Government

Dictatorship

a form of government where one leader has absolute control over citizens' lives. If there is a constitution, the dictator has control over that, too-so it doesn't mean much. Although, other parts of the government may exist, such as courts or a law making body, these branches always do what the dictator wants them to do. They do not represent citizens.

Theocracy

a government that recognizes God or a divine being as a ultimate authority. ("Theo" is a Greek word that means god.) In a theocracy, religious law is used to settle disputes and rule the people. A theocracy can also be a democracy, dictatorship, monarchy, or just about any other kind of government. For example, the Republic of Iran recognizes Islamic law, but Iran's citizens vote to elect their leaders. Modern theocracies are usually found in countries where the population is strongly religious.

Monarchy

a king or queen rules a country. The king or queen is known as a monarch. Monarchs usually come to power through the family line: The current king or queen's oldest child becomes the next king or queen. In some monarchies, especially the final say over the government. In modern times, monarchs usually share power with other parts of government. Often they are also subject to the country's constitution.

Oligarchy

a small group of people has all the power. Oligarchy is a Greek word that means "rule by a few". Sometimes this means that only a certain group has political rights, such as members of one political party, one social class, or one race. For example, in some societies, only noble families who owned land could participate in politics. An oligarchy can also mean that a few people can control the country. For example, a junta is a small group of people -usually military officers- who rule a country after taking it over by force. A junta often operates much like a dictatorship, except that several people share power.

Representative Democracy

citizens elect leaders to represent their rights and interests in government. The elected leaders, or representatives, do the day to day work of governing the country: They consider the issues, work to find solutions, pass laws, and do all of the other things necessary to keep a country going. Citizens hold the ultimate power, though, because if they don't like what their representatives are doing, they can vote in new ones!

Democracy

citizens hold the political power. There are two fundamental types of democracies: Representative Democracy and Direct Democracy.

Anarchy

nobody is in control-or everyone is, depending on how you look at it. Sometimes the word anarchy is used to refer to an out-of control mob. When it comes to government, anarchy would be one way to describe the human state of existence before any governments developed. It would be similar to the way animals live in the wild, with everyone looking out for themselves. Today, people who call themselves anarchists usually believe that people should be allowed to freely associate together without being subject to any nation or government. There are no countries that have anarchy as their form of government.

Direct Democracy

there are no representatives. Citizens are directly involved in the day to day work of governing the country. Citizens might be required to participate in lawmaking or act as judges, for example. The best example of this was in the Ancient Greek city-state called Athens. Most modern countries are too large for a direct democracy to work.