Types of Government

Autocracy

Government ruled by one person with absolute power

Absolute monarchy

A king or queen holds complete, unchecked power over the state

Totalitarian

A system where the government controls nearly all aspects of public and private life

Aristocracy

Government ruled by a small, privileged class of nobility or elite families

Plutocracy

Government ruled or controlled by the wealthy

Oligarchy

Government ruled by a small, elite group

Democracy

A system of government where supreme power is held by the people

Direct democracy

Citizens vote on laws directly, without electing representatives

Representative democracy

Citizens elect officials to make laws and govern for them

Republican democracy

Citizens elect representatives, and government power is limited by law to protect minority rights

Parliamentary democracy

Citizens elect a legislature (parliament), which then chooses the executive leader (like a Prime Minister)

Republic

A nation without a monarch where power is held by the people and their elected representatives

Popular sovereignty

The principle that government authority is created and sustained by the consent of the people

Unitary system

A system where almost all power is held by a single, central national government

Federal system

Sharing of power between national and state governments