Forms of Government

A form of government is a term that refers to the set ofpolitical institutions by which a government of a state is organizedin order to exert its powers over a community politics. Synonymsinclude “regime type” and “system of government”. Thisdefinition holds valid even if the government is unsuccessful inexerting its power. But a failed government is still considered aform of government. Churches, corporations, clubs, and other subnational entities also have “government” forms.

Beyond official typologies it is important to think aboutregime types by looking at the general attributes of the forms ofgovernment:

traditional or modern;

autocracy (totalitarianism or authoritarianism), oligarchy,

or democracy;

direct or indirect elections;

republic or monarchy;

constitutional monarchy or absolute monarchy;

majority government or coalition government;

parliamentary, presidential, or semi-presidential;

confederation, federation, or unitary.

Nineteen states in the world do not explicitly name theirgovernment forms in their official names (the official name ofJamaica, for instance, is simply “Jamaica”), but most have anofficial name which identifies their form of government, or at leastthe form of government toward which they are striving:

Australia, the Bahamas, and Dominica are each officiallya commonwealth.

Luxemburg is a grand duchy.

Russia and Switzerland are each a federation.

There are 33 kingdoms in the world, but only 18 named assuch. The other 15 are known as realms. Jordan isspecifically titled the “Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,”

while Britain is formally the United Kingdom of GreatBritain and Northern Ireland.

Andorra, Liechtenstein, and Monaco are each aprincipality.

The word “republic” is used by 132 nations in theirofficial names. Many specify a type of republic: China istitled a “people’s republic; North Korea- a “democraticpeople’s republic”, Egypt and Syria-“Arab republics”;

Algeria is a “democratic and popular republic”; Vietnam-asocialist republic.

States that wish to emphasize that their provinces have afair amount of autonomy from central government mayspecifically state this: Germany and Nigeria are each afederal republic, Ethiopia is a federal democratic republic,

the Comoros is a federal Islamic republic, and Brazil is afederative republic. Besides the Comoros, four othernations dictate that they are Islamic republics.

Eleven nations simply refer to themselves as states, but ahandful specify what kind of state. Papua New Guinea andSamoa emphasize that they are independent states, whilethe United States of America and the United MexicanStates are made up of constituent states.

Brunei and Oman are sultanates.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-16