Monarchy
One of the most common forms of government from ancient times to the early part of the 20th
century was monarchy, or rule by a hereditary king or queen. Traditionally and in most cases, the
monarch is an inherited position, passed down to sons and daughters and lasts until death or
abdication, although there are sometimes requirements imposed upon monarchs regarding the
religion, age, gender, mental capacity, and other factors. Occasionally this might create a
situation of rivals who claim the throne and whose legitimacy is subject to election.
Because monarchs are often thought to be chosen through “divine right”, or chosen by God, this
form of government has a long history of tradition that some citizens are fond of. It is also
known for being organized and stable, and because the nature of monarchy dictates that God
determines the ruler, the people don’t have to worry about electing leaders or being informed
about them, which was difficult to do in pre-modern times when communication was difficult.
However, leaders were often ill-equipped to run a country since few or no qualifications, and
monarchs at their best were out of touch with the needs of everyday citizens and at their worst
brutal and corrupt without penalty.
Monarchy was the most common form of government until the 19th century, but it is no longer
prevalent. Where it exists, it is now usually a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch
retains a unique legal and ceremonial role, but exercises limited or no official political power:
under the written or unwritten constitution, others have governing authority. Currently, 47
sovereign nations in the world have monarchs acting as heads of state, 19 of which
are Commonwealth realms that recognize Queen Elizabeth II of England as their head of state.
All European monarchies are constitutional ones, such as in the countries of Great Britain, the
Netherlands, Sweden, and Spain, with the exception of the Vatican City which is an elective
monarchy, but sovereigns in the smaller states exercise greater political influence than in the
larger.
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is a form of government in which one person has absolute power, often backed by
the military, over the entire country and its people. Quite often, as a way to secure their power
and have more control, dictators remove certain rights from people in order to keep them
obedient. Dictators can be found throughout history and go as far back as the Roman Empire,
and is the oldest and most common form of government throughout all of history.
A dictatorship is a type of authoritarianism, in which politicians regulate nearly every aspect of
the public and private behavior of citizens. Dictatorships generally employ political propaganda
to decrease the influence of proponents of alternative governing systems.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, dictatorship and constitutional democracy emerged as the world's
two major forms of government. Some of the most notable dictators in history are related to
WWII, like Adolf Hitler in Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy. Usually dictators rise to
power as a result of popular support or even an election, but once they are elected, the political
processes are slowly changed to allow the leader to remain in power. Often this leads to an
uncertain transition of power, with leaders that are hard to remove from office, and frequently at
the expense of individual right and freedoms. However, this system is sometimes favored,
particularly in new or unstable countries, because it is organized, efficient, and controlled.
A totalitarian dictatorship, as in Nazi Germany, Communist China, and the former USSR, is a
more extreme type of dictatorship in which dictators seek total control. It seeks to control all
aspects of national life, including all the beliefs and attitudes of its people. At its most extreme,
as during the leadership of Joseph Stalin in the USSR, the power of the dictator may become
more absolute than in any of the earlier forms of tyranny. Such gross power in the hands of one
person results inevitably in the development of what has been called a cult of personality. The
leader is credited with almost infallible wisdom, because to admit that he or she may be wrong
would deprive the regime of its authority. Modern day examples of dictatorships include
Pakistan, Sudan, and Cuba.
Oligarchy
An Oligarchy is a form of government controlled by a small group. It literally means “rule by
few” and usually these people are distinguished by nobility, wealth, family ties, education or
corporate, religious or military control. Such states are often controlled by a few prominent
families who typically pass their influence from one generation to the next, but inheritance is not
a requirement for this type of government structure.
Oligarchies typically have no constitution or charter and the oligarchs have the freedom to
rule how they see fit. This means that decision making often happens quickly amongst the
group, although there is still room for disagreement and debate. However, citizens have no vote,
individual rights can be limited, and leaders can be difficult to remove from office.
Throughout history, oligarchies have often been tyrannical, relying on public obedience or
oppression to exist. Aristotle pioneered the use of the term as a synonym for rule by the small,
elite class, and in modern days the term is often used in reference to any government in which
the rich tend maintain power over the poor.
Oligarchies were not as common as monarchies in the ancient world. Right after the Dark Ages,
most of the city-states in Greece were oligarchies, between about 1000 and about
500 BC. Athens was an oligarchy, and the Roman Republic, which started around 500 BC, was
in some ways an oligarchy too. Today, India and Russia are seen as oligarchies, although neither
country claims oligarchy as its official form of government.
Theocracy
Theocracy is a form of government in which a deity (which means “god”) is the source from
which all authority derives – it literally translates to ‘rule by gods’. In this government, God is
recognized as the king or immediate ruler, and his laws are taken as the statute-book of the
kingdom, these laws being usually administered by a priestly order as his ministers and agents.
The church institution takes the place of civil government.
In a pure theocracy, the civil leader is believed to have a personal connection with the
civilization's religion or belief, often one who was divinely appointed, like Moses or
Muhammad. Theocracies are known for their deep traditions and organizations, and are also
known for typically promoting moral behavior, peace, and unity.
However, most forms of theocracy are oligarchic in nature, meaning they involve rule of the
many by a small group, some of whom so anointed under claim of divine commission, which
means they are very difficult to change or remove from power. The religious nature of the
government means that individual freedoms are limited, behavior is restricted to what is in
accordance with the religion, and there is an intense pressure to follow the religion devoutly.
Theocratic forms of government have existed throughout history. Theocracies were known
among ancient people, as in Egypt and Tibet, where kings represented and incarnated the deity.
In Egypt, the king was considered a divine or semi-divine figure who ruled largely through
priests. This was the case also with early American civilizations, such as the Mayas and Aztecs.
The only modern day example of a theocracy is in Iran, in which the political power and
authority is held in the hands of the imams, or Muslim religious leaders.
Direct Democracy
In any democracy, supreme political authority rests with the people. The people hold the
sovereign power and the government is only conducted with the consent of the people, usually
determined through voting. There are two types of democracies, direct and representative.
In a direct democracy, is a form of democracy in which people decide on
policy initiatives directly through voting. This differs from the majority of modern Western-style
democracies, which are representative democracies, in which representatives are chosen to
express the will of the people. In a direct democracy there is typically still a central power
figure, either a president or a parliament, but those figures are elected directly by the people.
In a direct democracy, public policy, or law, is directed by the will of the people themselves,
often in a mass meeting or forum. This typically works very well in smaller communities where
issues are less complicated. This form of government seems ideal because the people decide
what they want for themselves and every person has a say in the government. However, the
decision making process can be very time consuming, the voting process can be costly, and
people are making decisions in which they might be very well informed.
Depending on the particular system in use, direct democracy might entail passing executive
decisions, making laws, directly electing leaders or dismissing officials, and conducting trials.
Two leading forms of direct democracy are participatory democracy and deliberative democracy.
The most important historical reference of direct democracy is to assembly democracy in ancient
Greece, particularly Athens, where decisions were taken by people’s assemblies of some 1,000
male citizens. Later, people’s assemblies were used in many Swiss cantons and towns as well as
in town meetings in some American colonies and states. Today, not a single nation in the world
has a direct democracy.
Representative Democracy
In any democracy, supreme political authority rests with the people. The people hold the
sovereign power and the government is only conducted with the consent of the people, usually
determined through voting. There are two types of democracies, direct and representative.
In a representative democracy, a small group of people, chosen by the people to act as their
representatives, express the will of the people. These “agents” of the people are responsible for
carrying out the day-to-day conduct of government – making and executing laws. They are held
accountable to the people for that conduct, especially at period elections. A representative
democracy is also sometimes known as a republic, to distinguish it from a direct democracy in
which people vote directly, without representatives. Nearly all modern Western-style
democracies are types of representative democracies; for example, the United States, Canada,
and Japan.
Representative democracy is often presented as the most efficient form of democracy possible in
large societies. It arguably allows for efficient ruling by a sufficiently small number of people on
behalf of the larger number.. This system of governance is also time efficient as decisions can be
made by a select few very knowledgeable group of legislators rather than the entire country's
population. It is also a form of government that protects individual rights, and allows all people
to participate in some way. However, some argue that compared to more streamlined systems, it
still takes more time to make decisions, elections are a costly and time consuming process, and
electors, who are heavily relied upon to make decisions for everyone, are capable of voting
against the wishes of the people.
The Roman Republic was the first government in the western world to have a representative
government. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies are types of representative
democracies; for example, the United States, Canada, Switzerland, and Japan.
Anarchy
Anarchy is the condition of a society, entity, group of people, or a single person that
rejects organized government or leadership of any kind. Anarchy advocates selfgoverned societies based on voluntary action, institutions, and associations, which means that
there are no laws or mandates on how people behave or organize themselves. These are often
described as “stateless societies” with no hierarchy or power structure. The structure of a
government is felt to be undesirable, unnecessary, or harmful to the free will of individuals. of
all human relations, including, but not limited to, the state system.
This lack of organized leadership or enforced rules means that there are few to no limitations or
restrictions on individuals’ rights, and people have almost complete freedom. However, there is
no systematic way to make decisions, there is no assurance of safety or security, and change is
extremely difficult because it is voluntary among people. It also requires that people care for
themselves and become completely self-sufficient, as there is no government to provide services
of any kind.
There are many types and traditions of anarchism, including anything from extreme
individualism to complete collectivism. It has endured fluctuations in popularity, but the central
tendency of anarchy as a mass social movement has been influenced heavily through literature.
Some anarchists oppose all forms of aggression, supporting self-defense or non-violence, while
others have supported the use of violent or militant measures including armed revolt and
propaganda.
Although most known societies are characterized by the presence of some kind of hierarchy or
government, anthropologists have studied many stateless societies, including nomadic huntergatherer societies and horticultural societies such as the Semai and the Piaroa. Many of these
societies can be considered to be anarchic in the sense that they explicitly reject the idea of
centralized political authority. There are no anarchies that exist today.