Types of
Government
Anarchy
• Description
• No gov’t and no laws
• Total disorder
• Example
• Usually comes from gov’t
failure, overthrown
Theocracy
• Description
• The leaders of gov’t are also the leaders of the
religion
• Example
• The Vatican & Iran
Oligarchy
• Description
• When a family or small group of people
control all of gov’ts power
• Example
• Apartheid South Africa
Dictatorship
• A dictatorship consists of rule by
one person or a group of people
• Very few dictators admit they are
dictators and almost always
claim to be leaders of democracies
• The dictator may be one person
• Castro in Cuba
• Hitler in Germany
• Or a group of people
• The Communist Party in China
Dictatorship
• Description
• A leader
takes control
over the gov’t
and has total
power
• Example
• Cuba (Castro)
& North
Korea (Kim
Jong-un)
Monarchy
• A monarchy consists of rule by a king or
queen.
• Sometimes a king is called an “emperor”
• There are no large monarchies today
• Example: The United Kingdom, which has
a queen, is really a republic because the
queen has virtually no political power
Absolute Monarchy
• Description
• When the King/Queen has total power over the gov’t
• Example
• Louis XIV in France
Constitutional Monarchy
• Description
• The King/Queen is limited by law and shares
power with elected officials
• Example
• Present day England
Democracy
•The word “democracy”
literally means “rule
by the people.”
•In a democracy, the
people govern
Direct Democracy
• Description
• The power of gov’t is controlled directly by the people
• Example
• New England Town Meetings
Representative Democracy
• Description
• The people
elect
representative
s who then
make decisions
for them
• Example
• The United
States
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.
Aristorcracy
• An aristocracy is ruled by the
aristorcrats
• Typically the wealthy, educated people
• Many monarchies have really
been ruled by aristocrats
• Today, the term aristocracy is
used negatively to accuse a
republic of being dominated by
rich people
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
• The official name of North Vietnam was “The
Democratic Republic of Vietnam”
• China uses “The People’s Republic of China”
4 Corners
• Which type of government would you
want to live in?
• By the bookshelf – Anarchy
• Corner near coat hangers – Theocracy
• By my desk – Dictatorship
• Door - Democracy
• What affect do various forms of
government have on people around
the world?
Think, Pair, Share
• DIRECTIONS: on a scrap sheet of
paper
• THINK - What will likely happen if a
government denies all power to the
people it governs?
• PAIR – Read another students answer
to the question, then get your paper
back and add any comments to your
paper
• SHARE – tell the class when the
teacher calls on you