Government

Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized. Government is the means by which state policy is enforced, as well as the mechanism for determining the policy of the state. A form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political institutions by which a government of a state is organized. Synonyms include "regime type" and "system of government".

States are served by a continuous succession of different governments. Each successive government is composed of a body of individuals who control and exercise control over political decision-making. Their function is to enforce laws, legislate new ones, and arbitrate conflicts. In some societies, this group is often a self-perpetuating or hereditary class. In other societies, such as democracies, the political roles remain, but there is frequent turnover of the people actually filling the positions.

It is quite a startling proposition, and a very novel one, I think, that there shall be absolutely no opportunity for the review in an appellate court, in cases involving such large amounts, of questions involving the construction of the statute under which the court is proceeding, or those various questions of law, many of them new, which necessarily arise in such cases. Neither the claimants, the Indians, nor the Government of the United States should be absolutely denied opportunity to bring their exceptions to review by some appellate tribunal.
— Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)

The word government is derived from the Latin infinitive gubernare, meaning "to govern" or "to manage". In parliamentary systems, the word "government" is used to refer to what in presidential systems would be the executive branch. In parliamentary systems, the government is composed of the prime minister and the cabinet. In other cases, "government" refers to executive, legislative, judicial, bureaucratic, and possibly also devolved powers.

In most Western societies, there is a clear distinction between a government and the state. Public disapproval of a particular government (expressed, for example, by not re-electing an incumbent) does not necessarily represent disapproval of the state itself (i.e. of the particular framework of government). However, in some totalitarian regimes, there is not a clear distinction between the regime and the state. In fact, leaders in such regimes often attempt to deliberately blur the lines between the two, in order to conflate their interests with those of the polity.

Classifying governments

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. It is especially important in the political science fields of comparative politics and international relations.

The treatment of the incident of the assault upon the sailors of the Baltimore is so conciliatory and friendly that I am of the opinion that there is a good prospect that the differences growing out of that serious affair can now be adjusted upon terms satisfactory to this Government by the usual methods and without special powers from Congress.
— Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)

On the surface, identifying a form of government appears to be easy, as all governments has an official form. United States is a federal 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. For example, elections are a defining characteristic of a democracy, but in practice elections in the former Soviet Union were not "free and fair" and took place in a single party state. Thus in many practical classifications it would not be considered democratic.

Another complication is that a huge number of political systems originate as socio-economic movements and are then carried into governments by specific parties naming themselves after those movements. 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.

Maps

Forms of government

• Adhocracy - government based on type of organization that operates in opposite fashion to a bureaucracy.
• Authoritarian – Authoritarian governments are characterized by an emphasis on the authority of the state in a republic or union. It is a political system controlled by unelected rulers who usually permit some degree of individual freedom.
• Anarchism - Sometimes said to be non-governance; it is a structure which strives for non-hierarchical voluntary associations among agents.
• Band Society - government based on small (usually family) unit with a semi-informal hierarchy, with strongest (either physical strength or strength of character) as leader. Very much like a pack seen in other animals, such as wolves.
• Chiefdom (Tribal) - government based on small complex society of varying degrees of centralization that is led by an individual known as a chief.
• Constitutional monarchy – A government that has a monarch, but one whose powers are limited by law or by a formal constitution, such as the United Kingdom
• Constitutional republic – A government whose powers are limited by law or a formal constitution, and chosen by a vote amongst at least some sections of the populace (Ancient Sparta was in its own terms a republic, though most inhabitants were disenfranchised; The early United States was a republic, but the large numbers of African Americans and women did not have the vote). Republics which exclude sections of the populace from participation will typically claim to represent all citizens (by defining people without the vote as "non-citizens").
• Democracy – Rule by a government chosen by election where most of the populace are enfranchised. The key distinction between a democracy and other forms of constitutional government is usually taken to be that the right to vote is not limited by a person's wealth or race (the main qualification for enfranchisement is usually having reached a certain age). A Democratic government is, therefore, one supported (at least at the time of the election) by a majority of the populace (provided the election was held fairly). A "majority" may be defined in different ways. There are many "power-sharing" (usually in countries where people mainly identify themselves by race or religion) or "electoral-college" or "constituency" systems where the government is not chosen by a simple one-vote-per-person headcount.
• Dictatorship – Rule by an individual who has full power over the country. The term may refer to a system where the dictator came to power, and holds it, purely by force - but it also includes systems where the dictator first came to power legitimately but then was able to amend the constitution so as to, in effect, gather all power for themselves. See also Autocracy and Stratocracy.
• Emirate - similar to a monarchy or sultanate, but a government in which the supreme power is in the hands of an emir (the ruler of a Muslim state); the emir may be an absolute overlord or a sovereign with constitutionally limited authority.
• Geniocracy - government ruled by creativity, innovation, intelligence and wisdom.
• Kratocracy - government ruled by those strong enough to seize power through physical force or political cunning.
• Kritocracy - government ruled by judges.
• Matriarchy - Rule by which females (especially mothers) have the central roles of political leadership.
• Meritocracy - Rule by a group selected on the basis of their ability.
• Monarchy – Rule by an individual who has inherited the role and expects to bequeath it to their heir.
• Nomocracy - Rule according to higher law. That is, a government under the sovereignty of rational laws and civic right as opposed to one under theocratic systems of government . In a nomocracy, ultimate and final authority (sovereignty) exists in the law.
• Oligarchy – Rule by a small group of people who share similar interests or family relations.
• Patriarchy - Rule by which males act as the primary political authority, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property.
• Plutocracy – A government composed of the wealthy class. Any of the forms of government listed here can be plutocracy. For instance, if all of the voted representatives in a republic are wealthy, then it is a republic and a plutocracy.
• Republic - is a form of government in which 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. In modern times, a common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. Montesquieu included both democracies, where all the people have a share in rule, and aristocracies or oligarchies, where only some of the people rule, as republican forms of government.
• Stratocracy - form of military government in which the state and the military are traditionally the same thing. (Not to be confused with "militarism" or "military dictatorship".)
• Technocracy - government ruled by doctors, engineers, scientists, professionals and other technical experts.
• Theocracy – Rule by a religious elite.
• Timocracy - government ruled by honorable citizens and property owners.
• Totalitarian – Totalitarian governments regulate nearly every aspect of public and private life.

Significant attributes

Certain major characteristics are defining of certain types; others are historically associated with certain types of government.

• Nomocracy - rule of law
• Civilian control of the military
• Totalitarianism/Authoritarianism vs. liberty
  • Police state
• Economic system (e.g. capitalism, socialism, welfare state)
• Patriarchy or matriarchy - dominance of a particular gender

By approach to regional autonomy

This list focuses on differing approaches that political systems take to the distribution of sovereignty, and the autonomy of regions within the state.

• Sovereignty located exclusively at the center of political jurisdiction.
  • Empire
• Sovereignty located at the centre and in peripheral areas.
  • Federation and Federal republic
  • Confederation
• Diverging degrees of sovereignty.
  • Asymmetrical federalism
  • Federacy
  • Associated state
  • Devolved state - sovereignty can be abolished without changing the constitution.