All adult citizens have equal access to basic decisions of the government. All decisions which affect society as a whole are voted upon by all eligible citizens.

Such governments only seem to function with small groups. Larger populations find it too complex to have constant votes every time decisions need to be completed. Many decisions for large populations do not affect all citizens, therefore many eligible voters don’t care to vote on every issue.

Historic examples might include early Greek city-states, if one ignores the fact that women weren’t allowed to participate. Current examples are claimed for city and local governments of communities like villages of the northeastern USA.

Governmental decisions are made by elected officials. Officials represent regions of citizens. Elections are open to multi-parties and organizations. Officials can only be elected for limited terms and powers are clearly defined.

These governments must be very careful to avoid abuses of minorities. Minorities can exist of those who lost an election, those with different backgrounds, different religious beliefs, etc. Such protections of “minorities” are critical to maintain social stability and general forms of justice. Every person might be in a minority at some point.

Modern examples include “western” industrial nations, especially since the early twentieth century.

The bulk of governmental powers are held by a family that extends those powers through hereditary rules.

The controlling family often claimed rights to power through religious connections to special status from the god/gods.

Societies believe in the special status of the ruling family but expects the leader to provide a common cultural sense and protection for the society. This form of government is very stable and maintains powerful cultural traditions. The risk for the society is having incompetent leaders assume powers based solely on the sequence of birth order and not talents for leadership.

When religious hierarchies assume political leadership, this government is formed. The powers of governmental leadership are assumed by those with supreme religious authority.

Religious and cultural traditions can be very stable under these forms of government. Any group not belonging to the controlling religion can be harshly abused.

The person who demonstrates the most power becomes the political leader. This person is often charismatic and has gained massive support from the public or the military leadership, or both. This form of government can be very efficient in that decisions are focused, possibly very quick, and very strong.

These forms of government can control power through very harsh measures and disagreements with the leader are not tolerated. Transferring leadership to a new leader can be very problematical due to several powerful individuals wanting to be the next in line.

In general, these governments are dominated by some set of elites. The power is controlled by only a few, special people.

This form of oligarchy is where specific political organizations control all political powers. Political power is often assumed by those who become members and leaders of a dominant political party.

20th century examples included fascist states dominated by “national-socialist” parties. This form of political control is often matched with relatively free and private economies.

This form of oligarchy is dominated by a political party that intends to eliminate capitalism and replace it with a society where all property become publically shared.

Only party members control political powers and the job of the government is to transfer resources to all equally. Believers in this system admit that it is a utopian ideal and is rarely achieved. In the interim, a “dictatorship of the proletariat” runs things.

This form of oligarchy is often not clearly defined but “becomes” the dominant form of government through the control of most wealth by a few families and leaders. Rules are usually created to help the rich and super-rich maintain control due to claims of superiority. “Clearly”, the rich must have become rich due to superior skills and therefore they should help control the government.

This form of oligarchy usually forms around one ethnic group gaining control of the government and denying other ethnic groups access. These ethnic groups’ controls are usually based on an assumption of superiority for the group, based on heritage, skin color, or some other racial characteristic.

Historic examples often occurred during the 18th and 19th centuries where “white” or European minority groups would control areas populated by “native” groups.

-These republics can be either unitary or federal, but… -These republics have separations of powers into different branches. -They usually have a legislative, executive, and judicial. -The key here is that the executive branch is chosen completely separately from the legislative. The two branches have no overlap. -By world standards, these types of republics are rare. Most societies do not have that much trust in such an independent executive.

-These republics can be either unitary or federal, but… -These republics have different branches like a legislative, executive, and judicial. -Here, the legislative branch is the key to most power and answers to the voting public. -An executive leader is selected from the membership of the legislative, usually through a vote by the party that holds the majority of seats in the legislative body. -The executive leader fills all the duties of the executive branch as long as the majority party in the legislature decides. When the party loses “confidence” new elections are held and a potentially new executive leader is selected from the new members of the legislature. -Most modern republics in the world are organized in this manner.

These republics can be either parliamentary or presidential, but… These republics have clear layers of power: national, regional/state, and local. Although the national government is “supreme”, state and local governments retain very unique powers that the national government does not hold.

These republics can be either parliamentary or presidential, but… These republics have political sub-units, but the power is given by the national government only. There might be regional governments, but they hold only the power granted to them by a national government. Smaller republics often operate this way.