Types of Government
As one can imagine, there is far from a clear-cut way to divide the world's
many governments into specific categories. For simplicity's sake, we present
the two major classifications of monarchy and republic. Please be advised,
however, that many nations may fall under more than one category, and that
by no means should these categories be regarded as absolute.
In a monarchy, the government has a royal family whose power is inherited from generation to generation. A monarchy may be a limited monarchy, a constitutional monarchy, or an absolute monarchy.
Limited Monarchy: The royalty has ceremonial powers passed down from centuries of tradition, but has no real authority in the law-making process. Ex. United Kingdom
Constitutional Monarchy: The powers of the monarchy are solely those that are explicitly stated in the country's constitution. Ex. Sweden.
Absolute Monarchy: The monarch has the ultimate authority and control over law and society. Ex. Saudi Arabia.
A republic is any government that does not have a monarch. It can be classified into three groups: dictatorship, oligarchy, or democracy.
Dictatorship: The government is ruled by one commander, who -- like an absolute monarch -- is able to take control over an entire nation. Dictators, however, do not generally inherit their power, being more likely to obtain such power through military takeovers or by refusing to step down from an elected office. Ex. Iraq.
Oligarchy: The government ruled by the few - those with elite status. Ex. South Africa under apartheid. In that period, blacks in South Africa were not allowed to participate in politics, and were forced to live in segregated areas. Instead, the minority white population had control over the power and wealth of the country. Apartheid was ended in the early 1990's.
Democracy: Typically regarded as government by the people, the reality of democracy aims toward allowing the views of the people to be expressed in the law-making process through competitive elections and other means of political participation. Of course, the influence of the people are far from direct, as it would be impossible for governments to take into account the beliefs of every one of its citizens. Ex. United States.