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{{short description|System or group of people governing an organized community, often a state}}
{{for|the executive of parliamentary systems referred to as the government|Executive (government)}}
{{other uses}}
{{redirect|Gov}}


{{Multiple issues|
{{More footnotes|date=June 2019}}
{{Globalize|article|Western culture|date=June 2019}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2016}}
{{Forms of government map}}
{{Basic forms of government}}
{{Politics sidebar|expanded=Subseries}}
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A '''government''' is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a [[State (polity)|state]].

In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and [[judiciary]]. Government is a means by which organizational policies are enforced, as well as a mechanism for determining policy. In many countries, the government has a kind of [[constitution]], a statement of its governing principles and philosophy.

While all types of organizations have governance, the term ''government'' is often used more specifically to refer to the approximately 200 [[List of sovereign states|independent national governments]] and subsidiary organizations.

Historically prevalent forms of government include monarchy, [[aristocracy]], [[timocracy]], [[oligarchy]], [[democracy]], [[theocracy]] and [[Tyrant|tyranny]]. The main aspect of any philosophy of government is how political power is obtained, with the two main forms being [[election|electoral contest]] and [[hereditary succession]].

==Definitions and etymology==

A government is the [[system]] to [[Governance|govern]] a [[state (polity)|state]] or community.

The word ''government'' derives, ultimately, from the Greek verb κυβερνάω [''kubernáo''] (meaning ''to steer'' with [[Gubernaculum (classical)|gubernaculum]] (rudder), the metaphorical sense being attested in [[Plato]]'s [[Ship of State]]).

The Columbia Encyclopedia defines government as "a system of social control under which the right to make laws, and the right to enforce them, is vested in a particular group in society".<ref>{{cite book|publisher=Columbia University Press | title=Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th edition |year=2000| title-link=Columbia Encyclopedia }}</ref>

While all types of organizations have governance, the word ''government'' is often used more specifically to refer to the approximately 200 [[List of sovereign states|independent national governments]] on Earth, as well as their subsidiary organizations.{{sfn|Smelser|Baltes|2001|p=?}}

In [[British English]], "government" is often used to refer to what's known in [[American English]] as an "[[administration (government)|administration]]", i.e., the policies implemented by, and government officials appointed by, a particular executive or governing [[coalition government|coalition]].

Finally, ''government'' is also sometimes used in English as a [[synonym]] for [[governance]].

==History==
{{main|Political history of the world|Political philosophy}}

The moment and place that the phenomenon of human government developed is lost in time; however, history does record the formations of early governments. About 5,000 years ago, the first small city-states appeared.{{sfn|Christian|2004|p=245}} By the third to second millenniums BC, some of these had developed into larger governed areas: [[Sumer]], [[Ancient Egypt]], the [[Indus Valley Civilization]], and the [[List of Neolithic cultures of China|Yellow River Civilization]].{{sfn|Christian|2004|p=294}}

The development of agriculture and [[water control]] projects were a catalyst for the development of governments.<ref name="Britannica2010">The New Encyclopædia Britannica (15th edition)</ref> On occasion a chief of a tribe was elected by various rituals or tests of strength to govern his tribe, sometimes with a group of elder tribesmen as a council. The human ability to precisely communicate abstract, learned information allowed humans to become ever more effective at agriculture,{{sfn|Christian|2004|pp=146–147}} and that allowed for ever increasing population densities.{{sfn|Christian|2004|p=245}} [[David Christian (historian)|David Christian]] explains how this resulted in states with laws and governments.

{{blockquote|As farming populations gathered in larger and denser communities, interactions between different groups increased and the social pressure rose until, in a striking parallel with star formation, new structures suddenly appeared, together with a new level of complexity. Like stars, cities and states reorganize and energize the smaller objects within their gravitational field.{{sfn|Christian|2004|p=245}}}}

Starting at the end of the 17th century, the prevalence of republican forms of government grew. The [[Glorious Revolution]] in England, the [[American Revolution]], and the [[French Revolution]] contributed to the growth of representative forms of government. The [[Soviet Union]] was the first large country to have a [[Communist]] government.{{sfn|Smelser|Baltes|2001|p=?}} Since the fall of the [[Berlin Wall]], [[liberal democracy]] has become an even more prevalent form of government.{{sfn|Kuper|Kuper|2008|p=?}}

In the nineteenth and twentieth century, there was a significant increase in the size and scale of government at the national level.{{sfn|Haider-Markel|2014|p=?}} This included the regulation of corporations and the development of the [[welfare state]].{{sfn|Kuper|Kuper|2008|p=?}}

==Political science==
{{main|Political science}}

=== Classification ===
In political science, it has long been a goal to create a typology or taxonomy of [[polities]], as typologies of political systems are not obvious.{{sfn|Lewellen|2003|p=?}} It is especially important in the [[political science]] fields of [[comparative politics]] and [[international relations]]. Like all categories discerned within forms of government, the boundaries of government classifications are either fluid or ill-defined.

Superficially, all governments have an official or ideal form. The United States is a constitutional republic, while the former Soviet Union was a [[socialist republic]]. However self-identification is not objective, and as Kopstein and Lichbach argue, defining regimes can be tricky.<ref>''Comparative politics : interests, identities, and institutions in a changing global order'', Jeffrey Kopstein, Mark Lichbach (eds.), 2nd ed, Cambridge University Press, 2005, {{ISBN|0521708400}}, p. 4.</ref> For example, [[Voltaire]] argued that "the [[Holy Roman Empire]] is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire".<ref>{{cite journal | title=The Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire | journal=Michigan Academician | last1=Renna | first1=Thomas | volume=42 | issue=1 | pages=60–75 | doi=10.7245/0026-2005-42.1.60 | date=September 2015 }}</ref>

Identifying a form of government is also difficult because many [[political systems]] originate as socio-economic movements and are then carried into governments by parties naming themselves after those movements; all with competing political-ideologies. Experience with those movements in power, and the strong ties they may have to particular forms of government, can cause them to be considered as forms of government in themselves.

Other complications include general non-consensus or deliberate "[[Disinformation|distortion or bias]]" of reasonable technical definitions to political ideologies and associated forms of governing, due to the nature of politics in the modern era. For example: The meaning of "conservatism" in the United States has little in common with the way the word's definition is used elsewhere. As Ribuffo notes, "what Americans now call conservatism much of the world calls liberalism or [[neoliberalism]]"; a "conservative" in Finland would be labeled a "[[socialist]]" in the United States.<ref>Leo P. Ribuffo, "20 Suggestions for Studying the Right now that Studying the Right is Trendy," ''Historically Speaking'' Jan 2011 v.12#1 pp. 2–6, quote on p. 6</ref> Since the 1950s conservatism in the United States has been chiefly associated with the [[History of the Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]]. However, during the era of [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregation]] many [[Southern Democrats]] were conservatives, and they played a key role in the [[Conservative Coalition]] that controlled Congress from 1937 to 1963.<ref>Kari Frederickson, ''The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid South, 1932–1968'', p. 12, "...conservative southern Democrats viewed warily the potential of New Deal programs to threaten the region's economic dependence on cheap labor while stirring the democratic ambitions of the disfranchised and undermining white supremacy.", The University of North Carolina Press, 2000, {{ISBN|978-0-8078-4910-1}}</ref>

===Social-political ambiguity===
Opinions vary by individuals concerning the types and properties of governments that exist. "Shades of gray" are commonplace in any government and its corresponding classification. Even the most liberal democracies limit rival political activity to one extent or another while the most tyrannical dictatorships must organize a broad base of support thereby creating difficulties for "[[pigeonholing]]" governments into narrow categories. Examples include the claims of the [[Plutocracy#United States|United States as being a plutocracy]] rather than a democracy since some American voters believe elections are being manipulated by wealthy [[Super PACs]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781594204098,00.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407045309/http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781594204098,00.html|url-status=dead|title=Plutocrats – The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else|archivedate=7 April 2014}}</ref>

=== Dialectical forms ===
{{Main|Plato's five regimes}}
The [[Classical Greece|Classical Greek]] philosopher [[Plato]] discusses five types of regimes: [[aristocracy]], [[timocracy]], [[oligarchy]], democracy and [[Tyrant|tyranny]]. Plato also assigns a man to each of these regimes to illustrate what they stand for. The tyrannical man would represent tyranny for example. These five regimes progressively degenerate starting with aristocracy at the top and tyranny at the bottom.

==Forms==
{{main list|List of forms of government}}

One method of classifying governments is through which people have the authority to rule. This can either be one person (an autocracy, such as monarchy), a select group of people (an aristocracy), or the people as a whole (a democracy, such as a republic).

[[Thomas Hobbes]] stated on their classification:<ref name="Leviathan">{{cite wikisource |author=Hobbes, Thomas |title=Leviathan |wslink=Leviathan/The Second Part}}</ref>

{{blockquote|The difference of Commonwealths consisteth in the difference of the sovereign, or the person representative of all and every one of the multitude. And because the sovereignty is either in one man, or in an assembly of more than one; and into that assembly either every man hath right to enter, or not every one, but certain men distinguished from the rest; it is manifest there can be but three kinds of Commonwealth. For the representative must needs be one man, or more; and if more, then it is the assembly of all, or but of a part. When the representative is one man, then is the Commonwealth a monarchy; when an assembly of all that will come together, then it is a democracy, or popular Commonwealth; when an assembly of a part only, then it is called an aristocracy. Other kind of Commonwealth there can be none: for either one, or more, or all, must have the sovereign power (which I have shown to be indivisible) entire.}}

===Autocracy===
{{Main|Autocracy}}
An autocracy is a system of government in which supreme [[Power (social and political)|power]] is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perhaps for the implicit threat of a coup d'état or mass [[insurrection]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/autocracy |title=Autocracy: A Glossary of Political Economy Terms |author=Paul M. Johnson |publisher=Auburn.edu |access-date=14 September 2012 |archive-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226063927/http://www.auburn.edu/~johnspm/gloss/autocracy%20 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Aristocracy===
{{Main|Aristocracy}}
Aristocracy ([[Greek language|Greek]] ἀριστοκρατία ''aristokratía'', from ἄριστος ''[[Wikt:aristocrat#English|aristos]]'' "excellent", and κράτος ''[[Wikt:kratos|kratos]]'' "[[Power (social and political)|power]]") is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged [[ruling class]].<ref name=OED>{{cite journal|date=December 1989 |title=Aristocracy |journal=[[Oxford English Dictionary]] |url=http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50011987?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=aristocracy&first=1&max_to_show=10 |access-date=22 December 2009 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629022358/http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/entry/50011987?single=1&query_type=word&queryword=aristocracy&first=1&max_to_show=10 |archive-date=29 June 2011 }}</ref>

Many monarchies were aristocracies, although in modern constitutional monarchies the monarch himself or herself has little real power. The term ''aristocracy'' could also refer to the non-peasant, non-servant, and non-city classes in the [[feudal system]].

===Democracy===
{{Main|Democracy}}
Democracy is a system of government where the citizens exercise power by [[Vote|voting]]. In a [[direct democracy]], the citizens as a whole form a governing body and vote directly on each issue. In a [[representative democracy]] the citizens elect representatives from among themselves. These representatives meet to form a governing body, such as a legislature. In a [[constitutional democracy]] the powers of the majority are exercised within the framework of a representative democracy, but the constitution limits the majority and protects the minority, usually through the enjoyment by all of certain individual rights, e.g. freedom of speech, or freedom of association.<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'': "democracy".</ref><ref name="britannica">{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Watkins |first1=Frederick |title=Democracy |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=1970 |publisher=William Benton |isbn=978-0-85229-135-1 |pages=215–23 |edition=Expo '70 hardcover |language=en |volume=7}}</ref>

==== Republics ====
{{Main|Republic}}
A republic is a form of government in which the country is considered a "public matter" (Latin: ''res publica''), not the private concern or property of the rulers, and where offices of states are subsequently directly or indirectly elected or appointed rather than inherited. The people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people.<ref name="autogenerated1">[[Montesquieu]], ''[[The Spirit of the Laws]]'' (1748), Bk. II, ch. 1.</ref><ref name="Britannica">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Republic|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> A common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch.<ref name="WordNet">{{Cite journal |title=republic |journal=WordNet 3.0 |access-date=20 March 2009 |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/republic |archive-date=12 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312065659/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/republic |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="M-W">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Republic|encyclopedia=Merriam-Webster|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic|access-date=14 August 2010|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162708/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Montesquieu]] included both [[democracy|democracies]], where all the people have a share in rule, and [[aristocracy|aristocracies]] or [[oligarchy|oligarchies]], where only some of the people rule, as republican forms of government.<ref name="autogenerated2">Montesquieu, ''Spirit of the Laws'', Bk. II, ch. 2–3.</ref>

Other terms used to describe different republics include [[democratic republic]], [[parliamentary republic]], [[semi-presidential republic]], [[presidential republic]], [[federal republic]], and [[Islamic republic]].

==== Federalism ====
{{Main|Federalism}}

Federalism is a political concept in which a ''group'' of members are bound together by [[Covenant (law)|covenant]] with a governing [[federal headship|representative head]]. The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of government in which [[sovereignty]] is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units, variously called states, provinces or otherwise. Federalism is a system based upon democratic principles and institutions in which the power to govern is shared between national and provincial/state governments, creating what is often called a federation. Proponents are often called [[federalist]]s.

== Economic systems ==
{{further|Economic system}}
Historically, most political systems originated as [[socioeconomic]] [[economic ideology|ideologies]]. Experience with those movements in power and the strong ties they may have to particular forms of government can cause them to be considered as forms of government in themselves.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Term
!Definition
|-
| [[Capitalism]] || A social-economic system in which the [[means of production]] (machines, tools, factories, etc.) are under private ownership and their use is for profit.
|-
| [[Communism]] || A social-economic system in which means of production are commonly owned (either by the people directly, through the [[Commune (socialism)|commune]] or by [[communist society]]), and production is undertaken [[Production for use|for use]], rather than [[Capitalist mode of production (Marxist theory)|for profit]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Steele|first= David Ramsay |title= From Marx to Mises: Post Capitalist Society and the Challenge of Economic Calculation |publisher= Open Court|date=September 1999|isbn= 978-0875484495|page = 66|quote= Marx distinguishes between two phases of marketless communism: an initial phase, with labor vouchers, and a higher phase, with free access.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Busky|first= Donald F.|title= Democratic Socialism: A Global Survey|publisher= Praeger|date=20 July 2000|isbn= 978-0275968861|page = 4|quote=Communism would mean free distribution of goods and services. The communist slogan, 'From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs' (as opposed to 'work') would then rule}}</ref> Typically, communist societies use a [[planned economy]] to direct the production and distribution of goods and services.
|-
| [[Distributism]] || A social-economic system in which widespread [[private property|property]] ownership as fundamental right;<ref>Shiach, Morag (2004). ''Modernism, Labour and Selfhood in British Literature and Culture, 1890–1930''. [[Cambridge University Press]]. p. 224. {{ISBN|978-0-521-83459-9}}</ref> the [[means of production]] are spread as widely as possible rather than being centralized under the control of the state ([[state socialism]]), a few individuals ([[plutocracy]]), or corporations ([[corporatocracy]]).<ref>Zwick, Mark and Louise (2004). ''The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins ''. [[Paulist Press]]. p. 156. {{ISBN|978-0-8091-4315-3}}</ref> Distributism fundamentally opposes [[socialism]] and [[capitalism]],<ref>Boyle, David; Simms, Andrew (2009). ''The New Economics''. [[Routledge]]. p. 20. {{ISBN|978-1-84407-675-8}}</ref><ref>Novak, Michael; Younkins, Edward W. (2001). ''Three in One: Essays on Democratic Capitalism, 1976–2000''. [[Rowman and Littlefield]]. p. 152. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-1171-2}}</ref> which distributists view as equally flawed and exploitative. In contrast, distributism seeks to subordinate economic activity to human life as a whole, to our spiritual life, our intellectual life, our family life".<ref>Storck, Thomas. "Capitalism and Distributism: two systems at war," in ''Beyond Capitalism & Socialism''. Tobias J. Lanz, ed. IHS Press, 2008. p. 75</ref>
|-
| [[Feudalism]] || A social-economic system of land ownership and duties. Under feudalism, all the land in a kingdom was the king's. However, the king would give some of the land to the lords or nobles who fought for him. These presents of land were called manors. Then the nobles gave some of their land to vassals. The vassals then had to do duties for the nobles. The lands of vassals were called fiefs.
|-
| [[Socialism]] || A social-economic system in which [[worker's self management|workers, democratically]] and [[social ownership|socially own]] the [[means of production]]<ref>{{Cite book|title = Upton Sinclair's: A Monthly Magazine: for Social Justice, by Peaceful Means If Possible|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=i0w9AQAAMAAJ|year = 1918|last = Sinclair|first = Upton|author-link = Upton Sinclair|quote = Socialism, you see, is a bird with two wings. The definition is 'social ownership and democratic control of the instruments and means of production.'|access-date = 10 January 2017|archive-date = 2 May 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190502083351/https://books.google.com/books?id=i0w9AQAAMAAJ|url-status = live}}</ref> and the economic framework may be [[Decentralized planning (economics)|decentralized]], distributed or [[Central planning|centralized]] [[Planned economy|planned]] or [[Socialism#Self-managed economy|self-managed]] in autonomous economic units.<ref>Schweickart, David. [http://orion.it.luc.edu/~dschwei/demsoc.htm ''Democratic Socialism''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617235335/http://orion.it.luc.edu/~dschwei/demsoc.htm |date=17 June 2012 }}. Encyclopedia of Activism and Social Justice (2006): "Virtually all (democratic) socialists have distanced themselves from the economic model long synonymous with 'socialism,' i.e. the Soviet model of a non-market, centrally-planned economy...Some have endorsed the concept of 'market socialism,' a post-capitalist economy that retains market competition, but socializes the means of production, and, in some versions, extends democracy to the workplace. Some hold out for a non-market, participatory economy. All democratic socialists agree on the need for a democratic alternative to capitalism."</ref> [[Public service]]s would be [[common ownership|commonly]], [[collective ownership|collectively]], or [[state ownership|state owned]], such as [[Universal health care|healthcare]] and [[Universal access to education|education]].
|-
| [[Statism]] || A social-economic system that concentrates power in the state at the expense of individual freedom. Among other variants, the term subsumes theocracy, absolute monarchy, Nazism, fascism, authoritarian socialism, and plain, unadorned dictatorship. Such variants differ on matters of form, tactics and ideology.
|-
| [[Welfare state]] || A social-economic system in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of [[equality of opportunity]], equitable [[distribution of wealth]], and public responsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life.
|}

== Maps ==
[[File:EIU Democracy Index 2017.svg|left|upright=2.75|thumb|[[Democracy Index]] by the [[Economist Intelligence Unit]], 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/Democracy_Index_2017.pdf|title=Democracy Index 2017 – Economist Intelligence Unit|website=EIU.com|access-date=17 February 2018|archive-date=21 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201221004840/http://pages.eiu.com/rs/753-RIQ-438/images/Democracy_Index_2017.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>
----
{{col-begin}}
{{col-break}}

'''Full Democracies'''
{{legend|#006837|9–10}}
{{legend|#1a9850|8–9}}
{{col-break}}

'''Flawed Democracies'''
{{legend|#66bd63|7–8}}
{{legend|#a6d96a|6–7}}
{{col-break}}

'''Hybrid Regimes'''
{{legend|#fee08b|5–6}}
{{legend|#fdae61|4–5}}
{{col-break}}

'''Authoritarian Regimes'''
{{legend|#f46d43|3–4}}
{{legend|#d73027|2–3}}
{{legend|#a50026|0–2}}
{{col-end}}]]
[[File:World administrative levels.png|thumb|left|upright=2.75|World administrative levels]]

[[File:Map of unitary and federal states.svg|left|upright=2.75|thumb|A world map distinguishing countries of the world as federations (<span style="color: #00e000">'''green'''</span>) from [[unitary state]]s (<span style="color: #0000b0">'''blue'''</span>).
----
{{legend|#0000b0|[[Unitary state]]s}}
{{legend|#00e000|[[Federations]]}}]]

{{clear}}

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[List of forms of government]]
* Central government
* [[Civics]]
* [[Comparative government]]
* [[Constitutional economics]]
* [[Deep state]]
* [[Digital democracy]]
* [[E-Government]]
* [[Government effectiveness index]]
* [[Political history of the world|History of politics]]
* [[Legal rights]]
* [[List of countries by system of government]]
* [[List of European Union member states by political system]]
* [[Ministry (collective executive)|Ministry]]
* [[Political economy]]
* [[Political history]]
* Politics
* [[Prime ministerial government]]
* [[State (polity)]]
* [[Voting system]]
* [[World government]]
{{div col end}}

===Principles===
Certain major characteristics are defining of certain types; others are historically associated with certain types of government.
* [[Rule according to higher law]] (unwritten ethical principles) vs. written [[constitutionalism]]
* [[Separation of church and state]] or [[free church]] vs. [[state religion]]
* [[Civilian control of the military]] vs. [[stratocracy]]
* [[Totalitarianism]] or authoritarianism vs. [[libertarianism]]
* [[Majority rule]] or [[parliamentary sovereignty]] vs. constitution or [[bill of rights]] with [[separation of powers]] and [[supermajority]] rules to prevent [[tyranny of the majority]] and protect [[minority rights]]
* [[Androcracy]] ([[patriarchy]]) or [[gynarchy]] ([[matriarchy]]) vs. [[Women in government#Quotas|gender quotas]], [[gender equality]] provision, or silence on the matter

===Autonomy===
This list focuses on differing approaches that political systems take to the distribution of [[sovereignty]], and the [[Autonomous entity|autonomy]] of regions within the state.
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* Sovereignty located exclusively at the centre of political jurisdiction.
** Empire
** [[Unitary state]]
* Sovereignty located at the centre and in peripheral areas.
** [[Hegemony]]
** Federation and [[federal republic]]
** [[Confederation]]
** [[Federal monarchy]]
* Diverging degrees of sovereignty.
** [[Political alliance|Alliance]]
** [[Asymmetrical federalism]]
** [[Federacy]]
** [[Associated state]]
** [[Corpus separatum (disambiguation)|Corpus separatum]]
** Colony
** [[Crown colony]]
** [[Chartered company]]
** [[Dependent territory]]
** [[Occupied territory]]
** [[Occupied zone]]
** [[League of Nations mandate|Mandate]]
** [[Exclusive mandate]]
** [[Military Frontier]]
** [[Neutral zone (territorial entity)|Neutral zone]]
** [[Colonial dependency]]
** [[Protectorate]]
** [[Vassal state]]
** [[Satellite state]]
** [[Puppet state]]
** [[Thalassocracy]]
** Unrecognized state
*** [[List of states with limited recognition|States with limited recognition]]
*** [[Separatist movement]]
*** [[Government in exile]]
*** [[Micronation]]
** [[Provisional government]]
** [[List of territorial disputes|Territorial disputes]]
** [[United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories|Non-self-governing territories]]
** [[League of Nations]]
** [[Political alliance|League]]
** [[Commonwealth]]
** [[Decentralisation]] and [[devolution]] (powers redistributed from central to regional or local governments)
{{div col end}}

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin|colwidth=30em}}
* {{cite book |title=Maps of Time |url=https://archive.org/details/mapsoftimeintrod00chri |url-access=registration |last=Christian |first=David |date=2004 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-24476-4 }}
* {{cite book |last=Friedrich |first=Carl J. |author2=Brzezinski, Zbigniew K. |author-link2=Zbigniew Brzezinski |title=Totalitarian Dictatorship and Autocracy |url=https://archive.org/details/totalitariandict0000frie |url-access=registration |publisher=Praeger |edition=2nd |year=1965 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Social Science Encyclopedia |date=2008 |editor=Adam Kuper and Jessica Kuper |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-47635-5}}
* {{cite book |title=The Oxford Handbook of State and Local Government |date=2014 |last=Haider-Markel |first=Donald P. |isbn=978-0-19-957967-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Krader |first=Lawrence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rIyZAAAAIAAJ |title=Formation of the state |publisher=Prentice-Hall |year=1968 |location=Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey |page=118 |access-date=20 May 2020 |archive-date=2 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802191441/https://books.google.com/books?id=rIyZAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |title=The Dictator's Handbook: Why Bad Behavior is Almost Always Good Politics |date=2011 |pages=272 |publisher=[[Random House]] |last1=de Mesquita |first1=Bruce Bueno |last2=Smith |first2=Alastair |isbn=9781610390446}}
* {{cite book |last=Lewellen |first=Ted C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwJBNWbrXeIC |title=Political Anthropology: An Introduction |date=2003 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-0-89789-891-1 |edition=3rd |access-date=20 May 2020 |archive-date=2 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802003757/https://books.google.com/books?id=gwJBNWbrXeIC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last1=Bueno de Mesquita |first1=Bruce |author-link=Bruce Bueno de Mesquita |first2=Alastair |last2=Smith |first3=Randolph M. |last3=Siverson |first4=James D. |last4=Morrow |author-link4=James D. Morrow |title=[[The Logic of Political Survival]] |year=2003 |publisher=[[The MIT Press]] |isbn=978-0-262-63315-4}}
* {{cite book |title=The Dictator's Learning Curve: Inside the Global Battle for Democracy |author=William J. Dobson |isbn=978-0307477552 |year=2013 |publisher=Anchor |author-link=William J. Dobson}}
* {{cite book |last1=Smelser |first1=Neil J. |last2=Baltes |first2=Paul B. |title=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences |year=2001 |publisher=Elsevier |isbn=978-0-08-043076-8}}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Government}}
* [http://phrontistery.info/govern.html The Phrontistery Word List: Types of Government and Leadership]
* [http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20c-govt.htm Types of Governments from Historical Atlas of the 20th Century]
* [http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/othergov.htm Other classifications examples from Historical Atlas of the 20th Century]
* [http://stutzfamily.com/mrstutz/WorldAffairs/typesofgovt.html World Affairs: Types of Government]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/world/united_nations/types_of_government/ CBBC Newsround: types of government]
* [http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-plutocracy-rising/ Bill Moyers: Plutocracy Rising]
* [http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2003/libe229-20030629-03.html Phobiocracy by Chris Claypoole]

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