Types of Governments Governments can be classified into several types. Some of the more common types of governments are: 1. Democracy The word democracy literally means rule by the people. In a democracy, the people govern. 2. Republic A literal democracy is impossible in a political system containing more than a few people. All democracies are really republics. In a republic, the people elect representatives to make and enforce laws. 3. Monarchy A monarchy consists of rule by a king or queen. Sometimes a king is called an emperor, especially if there is a large empire, such as China before 1911. There are no large monarchies today. The United Kingdom, which has a queen, is really a republic because the queen has virtually no political power. 4. Aristocracy An aristocracy is rule by the aristocrats. Aristocrats are typically wealthy, educated people. Many monarchies have really been ruled by aristocrats. Today, typically, the term aristocracy is used negatively to accuse a republic of being dominated by rich people, such as saying, The United States has become an aristocracy. 5. Dictatorship A dictatorship consists of rule by one person or a group of people. Very few dictators admit they are dictators; they almost always claim to be leaders of democracies. The dictator may be one person, such as Castro in Cuba or Hitler in Germany, or a group of people, such as the Communist Party in China. 6. Democratic Republic Usually, a democratic republic is not democratic and is not a republic. A government that officially calls itself a democratic republic is usually a dictatorship. Communist dictatorships have been especially prone to use this term. For example, the official name of North Vietnam was The Democratic Republic of Vietnam. China uses a variant, The Peoples Republic of China.
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 08:20:06 +0000
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