Name______Date______Period______

FORMS OF GOVERNMENT CHART

Government / Leaders / Characteristics / Examples
Democracy – “Rule by the Many” / Democracies/Republics /
  • Direct Democracy – All citizens vote on laws • Republic/Representative Democracy – Representatives vote on laws
/ Direct – Ancient Athens
Full Presidential Republic / President only /
  • President is head of government and is elected independently of the legislature
  • No Prime Minister
/ United States, Mexico, Argentina
Semi-Presidential Republic / President and Prime Minister /
  • President and Prime Minister are both active participants in the day-to-day running of the country
  • Sometimes, the President is responsible for foreign policy while the Prime Minister is responsible for domestic policy
  • Prime Minister is usually appointed by the President
/ Egypt, France, Russia
Parliamentary Republic / President and Prime Minister /
  • Prime Minister is the head of government and the leader of the legislature
  • President only has ceremonial power and acts as head of state
  • Prime Minister is usually chosen by the legislature
/ Israel, Germany, Greece, Ireland, India, Italy, Poland
Monarchies / Constitutional Monarchy / Monarch and Prime Minister /
  • Similar to a Parliamentary Republic but instead of a President with ceremonial power, there is a monarch with ceremonial power who acts as head of state
  • A Prime Minister is head of government and is sometimes also leader of the legislature
/ United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Sweden, Norway
Autocracy – “Rule by a Single Person” / Absolute Monarchy / Monarch only /
  • Monarch is head of government
/ Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Qatar, Oman, Swaziland
  • Monarchy – Monarch gains power through heredity, by order of succession, rules for life

Totalitarianism/Dictatorship / Theocracy / Religious Leader /
  • State is based on a state religion where the head of state is selected by some form of religious hierarchy
  • Everyone has to obey religious laws, religious leaders are usually in charge
/ Iran, Vatican City
Fascism / Dictator /
  • Extreme nationalism
  • Warlike policies
  • Persecution of minorities
/ Adolf Hitler, Nazi Germany
Benito Mussolini, Italy (1922-1943)
Communism / Dictator /
  • All property is owned by the government
  • The government controls all publications, radio, and television, and restricts journalism
/ North Korea, Cuba, former Soviet Union
  • Dictatorship – Dictator takes over the government using military force
  • Totalitarianism – Extreme form of dictatorship in which the rulers claim total control over all activities of the citizens and push a specific set of beliefs onto their citizens to try to control their thinking

Oligarchy –
“Rule by a small group of people” / Small, elite group of people in society /
  • Power is held by a small, elite group of people in society who raise their children to inherit the government
  • Leaders have wealth, political influence, military strength, family ties to an aristocracy, and are generally ruthless (show no mercy)
/ Ancient Sparta
Anarchy – “Without Rulers” / None /
  • The absence of government; at times, Civil Wars resemble anarchy
/ Civil War