Political Geography:

Different Forms of Government

“Government: An institution which prevents injustice, other

than that which it commits itself.” Ibn Kaldun, The
Muqaddimah, ca. 1377
Republic: A system of government where power rests in citizens who vote for
representatives who stand for those citizens. The United States is a republic.

Parliament: A legislature, usually a democratic government's decision-making body.

Monarchy: A system of government in which national power is invested in one person,

usually a king or queen.

Constitutional: Having to do with a country or government's constitution or leading set of

laws.

Communism: A type of centralized government with an economy where all property,

including land, factories and companies (i.e., “the means of production”), is held by the
government; almost always a single-party system.

Absolute Monarchy: A monarchy where the sovereign holds complete political power.
 Modern World
Governments

Presidential Republic Semi-Presidential Republic Communist

Constitutional Monarchy Parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy

Absolute Monarchy No Functioning Central Government

Parliamentary Republic
Democracy

Democracy is a form of government that allows the people to choose leadership.

The primary goal is to govern through fair representation and prevent abuses of power.
The result is a system that requires discourse, debate, and compromise to satisfy the
broadest possible number of public interests, leading to majority rule. Democracies
advocate for fair and free elections, civic participation, human rights protections,
and law and order.

Democracies exist different forms in different

countries, with varying degrees of success.

For instance, the United States is a federal democratic

republic, while France is a parliamentary democratic
republic. They each have three branches of government
(Executive, Legislative, and Judicial), but France is also
classified as a “semi-presidential” state.
Communism:

Communism is a centralized form of

government led by a single party that is
often authoritarian in its rule. Inspired by
German philosopher Karl Marx,
communist states replace private
property and a profit-based economy
with public ownership and communal
control of economic production, such as
labor, capital goods, and natural
resources.

According to communism, citizens are Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx

part of a classless society that distributes
goods and services as needed.
 Modern Communism

Five countries in the world today have communist governments,

but they each have a different form of communism.
The Soviet Union was the first communist
state and existed from 1922 to 1991.

Most modern communist states embrace

Marxism-Leninism, a communist ideology
based on Marx, along with Russian
revolutionary Vladimir Lenin's doctrines.
Countries that retain single-party Marxist-
Leninist rulership include Cuba, Laos,
Vietnam, and the People's Republic of China.
Socialism:

Socialism is a system that

encourages cooperation rather than
competition among citizens. Citizens
communally own the means of
production and distribution of
goods and services, while a
centralized government manages it.
Each person benefits from and
contributes to the system according
to their needs and ability.
Socialism is the cornerstone of the
Scandinavian nations of Denmark,
Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.

They all adhere to socialist policies that

combine free-market capitalism with
extensive public works, including free
healthcare, free education, a
comprehensive welfare state, and high
percentages of unionized workers.

This approach essentially combines the

collective nature of communism with
the private ownership and
competitiveness of capitalism.
Oligarchy:

Oligarchies are governments in which a

collection of individuals rules over a
nation. A specific set of qualities, such as
wealth, heredity, and race, are used to
give a small group of people power.

Oligarchies often have authoritative rulers

and an absence of democratic practices or
individual rights.
The government that ruled South Africa from 1948 to 1991 was a racially constructed
oligarchy. The minority white population exercised dominance and imposed segregation over
the nation's majority Black population, controlling policy, public administration, and law
enforcement.

Following the anti-apartheid movement, in 1994 the country adopted a liberal democracy that
ultimately gave all ethnic and linguistic groups in South Africa political representation.
Aristocracy:

Aristocracy refers to a government form in which a small, elite ruling class — the aristocrats
— have power over those in lower socioeconomic strata. Members of the aristocracy are
usually chosen based on their education, upbringing, and genetic or family history.
Aristocracies often connect wealth and ethnicity with both the ability and right to rule.

Aristocracy originated in ancient Greece; the term

derives from the Greek word, aristokratia, meaning
"rule of the best." Aristocracies were the
dominant governments during most medieval
and modern periods across Europe. Aristocrats led
major countries, including Britain, Germany, and
Russia, until World War I, when other government
forms gained popularity.

Several founders of the United States favored some

form of aristocratic government here.
Monarchy:

Monarchy is a power system that appoints a

person as head of state for life or until
abdication. Authority traditionally passes
down through a succession line related to
one's bloodline and birth order within the
ruling royal family, often limited by gender.

There are two types of monarchies:

constitutional and absolute.

Constitutional monarchies limit the

monarch's power as outlined in a
constitution. Absolute monarchies give a
monarch unlimited power.
King Bhumibol (Rama IX) of Thailand
Today, 45 nations have some form of
monarchy, though the concept has
become increasingly diluted with the
evolution of democratic principles.

In the United Kingdom, the

sovereign’s role as a monarch is
largely symbolic. But monarchs in
other countries, including Morocco,
Oman, and Saudia Arabia, still have
far-reaching political authority.
Theocracy:

Theocracy refers to a form of government in which a

specific religious ideology determines the leadership, laws,
and customs. In many instances, there is little to no
distinction between scriptural laws and legal codes.
Likewise, religious clergy will typically occupy leadership
roles, sometimes including the highest office in the nation.

Iran is perhaps the most important and powerful theocratic

state in the world today. The ayatollahs — Shiite religious
leaders — rule the country. Among them is a "supreme
leader" who serves as head of state, delegates authority to
other religious leaders, and presides over the elected
president. The Sharia — the Islamic faith's primary legal
doctrine — dictates the country's legal, judiciary, and
administrative codes.
Totalitarianism:

Totalitarianism is an authoritarian form of government in which the ruling party recognizes no

limitations whatsoever on its power, including in its citizens' lives or rights.

A single figure often holds power and maintains authority through widespread surveillance,
control over mass media, intimidating demonstrations of paramilitary or police power, and
suppression of protest, activism, or political opposition.
Although North Korea labels itself as
the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea, it acts as a totalitarian state.
Kim Jong-un, the third "supreme
leader" in the country's Kim dynasty,
rules with singular and unchallenged
authority, commanding his public
without political opposition.

Criticism of the supreme leader or

protest against his policies are crimes
punishable by death, as are countless
other crimes for which due process
does not occur.

(By definition, a totalitarian state is

also a dictatorship.)
One way to determine if a country that calls itself
“democratic” truly is democratic, is if it holds
elections and how those elections function.

If only one political party is allowed to exist, or if

only one candidate is permitted to be on the ballot,
is that truly democratic?
 Dictatorship:

In a dictatorship, a single person, a dictator, has

absolute power over the state. It is not necessarily
ruled by a theology or belief. It is an authoritarian
form of government based on the unrestricted rule of
one person.

Aspects often include military backing, unfair

elections (if any) and various human rights violations.
A dictator does not usually inherit their power like a
monarch does; they either seize control of the state
by force or through engineered elections.
Augusto Pinochet, dictator of
Chile from 1973 to 1990.
Dictatorships were widespread in the 20th century.
 Military Dictatorship:

A military dictatorship is a nation ruled by a single authority

with absolute power and no democratic process.

The head of state typically comes to power in a time of

upheavals, such as high unemployment rates or civil unrest.
They usually lead the nation's armed forces, using it to
establish power and suppress opposition.

In the 20th century, numerous countries all over the world

fell under military dictatorships occurred at one time or
another:

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, • 35 in African countries

chief of the Myanmar military • 22 in South / Central America and the Caribbean
junta. • 24 in Asia
• 21 in Europe
Military Juntas:

A committee of the nation's military leaders controls the government for the duration of a
state of emergency. Constitutional provisions for government are suspended in these
states; constitutional forms of government are stated in parentheses.

Myanmar

Mali
There are currently about 45 nations in the world with some form of dictator.

One of them is Thailand, a constitutional monarchy, which has seen a frequent cycle of
military coups in which the army takes over the civilian government. In each of these cases
senior army commanders ousted the elected prime minister and declared themselves in
control of the government. The king, however, continued to be respected as the ceremonial
head of state and the symbolic unity of a nation in near-constant political upheaval.
One-party states:

States in which political power is by law concentrated within one political party whose
operations are largely fused with the government hierarchy (as opposed to states
where the law establishes a multi-party system, but this fusion is achieved anyway
through electoral fraud or simple inertia).
China (Communist Party leads the United Front) Cuba (Communist Party)

Eritrea (People's Front for Democracy and Justice)

North Korea (Workers' Party leads the Democratic Front)

Laos (People's Revolutionary Party leads the Front for National Construction)

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Polisario Front)

Vietnam (Communist Party leads the Fatherland Front)

Just because countries share the same form of government, does that mean they share
common interests or national goals?

If two nations have Communist governments that both follow Marxist-Leninist ideology,
does that rule out animosity between them, or even war?

It does not. Communist countries have gone to war with each other, just as monarchies
and democracies have fought each other.
The term “the Third World” is often thought to refer to countries that are
developing or underdeveloped. In fact, the term originates from the Cold War
era and referred to countries that were not affiliated with either the Western
bloc dominated by the US and NATO, or the Eastern bloc dominated by the
Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact.