There are four main types of governments: monarchy, oligarchy, direct democracy, and representative democracy. A monarchy has a single hereditary head of state, and was once very common but now exists in over 40 countries. An oligarchy concentrates political power among a small elite group, often based on wealth, military strength, or family ties. A direct democracy involves all members of society having an equal say through referendums. A representative democracy exists in countries like the US, where citizens elect representatives to make laws on their behalf due to the large population size.
2. Monarchy A monarchy is a governmental system in which the head of state is a single person. Typically, the position is hereditary, as is the case with famous monarchies like that of the United Kingdom. Originally, the term was used to refer to a system of government in which the monarch had absolute authority, but the term has evolved to encompass any country with a hereditary head of state, regardless as to how much power is vested in the head of state. The monarchy is probably the oldest system of government, since it would have evolved naturally from tribal governments ruled through dynastic alliances. At one point, most of the governments in the world were monarchies. In the modern world, over 40 countries are monarchies, which is a fact that some people are surprised to learn.
3. Oligarchy Oligarchy is a form of government where most political power effectively rests with a small segment of society (typically the most powerful, whether by wealth, military strength, ruthlessness, or political influence). The word oligarchy is from the Greek for "few" and "rule". Some political theorists have argued that all societies are inevitably oligarchies no matter the supposed political system. An oligarchy is a government that is controlled by very few people. This type of government is also known as an aristocracy because theoretically, the people in charge are society's most elite and educated individuals. Although often times, the oligarchy is based on something else, such as race or familial relations. A prime example of an oligarchy based on race is the apartheid in South Africa during the early 1900s.
4. Direct Democracy Direct democracy is the direct expression of popular will through referenda or plebiscites, as opposed to the indirect expression of popular will through elected representatives. The people of Australia regularly express their democratic will through federal, state and local government elections for their representatives, but the expression of direct democracy is only on rare occasions through constitutional referenda, and on irregular occasions through local council or shire surveys. A direct democracy, also referred to as a true democracy, is government by the people. Theoretically, all members of society would have an equal say in how the country is run. In reality, this is actually impossible if there are more than a few people involved. Direct democracies can happen, but usually in an organization, such as the Order of the Eastern Stars, in which every member casts a vote on any given decision.
5. Representative Democracy Representative democracy is a form of democracy in which the people allow others to represent them in the various forms of democratic process and are not necessarily directly involved in any of the processes of legislation or lawmaking. This form of democracy is found at the federal level of the United States (US) and has become especially popular in any region where the number of citizens is so great that direct representation would have the potential of becoming overly complicated or bogged down by so many different voices. While representative democracy is not necessarily a lesser form of democracy, there are some people who feel that the representatives can get in the way and may not properly serve the people they are meant to represent.
6. Credits Thank you very much for watching my PowerPoint hope you learnt more about the four types of government!
