Alphabetical list with hierarchy

The following list groups major political systems (recognized by political science) in alphabetical order. The various subtype political systems are listed below the main system of government.

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• Anarchism (perhaps better defined as a system of non-hierarchical governance)

  • Anarcho-communism

  • Anarcho-capitalism

  • Eco-anarchism

  • Anarcho-socialism

  • Anarcho-syndicalism

  • Tribalism

• Authoritarianism (Autocracy or Oligarchy)

  • Absolutism

    • Enlightened absolutism

  • Aristocracy

  • Corporatism

  • Despotism

  • Dictatorship (not all dictatorships are autocracies)

    • Military dictatorship

    • Benevolent dictatorship

    • Constitutional dictatorship

  • Gynecocracy

  • Gerontocracy

  • Kleptocracy

  • Matriarchy

  • Meritocracy

  • Monarchy government called monarchy, which consisted of a king who had all the power over the area.

    • Absolute monarchy

    • Constitutional monarchy

    • Feudalism

    • Despotate

    • Duchy

      • Grand Duchy

    • Elective monarchy

    • Emirate

    • Hereditary monarchy

    • Popular monarchy

    • Principality

    • New Monarchs

    • Self-proclaimed monarchy

    • Viceroyalty

  • Patriarchy

    • Patrimonalism

  • Plutocracy

    • Timocracy

  • Police state

    • Corporate police state

  • Robocracy

  • Theocracy (hierocracy)

    • Caliphate

    • Halachic state

    • Holy See

    • Islamic republic

    • Sultanate

  • Totalitarianism

    • Fascism (extreme nationalism)

    • Communist state

    • Single-party state

  • Tyranny

  • Technocracy (bureaucratic)

   

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• Democracy

  • Deliberative democracy

  • Democratic republic

  • Direct democracy

  • Participatory democracy

  • Representative democracy

    • Westminster system

    • Parliamentary system

      • Consensus government

    • Presidential system (Congressional system)

    • Semi-presidential system

  • Republicanism (Republic)

    • Presidential republic

    • Parliamentary republic

    • Constitutional republic

  • Democratic political movements

    • Liberal democracy

    • Social democracy

By approach to regional autonomy

This list focuses on differing approaches that political systems take to the distribution of sovereignty, and the autonomy of regions within the state.

• Sovereignty located exclusively at the centre

  • Empire

  • Unitary state

• Sovereignty located at the centre and in peripheral areas

  • Federation and Federal republic

  • Confederation

  • Supranational union

  • Federacy

By political franchise

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

• anarchy - rule by no one

• democracy - rule by majority

• oligarchy - rule by minority

• autocracy - rule by one

• republic - rule by law

According to Weber's tripartite classification of authority

Max Weber in his tripartite classification of authority distinguished three ideal types of political leadership, domination and authority:

• charismatic domination (familial and religious)

• traditional domination (patriarchs, patrimonalism, feudalism)

• legal domination (modern law and state, bureaucracy)

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According to an etymologist approach

Finally, the list below present an etymologist's approach to forms of government: the following are real, possible or imaginary forms of government, all made different by the prefix and suffix combination. Nearly all use one of two suffixes: -archy meaning "leadership" (eg. anarchy - no leadership), and -cracy suffix from Greek "kratos" and means "strength" and "power" (e.g., democracy - people's power). The major exception is the Republic, which is derived from the Latin res publicae, which means "the public matter" or, more literally, "the thing of the people", i.e. socio-political affairs. For various extant terms, an example or annotation is juxtaposed.

• adhocracy government in an unstructured fashion; an unstructured organization

• anarchy absence of government

• andrarchy/androcracy government by men

• aristocracy government by the nobility (aristo="the best")

• atheocracy government where religion is forbidden

• autarchy government by an absolute ruler

• autocracy government by one individual, autarchy

• bureaucracy government by civil servants; also the civil servants themselves

• confederacy a union of sovereign states

• corporatocracy government by corporations (industry)

• demarchy government by the people by lot

• democracy government by the people, either direct (through referendum or popular assembly) or via elections (representative form)

• ethnocracy government by a particular ethnic group

• geniocracy government by those of a higher than average intelligence

• gerontocracy government by the aged - see the Spartan gerousia

• gynarchy government by women; gynocracy

• hierarchy government by a ranked body

• hierocracy government by priests or religious ministers

• judiciocracy government by judges

• kakistocracy government by the worst

• kleptocracy government by thieves - not an existing form, but a negative appreciation of any regime where corruption is excessive

• kritarchy government by equal freedoms

• krytocracy government by judges

• magocracy government by the magically adept (fictional)

• malarchy government by bad leaders

• matriarchy government by women or mothers

• meritocracy government by those with merit

• minarchy government with the smallest possible bureaucracy or size

• monarchy government by one (usu. by hereditary rule)

• nomocracy government through established laws

• ochlocracy government by mobs

• oligarchy government by the few; sometimes specified after their fixed number :

  • dyarchy government by two, as in a dual monarchy

  • heptarchy government by seven people

  • triumvirate government by three people

  • tetrarchy government by four people

• omniarchy government by all

• panarchy universal rule or dominion

• pantarchy (literally) rule by all

• particracy government by political parties

• patriarchy government by fathers - the original Roman Senate, styling itself Patres ('fathers'), came close; usually just said of rule by men

• plantocracy government by plantation owners

• plutocracy government by the wealthy

• polyarchy government by many people, a vague antonym to monarchy and oligarchy

• pornocracy government by prostitution - none has yet to exist, although there is a period of the papacy known as the pornocracy.

• republic government by elected politicians

• robocracy government by robots or other artificial intelligences (maybe fictional)

• sociocracy government by equal individuals, based on consent

• stratocracy government by the armed forces - usually termed military dictatorship or junta

• synarchy joint sovereignty, just as the condominium of Andorra

• technocracy government by technical experts

• thalassocracy sovereignty of the seas

• theocracy government by a deity through clergy or by religious law

• timocracy government by the propertied class

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Alphabetical list of countries

 

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Systems of Governance

Presidential / Separated republics

These are systems in which a president is the active head of the executive branch of government and is elected and remains in office independently of the legislature. The following list includes democratic and non-democratic states:

Full presidential systems

In full presidential systems, the president is both head of state and head of government. There is no prime minister.

Afghanistan Argentina Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Benin Bolivia Botswana Brazil Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Chile Colombia Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Costa Rica

Côte d'Ivoire Cyprus Djibouti Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Gabon The Gambia Georgia Ghana Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Haiti Honduras Indonesia Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati

Republic of Korea Kyrgyzstan Liberia Madagascar Malawi Maldives Mali Marshall Islands Mexico Federated States of Micronesia Mozambique Namibia Nauru Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Palau Panama Paraguay Peru

Philippines Rwanda Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Sudan Suriname Tajikistan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Turkmenistan Uganda United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe

 

Semi-presidential systems

In semi-presidential systems, there is a president and a prime minister. In such systems, the President has genuine executive authority, unlike in a parliamentary republic, but some of the role of a head of government is exercised by the prime minister, who is also head of the legislature.

 

Algeria Angola Bosnia and Herzegovina Cape Verde Egypt France Guyana Lebanon

Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Pakistan Romania Russia San Marino

São Tomé and Príncipe South Africa Sri Lanka Republic of China (Taiwan) Ukraine Western Sahara [1] Yemen

Parliamentary republics

A Parliamentary republic is a system in which a prime minister is the active head of the executive branch of government and also leader of the legislature. However, there can also be an elected president that serves as a symbolic head of state or figurehead.

Albania Austria Bangladesh [2] Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Dominica East Timor Estonia

Ethiopia Finland Germany Greece Hungary Iceland India Iraq Ireland

Israel Italy Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Malta Mauritius Poland Portugal

Serbia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Switzerland [3] Trinidad and Tobago Turkey Vanuatu

Constitutional monarchies

Systems in which a prime minister is the active head of the executive branch of government and also leader of the legislature. The head of state is a constitutional monarch who only exercises his or her powers with the consent of the government, the people or their representatives.

Andorra [4] Belgium Cambodia Denmark Japan Lesotho Luxembourg

Malaysia Netherlands Norway Samoa Spain Sweden

 

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Commonwealth realms

Constitutional monarchies, in which Queen Elizabeth II serves as head of state over an independent government. In each Realm, she acts as the monarch of that state, and is usually titled accordingly - for example, Queen of Australia. The Queen appoints a Governor-General to each country other than the United Kingdom to act as her representative. The prime minister is the active head of the executive branch of government and also leader of the legislature.

Antigua and Barbuda Australia The Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Grenada Jamaica

New Zealand Papua New Guinea Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Solomon Islands Tuvalu United Kingdom

 

Semi-constitutional monarchies

The prime minister (or equivalent) is the nation's active executive, but the monarch still has considerable political powers that can be used at his/her own independent discretion.

Bahrain Jordan Kuwait Liechtenstein

Monaco Morocco Nepal [5]

Absolute monarchies

Monarchies in which the monarch is the active head of the executive branch and exercises all powers.

Bhutan [6] Brunei Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia

Swaziland Tonga United Arab Emirates [7] Vatican City State

Theocracies

Non-democratic states based on a state religion where the head of state is selected by some form of religious hierarchy.

• Iran ^[8]

• the Holy See (Vatican City)

One-party states

Non-democratic states in which political power is concentrated within a single political party whose operations are largely fused with the government hierarchy.

People's Republic of China (Communist Party) (list) Cuba (Communist Party) (list) Eritrea (People's Front) (list) Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Workers' Party) (list) Laos (Revolutionary (Communist) Party) (list) Syria (Arab Socialist Ba'th Party) (list) Turkmenistan (Democratic Party) (list) Vietnam (Communist Party) (list)

Military junta states

The nation's armed forces control the organs of government and all high-ranking political executives are also members of the military hierarchy.

• Fiji^[9]

• Libya

• Mauritania ^[10]

• Myanmar

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Transitional

States which have a system of government which is in transition or turmoil and cannot be accurately classified. (with current direction of change)

• Somalia (toward semi-presidential republic)

• Sudan (bipartisan Government of National Unity)

• Palestinian Authority (toward semi-presidential republic)

• Thailand (toward constitutional monarchy)

• Nepal (toward constitutional monarchy or parliamentary republic)

• Iraq (toward parliamentary republic)

Systems of Internal Governance

Federal

States in which the federal government shares power with semi-independent regional governments. In many cases, the central government is (in theory) a creation of the regional governments; a prime example is the United States.

Argentina (23 provinces and 1 autonomous city) Australia (6 states and 2 territories) Austria (9 states) Belgium (Flanders/Flemish Region and Wallonia/Walloon Region) Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska) Brazil (26 states and 1 federal district) Canada (10 provinces and 3 territories) Comoros (Anjouan, Grande Comore, Mohéli) Ethiopia (9 regions and 2 chartered cities) Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap) Germany (16 states) India (28 states and 7 union territories) Malaysia (13 states and 3 federal territories)

Mexico (31 states and 1 federal district) Nigeria (36 states) Pakistan (4 provinces and 2 territories) Palau (16 states)[citation needed] Papua New Guinea (20 provinces)[citation needed] Russia (49 oblasts, 21 republics, 10 autonomous okrugs, 6 krays, 2 federal cities, 1 autonomous oblast) Saint Kitts and Nevis South Africa (9 provinces)[citation needed] Switzerland (26 cantons) United Arab Emirates (7 emirates) United States (50 states, one District, two Commonwealths, and 12 Territories) Venezuela (23 states and 1 capital district)

Devolved

States in which the central government has delegated some of its powers to self-governing subsidiary governments, creating a de facto federation.

• Spain (17 autonomous communities)

• United Kingdom (Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales; England remains under full control of the central government)

Regionalized unitary

States in which the central government has delegated some of its powers to regional governments.

• Chile (13 regions, each one divided into smaller provinces, which are sub-divided into several municipalities).

• Italy (20 regions, five granted 'autonomous' status)

• New Zealand (12 regions, 4 unitary authorities)

• People's Republic of China (22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and 2 Special Administrative Regions: Hong Kong and Macau)

• Philippines (79 provinces grouped into 17 regions, one granted 'autonomous' status)

Federacy

A federacy is a country in which some substates function like states in a federation and others like states in a unitary state.

• Denmark with 2 autonomous regions and 5 regions;

• Finland with 1 autonomous province and 19 regions;

• The Netherlands with 2 states and 12 provinces.

• France with 1 sui generis collectivity and 26 régions, 4 collectivités d'outre-mer, 1 territoire d'outre-mer

• Serbia, significant autonomy granted to Vojvodina; Kosovo-Metohija under UN protectorate, future status being negotiated.

• Ukraine, 24 oblasts, 2 special-status cities, and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea

• Tanzania, 21 mainland regions, 5 regions under autonomous government of Zanzibar

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Unitary

see Unitary state

Notes

1. The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a government in exile, located in Tindouf, Algeria. Most of the territory of Western Sahara is under military occupation by Morocco; the rest is administered by the SADR.

2. In Bangladesh, a Caretaker government takes over for three months during parliamentary elections. The Caretaker government is headed by a Chief advisor (the last Chief Justice to retire), and a group of neutral, non-partisan advisors chosen from the civil society. During this time, the president has jurisdiction over the Ministry of defense and the Ministry of foreign affairs.

3. There is neither a prime minister nor a president of Switzerland. The President of the Swiss Confederation is merely primus inter pares in the Swiss Federal Council, the seven-member executive council which constitutes the government as well as the head of state of Switzerland.

4. Bishop of Urgell and President of France serve as ex-officio co-princes

5. The King of Nepal gave himself absolute authority for three years in 2005; he has given up absolute power on April 21, 2006, but constitutional government has not yet resumed

6. Bhutan is in the process of democratization by request of the king.

7. UAE is a federation of absolute monarchies, with the federal president drawn from hereditary emirs

8. Iran combines the forms of a presidential republic, with a president elected by universal suffrage; and a theocracy, with a Supreme Leader who is ultimately responsible for state policy, chosen by the elected Assembly of Experts. Candidates for both the Assembly of Experts and the presidency are vetted by the appointed Guardian Council.

9. The President of Fiji is the actual leader who on 4 December 2006 dissolved the parliament without the prime minister's consent, thereby setting the stage for a coup by the military commander.

10. On August 3, 2005, the military of Mauritania staged a coup and declared a two year transitional military dictatorship. Civilian rule is scheduled to be restored on April 19, 2007.