Form of government

A form of government is a system by which a state is governed, a wide range of different forms of government have been suggested and/or used in practice. The following is a list of common forms of government. Note that in practice, it is possible to combine multiple simple forms in a government.

• Anarchism
  • Libertarian socialism
  • Anarcho-capitalism

• Autocracy and Dictatorship
  • Despotism
    • Military Junta
  • Monarchy
    • Absolute monarchy
    • Constitutional monarchy
    • Popular monarchy
    • Hereditary monarchy
    • Elective monarchy
    • self-proclaimed monarchy
  • Theocracy
  • Kleptocracy

• Oligarchy
  • Aristocracy
  • Meritocracy
  • Plutocracy
  • Technocracy
  • Theocracy

• Democracy
  • Direct democracy
  • Semi-direct democracy
  • Representative democracy
    • Westminster system
    • Parliamentary system
    • Presidential system
    • Semi-presidential system
    • Congressional system

• Political parties
  • One party system
  • One party dominant system
  • Multi-party system

• Republic
  • Socialist republic[?]
  • Soviet Republic
  • Islamic republic
  • Banana republic

• Head of State
  • President
  • Monarch
    • Emperor

• Head of Government
  • Prime Minister

• Cabinet
  • Minister
  • Secretary
  • Secretary of State
  • Attorney General

Socialism, Communism and Fascism are more socio-economic movements, but their strong ties to governmental control and policy have won them some recognition as methods of government.