List of forms of government and systems of government
This list of the forms of government and government shows all the systems of government that occur, sorted according to the current two-part conception of government forms , namely republic and monarchy . However, since some political scientists and constitutional lawyers sometimes also demarcate these two forms of government from dictatorial systems (which is controversial, especially since dictatorships usually call themselves monarchies or republics in formal legal terms), the government systems that occur there are also explained in more detail below:
monarchy
Monarchies (Gr. Rule of the one ) denote a single rule , or nowadays more aptly a form of government in which a monarch is the sovereign . The executive power is basically concentrated in one person at the top (until the 19th century the monarch exercised sole state power , see monarchical principle ; today it is not necessarily centralized), which is either through inheritance or through election for life according to traditional rites is determined. A monarch is in office for life or until he voluntarily abdicates, but in some states can also be legally removed from office or forced to abdicate.
Variants of the form of government monarchy
- Hereditary monarchy : A hereditary monarchy describes a monarchy in which the succession to the throne is taken by the descendants of the monarch.
- Elective monarchy : The monarch is not determined by succession, but by election.
The following lists the possible systems of government that can occur in monarchies (excluding the dictatorial- autocratic systems):
Systems of government in monarchies |
meaning |
---|---|
Absolute Monarchy | The monarch has unlimited power (see also tyranny / despotism in the dictatorship section ) |
Constitutional monarchy | The monarch's power is more or less impaired by a constitution; he cannot rule absolutely. |
Parliamentary monarchy | Democratic monarchy, as the monarch only has representative tasks |
Estates monarchy | Division of the people into several unequally powerful estates , feudal rule and strong monarchy (cf. the Middle Ages, feudalism ) |
republic
The republic ( Latin for public affairs ) primarily stands for the common good or for popular sovereignty . As the form of government that is oriented towards the common good, it has been regarded as the counterpart to the monarchy since the French Revolution; often goes hand in hand with democracy, but does not have to ( for example, the Roman Republic was not democratic; parliamentary monarchies are democratic, but not republics).
Variants of the form of government Republic
(are not always mutually exclusive):
- Aristocratic republic : Corporate state rule with predominance of the nobility (aristocratic republic) also within the framework of a senate as senate aristocracy or with bourgeois- patrician predominance (urban aristocracy) or clerical priesthood (priestlyaristocracy). The labor aristocracy according to Marx et al. and the money aristocracy .
- Autonomous republic : autonomous republic, which, however, belongs to another, i.e. a Federal Republic ,under international law. Particularly autonomous special form of the union republic
- Federal Republic : Federal Republic, federation of several partially sovereign member states .
- Jamahiriya (Jamahiriyya, Jamahiriyya): Direct democratic Islamic republic of the "masses". It wasinvented and implemented for the first timeby Muammar al-Gaddafi in Libya .
- Islamic Republic : Designation for states that are partlygovernedaccording to Islamic principles (“God's state” based on the Koran ).
- Constitutional republic : Name for republics whose state coercive poweris limitedby a constitution (constitution) and therefore offers the citizens security and protection. This kind of republic can be found in almost every democracy today.
- Rzeczpospolita (Polish "common cause"): Polish-Lithuanian aristocratic republics ; however, it was de facto an electoral monarchy with pronounced aristocratic participation.
- Subsidiary republic : Informal term for republics that were built on the model of another, historically mainly based on the model of France or Great Britain .
- Union republic (partial republic): Term for autonomous (partial) republics in a larger association (e.g. federal state ).
- People's Republic (dictatorial): self-designation, mostly for one-party systems (see there) in which a communist party governs autocratically.
- One-party system (dictatorial): dictatorial rule by one party, often found in real socialist or fascist countries.
- Military dictatorship (dictatorial): exercise of government through a military system (see also military government ).
- as well as corresponding mixed forms.
The following lists the possible systems of government that may appear in republics (excluding the dictatorial- autocratic systems):
Systems of government in republics |
meaning |
---|---|
Parliamentary government system | The offices of head of state and government are separate, with the government always depending on the confidence of parliament. |
Presidential system of government (presidential republic) | Republic in which the president is both head of state and head of government and is determined in (quasi) direct popular elections. |
Semi-presidential system of government | Originally a term for the French political system during the Fifth Republic , today it is also applied to other systems. Mixed type of parliamentary and presidential system . |
System of parliamentary executive power | Republic in which the president is both head of state and head of government, but is elected by parliament and depends on its trust. |
Soviet Republic | Rule is exercised through councils directly elected by the people . |
Directory system | Republic in which a board of directors has the power to govern. |
dictatorship
The dictatorship (Latin: to prescribe, to command ) is a political system that is usually counted among the forms of rule , but can also be understood as a form of government . Originally, a (Roman) dictator was a commanding officer legitimized with special powers over all areas for time in times of need. In a dictatorship, a single dictator or a small group rules without free elections; Unlike monarchs, (modern) dictators do not come to power through inheritance or election, but illegitimately by overthrowing a legitimate form of government. That is why formal ( de jure ) republics or monarchies can also be run dictatorially.
Variants of the form of government dictatorship
The exercise of power can either
A special case of dictatorship is the dictatorship of the proletariat , which stems from communist ideology , i.e. the rule of the workers.
The following table also specifically summarizes the dictatorial systems of government:
Systems of government in dictatorships |
meaning |
---|---|
One-party system | Dictatorial rule by a party, often found in real socialist or fascist countries |
Military dictatorship | Exercise of government through a military system |
Personal dictatorship | fixed on a leader, less ideological dictatorship and thus the government system of a dictatorial, charismatic rule |
Mixed forms | Mixed types from the previous dictatorship variants |
Tyranny / despotism | Degenerate form of absolute (violent) rule, corresponds to an autocracy or despotism and is thus an illegitimate dictatorship and arbitrary rule of the monarch |