referred to as representative democracy, or the citizens have direct participation in the decision- and rule-making process, referred to as direct democracy.
Monarchy: a government in which the supreme power is lodged in the hands of a monarch who reigns over a state or territory, usually for life and by hereditary right; the monarch may be either a sole absolute ruler or a sovereign - such as a king, queen or prince - with constitutionally limited authority.
Oligarchy: a country that has this form of government is an oligarchy to. The political term, oligarchy, comes to English from the Greek with its meaning intact a form of government run by a small number of people such as wealthy landowners, royalty or powerful military figures.
Anarchy: the state of a society being freely constituted without authorities or a governing body. It may also refer to a society or group of people that totally rejects a set hierarchy. The word anarchy was first used in 1539, meaning "an absence of government".
Authoritarianism: a form of government characterized by strong central power and limited political freedoms. Authoritarian regimes may be either autocratic or oligarchic in nature, and may be based upon the rule of a party or the military.
Dictatorship: dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual: a dictator. In contemporary usage, dictatorship refers to an autocratic form of absolute rule by leadership unrestricted by law, constitutions, or other social and political factors within the state.
Republic: a form of government in which elected individuals represent the citizen body and exercise power according to the rule of law under a constitution, including separation of powers with an elected head of state, referred to as.
Theocracy: a government by divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided. In many theocracies, government leaders are members of the clergy, and the state's legal system is based on religious law.
Totalitarianism: a form of government that attempts to assert total control over the lives of its citizens. It is characterized by strong central rule that attempts to control and direct all aspects of individual life through coercion and repression.
