FMI

ASSIGNMENT
Different Types of
Governments
Sunday 4-7

Name: Umair Ali Shah

Reg No:8658

10th April 2011

Reference: Wikipedia
Anarchy (from Greek: ἀναρχίᾱ anarchíā, "without ruler") may refer to any of several political
states, and has been variously defined by sources. Most often, the term "anarchy" describes the
simple absence of publicly recognized government or enforced political authority. When used in
this sense, anarchy may or may not imply political disorder or lawlessness within a society. In
another sense, anarchy may not refer to a complete lack of authority or political organization,
but instead refer to a social state characterized by absolute direct democracy or libertarianism.

Aristocracy is a form of government in which a few of the most famous citizens rule. The term
was derived from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best”

A communist state is a state with a form of government characterized by single-party

rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and a professed allegiance to
a communist ideology as the guiding principle of the state.Communist states may have several
legal political parties, but the communist party is usually granted a special or dominant role in
government often by statute or under the constitution. Consequently, the institutions of the state
and of the communist party become intimately entwined, such as in the development of parallel
institutions.
Demarchy (or lottocracy) is a form of government in which the state is governed by randomly
selected decision makers who have been selected by sortition (lot) from a broadly inclusive pool
of eligible citizens. These groups, sometimes termed "policy juries", "citizens' juries", or
"consensus conferences", deliberately make decisions about public policies in much the same
way that juries decide criminal cases.

Democracy is a form of government in which all citizens have an equal say in the decisions that
affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal (and more or less direct) participation in the
proposal, development and passage of legislation into law. It can also encompass social,
economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-
determination. The term comes from the Greek: δημοκρατία – (dēmokratía) "rule of the
people", which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and κράτος (Kratos) "power", in the
middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political systems then existing in some Greek
city-states, notably Athens following a popular uprising in 508 BC.

Despotism is a form of government in which a single entity, called the despot, rules with
absolute power. That entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in
an oligarchy. The worddespotism means to "rule in the fashion of a despot" and should not be
confused with "despot", an individual.

A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form in which the government is ruled by an

individual, the dictator.

Empire derives from the Latin imperium (power, authority). Politically, an empire is a

geographically extensive group of states and peoples (ethnic groups) united and ruled either by
a monarch (emperor, empress) or an oligarchy. Geopolitically, the term empire has denoted
very different, territorially-extreme states — at the strong end, the extensive Spanish
Empire (16th c.) and the British Empire (19th c.), at the weak end, the Holy Roman Empire (8th
c.–19th c.), in its Medieval and early-modern forms.
Fascism is a radical, authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists advocate the creation
of a totalitarian single-party state that seeks the mass mobilization of a nation and the creation
of an ideal "new man" to form governing elite through indoctrination, physical education, and
family policy including eugenics. Fascists believe that a nation requires strong leadership,
singular collective identity, and the will and ability to commit violence and wage war in order to
keep the nation strong. Fascist governments forbid and suppress opposition to the state.

Federation also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign characterized by a union of

partially self-governing states or regions united by a central (federal) government. In a
federation, the self-governing status of the component states is typically constitutionally
entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of the central government.

A gerontocracy is a form of oligarchical rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are
significantly older than most of the adult population. Often the political structure is such that
political power within the ruling class accumulates with age, so that the oldest hold the most
power. Those holding the most power may not be in formal leadership positions, but often
dominate those who are.Gerontocracy's stability is seen as its strength, which can be more
appropriate for institutions that teach principles that do not vary over time. In institutions that
have to cope with rapid change, the decreased faculties of the aged can potentially be a
handicap in providing effective leadership.

An interregnum (plural interregna or interregnums) is a period of discontinuity or "gap" in a

government, organization, or social order. Archetypal, it was the period of time between the
reign of one monarch and the next (coming from Latin inter-, "between" + rēgnum, "reign"
[from rex, rēgis, "king"]), and the concepts of interregnum and regency therefore overlap.
Examples of interregna are periods between monarchs, between popes, between emperors of
the Holy Roman Empire, between kings in an elective monarchy, or between consuls of
the Roman Republic. The term can also refer to the period between the pastorates of ministers
in some Protestant churches.

Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy orkleptarchy, from Ancient Greek: κλέπτης(thief)

and κράτος (rule), is a term applied to a government subject to control fraud that takes
advantage of governmental corruption to extend the personal wealth and political power of
government officials and the ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats), via the embezzlement of
state funds at the expense of the wider population, sometimes without even the pretense of
honest service. The term means "rule by thieves". Not an official form of government such as
a democracy, republic, monarchy, or theocracy; akleptocracy is rather a pejorative for a
government perceived to have a particularly severe and systemic problem with the selfish
misappropriation of public funds by those in power.

A matriarchy is a society in which females, especially mothers, have the central roles of

political leadership and moral authority. It is also sometimes called
agynocratic or gynocentric society.
Meritocracy, in the first, most administrative sense, is a system of government or other
administration (such as business administration) wherein appointments are made and
responsibilities assigned to individuals based upon their "merits", namely intelligence,
credentials, and education,[1] determined through evaluations or examinations. Although
meritocracy as a term is a relatively recent invention, the concept originates from the works
of Han Feizi and Confucius, along with other Legalist and Confucian philosophers. The first
meritocracy was implemented in the 2nd century BC, by the Han Dynasty, which introduced the
world's first civil service exams evaluating the "merit" of officials.Meritocracy itself is not a form
of government, but rather an ideology. Meritocracy itself is frequently confused as being a type
of government, rather than correctly as a methodology or factor used in or for, the appointment
of individuals to government. Individuals appointed to a meritocracy are judged based upon
certain merits which could range from intelligence to morality to general aptitude to specific
knowledge. A criticism of this methodology is that "merit" itself is a highly subjective term,
potentially lacking in clarity and therefore open to misuse.
A monarchy is a form of government in which all political power is passed down to an individual
(through hereditary) known as a monarch ("single ruler"), or king (male),queen (female).
Historically, the notion of monarchy may emerge under different circumstances. It may grow out
of tribal kingship, and the office of monarch (kings) becoming typically hereditary, resulting in
successive dynasties or "houses", especially when the leader is wise and able enough to lead
the tribals. It may also be a consequent emergence after an act of violence is committed upon
local communities by an invading group, which usurps the communities' rights over traditions.
The leader of the usurping group often establishes himself as a monarch. A state of monarchy is
said to result that reveals the relationships between resources, communities, monarch and his
office. Even in antiquity, the strict hereditary succession could be tempered by systems
of elective monarchy, where an assembly elects a new monarch out of a pool of eligible
candidates. The concept has also been modernized, and constitutional monarchies where the
title of monarch remains mostly ceremonial, without, or with very limited political power.

The nation-state is a state that self-identifies as deriving its political legitimacy from serving as

a sovereign entity for a country as a sovereign territorial unit. The state is
a political and geopolitical entity; the nation is a cultural and/or ethnic entity. The term "nation-
state" implies that the two geographically coincide, and this distinguishes the nation-state from
the other types of state, which historically preceded it.

Oligarchy is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with a small number of

people. These people could be distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, corporate, or military
control. The word oligarchy is from the Greek words "ὀλίγος" (olígos), "a few and the verb
"ἄρχω" (archo), "to rule, to govern, to command". Such states are often controlled by a few
prominent families who pass their influence from one generation to the next.

Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is
central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and
property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and is dependent on female
subordination. Historically, patriarchy has manifested itself in the social, legal, political, and
economic organization of a range of different cultures, and also influences modern
civilization.Most forms of feminism characterize patriarchy as an unjust social system that is
oppressive to women. In feminist theory the concept of patriarchy often includes all the social
mechanisms that reproduce and exert male dominance over women.
Plutocracy is rule by the wealthy, or power provided by wealth. The combination of both
plutocracy and oligarchy is called plutarchy.

Polyarchy was introduced by Robert A. Dahl, now emeritus professor at Yale University, to

describe a form of government in which power is vested in three or more persons. This form of
government was first implemented in the United States and was gradually adopted by many
other countries. According to Dahl, the fundamental democratic principle is that when it comes
to binding collective decisions, each person in a political community is entitled to be given equal
consideration to their interests. A polyarchy is a nation-state that has certain procedures that are
necessary conditions for following the democratic principle. In semblance, the word
polycracy describes same form of government, though from a slightly different premise:
A polycracy is a state ruled by more than one person, as opposed to monarchy. The word is
derived from Greek --poly which means "many" and kratos which means "rule" or "strength"

Technocracy is a form of government in which engineers, scientists, health professionals and

other technical experts are in control of decision making in their respective fields. The
term technocracyderives from the Greek words tekhnemeaning skill and kratos meaning power,
as in government, or rule. Thus the term technocracy denotes a system of government where
those who have knowledge, expertise or skills compose the governing body. In a technocracy
decision makers would be selected based upon how highly knowledgeable they are, rather than
how much political capital they hold.

Theocracy is a form of government in which a state is understood as governed by immediate

divine guidance especially a state ruled by clergy, or by officials who are regarded as divinely
guided. From the perspective of the theocratic government, "God himself is recognized as the
head" of the state, hence the term theocracy, from the Greek θεοκρατια "rule of God", a term
used by Josephus of the kingdoms. Theocratic governments enact theonomic laws (rules). A
theocracy may be monist in form, where the administrative hierarchy of the government is
identical with the administrative hierarchy of the religion, or it may have two 'arms,' but with the
state administrative hierarchy subordinate to the religious hierarchy.
Theocracy should be distinguished from other secular forms of government that have a state
religion, or are merely influenced by theological or moral concepts, and monarchies held "By the
Grace of God".
Constitutional theory defines a timocracy as either:

1. a state where only property owners may participate in government

2. a government where rulers are selected and perpetuated based on the degree
of honor they hold relative to others in their society, peer group or class
The more extreme forms of timocracy, where power derives from wealth rather than honor, may
shift in their form and become a plutocracy where the wealthy and powerful use their power to
entrench their wealth.