Types of Governments
TYPES OF GOVERNMENTS
Left vs. Right
It is amazing how much the meaning of the words “left” and “right” changes from one person to another when referring to various types of governments. Every news media outlet portrays a different point of view. Many people view the political scale ranging from communist governments on the far left to fascist governments on the far right placing “moderate” governments in the middle. This type of political scale leads to confusion as it provides little information regarding the power structure between the leaders of a government and its people. The far left and far right of this political scale are governments that are structured from the top down. The leaders have complete control of the people and determine the rules that they must follow without their consent. Governments in the middle of this scale have less control over the people but the level of control is ambiguous.
The discussion of left vs. right governments becomes even more perplexing since it is common for people to refer to political parties as being associated with “the left” or “the right”. In the United States the Democrats are commonly referred to as being the party of “the left” while the Republicans are depicted as the party of “the right”. Using the words “left” and “right” in this context does not provide any information regarding the level of control the leaders of the government have over the people. For the remainder of this section on the web site, Types of Governments, the words “left” and “right” will specifically refer to types of governments and not political parties.
The Founders used a different scale to measure governments. Their scale was based on the degree of power the leaders had over the people. On the left side of the scale are governments that exercise tyrannical control of the people such as in a monarchy or dictatorship. On the right side of the scale there is no government or a state of anarchy. The middle of the scale represents governments that give a certain degree of power to the people. This web site will use the Founder’s definition of the governmental power scale when describing different forms of governments with tyrannical governments having total control of the people on the far left to no government or a state of anarchy on the far right.
The different types of governments will be described in the general order from left to right on the Founder’s scale with those having the most control over the people on the far left to a state of anarchy on the far right. There are many different words that people use to describe governments with some of them having only slight differences. Three key characteristics of each type of government listed on this page will be described. The first being whether or not the majority of the people have consented to the particular form of government. The second is how much control (if any) the people have in their government and the third is the relationship held between the military leaders, the government leaders, and the people.
Totalitarian
Under this type of government the state has complete control over all aspects of public and private life. The government is composed of a single political party that operates all sectors of the media and uses mass propaganda to influence the people and stay in power. Totalitarian governments are positioned on the complete, far left side of the Founder’s scale. The leader(s) of a totalitarian government are not elected and as a result there is little consideration for the rights of the people. The people have no say in the operations of the government or creation of the laws that rule them. The military is always used in a totalitarian style government to keep the current leaders in power and to maintain absolute control of the people. People who live under totalitarian governments are never permitted to own guns. Examples of totalitarian style governments are Germany under Adolf Hitler and Russian under Joseph Stalin.
Authoritarian
This type of government is similar to totalitarianism except there is an illusion of some power in the hands of the people. Like a totalitarian government an authoritarian government uses massive regulations to administer every aspect of public and private life. There is a certain degree of private business ownership but the immense degree of governmental control makes business ownership a beautiful facade over a crumbled building. An authoritarian government would be placed slightly to the right of a totalitarian government on the Founder’s scale at a point about 5% from the far left and 95% from anarchy on the far right. If elections are held they are basically rigged as the choices are preselected by the current people in power. The people have no say in the operations of the government or creation of the laws that rule them. The military is always used in an authoritarian style government to keep the current leaders in power and to maintain absolute control of the people. People who live under authoritarian governments are never permitted to own guns. Examples of authoritarian style governments are Libya under Moammar al-Qadhafi and Iran under Ali Khamenei.
Dictatorship
Rule by one. In this form of government one person creates all the rules and decides how, when and if they are enforced. The rights of the people are commonly ignored. The Founder’s would place a dictatorship anywhere from the complete, far left (operating as a totalitarian government) to a point, at best, around 20% from the far left and 80% from the far right of the governmental power scale depending on how much power the dictator allows the people to have. Almost by definition there are no elections in a dictatorship. A dictator assumes power by force nearly 100% of the time. The people usually have very little say, if any, in the operations of government in a dictatorship. In reality dictatorships do not exist because one person never leads alone. A dictator has to have at least a small group of people to be able to manage the operations of the country and stay in power. Dictatorships in practice operate as oligarchies. Sometimes a dictator is placed in power by a small group of people and serves really nothing more than playing the part of a front man with little to do with the actual operations of the country. Examples of dictatorships are Germany under Adolf Hitler, France under Napoleon Bonaparte, Cuba under Fidel Castro, and Venezuela under Hugo Chavez.
Monarchy
Rule by one. Similar to a dictatorship except the monarch (king or queen) usually claims the right to rule by “the divine right of kings” which is the premise that kings or queens are appointed by God to rule the people. In a monarchy, as in a dictatorship, the rights of the people are often ignored. The Founder’s would place a monarchy, like a dictatorship, anywhere from the complete, far left (operating as a totalitarian government) to a point, at best, around 20% from the far left and 80% from the far right of the governmental power scale depending on how much power the monarch allows the people to have. The right to rule is passed from one generation to the next so there are no elections. The people have very little say in the government. A monarch has total control of the military. A monarch, like a dictator, typically has a small group of people to help manage the affairs of the country such as a council of nobles so in reality the country operates as an oligarchy. Examples of monarchies are England under various kings and queens (Charles, Elizabeth, etc.), France under various kings and queens and Japan under emperors. These countries no longer operate as pure monarchies. France currently has a president for its chief executive officer and although England still has kings or queens and Japan still has an emperor they no longer serve as the head of state. Their roles are mainly ceremonial.
Autocracy
Rule by one. An autocrat has absolute control over the people. Although an autocracy is basically another word for a dictatorship the term autocracy technically has no positive or negative connotations.
Oligarchy
Rule by a few. Oligarchies are typically ruled by one or a combination of any of the following; wealthy families, families of royalty, owners of extremely large corporations, and military leaders. The exact rulers of an oligarchy are not always apparent to the people. Often in an oligarchy a dictator is put in charge and serves as the front man who represents the leadership of the country while the real power structure operates behind the scenes. Oligarchies typically operate using authoritarian or totalitarian control over the people, although this is not positively the case. The Founders would place most oligarchies at the far left of the political power scale. Elections are non-existent or at best very rare under an oligarchy. Oligarchies nearly always use the military to maintain control of the government and keep the leaders in power. Examples of oligarchies are France under the French First Republic and the Directory, the ancient Greek civilization of Sparta, and present day Russia. Some arguments can be made that even the United States is somewhat controlled by a corporate oligarchy. Extremely large corporations such as media outlets, builders of military equipment and banks employ high paid lobbyists to sway the opinions of the elected officials in Congress and the President. If the elected officials start to work in the interest of the large corporations instead of the people the country can basically fall under the control of a corporate oligarchy. It can be debated that most countries of the past and present have either openly operated as an oligarchy or have at least been greatly influenced by a behind the scenes oligarchy.
Plutocracy
Rule by a few. A plutocracy is a specific form of oligarchy that by definition is ruled by a wealthy group of people. This type of government would be placed on the far left of the Founder’s scale of political power. The people’s rights are limited as are elections if they exist at all. An example of a plutocracy would be the Roman Republic or the civilization of Carthage.
Aristocracy
Rule by a few. An aristocracy is just another blend of an oligarchy where the leaders are typically the most famous citizens. The right to rule is often passed from one generation to another. This type of government would be placed on the far left of the Founder’s scale of political power. The people’s rights are limited as are elections if they exist at all. An example of an aristocracy would be the city-states of ancient Greece.
Stratocracy
Rule by military. A stratocracy is basically a formal military dictatorship. A military dictatorship is often not recognized by any written laws or recognized as legitimate by the people. In a stratocracy leaders of the military fill formal positions of an orderly government. A stratocracy recognizes the military’s right to rule by law. The Founders would place this type of government on the far left of their scale. The people’s rights are limited. Examples of stratocracies are the late Roman Republic and the current State Peace and Development Council of Myanmar (Burma).
Military Junta
A military junta is a government that is composed of a committee of military leaders. They take power by force and do not hold elections. A junta can become a stratocracy where a formal government is created that places the military leaders in power. The Founders would place this type of government on the far left of their scale. Examples of military juntas are the country of Chile from 1973-1990, Argentina from 1976-1983 and Libya from 1969 to the present. Another country that recently formed a junta in 2011 is the country of Egypt.
Theocracy
A theocracy is a government that is ruled by religious authority. It can be ruled by one person or many different people. The laws of a theocracy are modeled after the particular beliefs of a religion. A theocracy can fall anywhere on the Founder’s scale depending on the level of control the people have over the government. Some theocracies have elected leaders and some do not. The people can have substantial control over the government or none at all. Some theocracies use the military to assure control over the people while others do not. One example of a theocracy is the ancient kingdom of Israel where the people where organized into small manageable units that each had elected officials. The laws were created with the consent of the people and people were considered innocent until proven guilty if they were accused of a crime. There are many countries that operate as theocracies under Islamic Law (Sharia) and have their laws modeled after the Islamic ruling system. Countries operating today under Islamic Law include Yemen, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. The exact structure of the Islamic governments varies from one country to the next. Iran has a supreme leader that is elected by an Assembly of Experts that are Islamic scholars elected by the people from a pre-approved list by the government. The supreme leader appoints the commanders of the military and police as well as other important government positions. Iran also has a president that is elected by the people and is in charge of implementing the constitution and performing all executive functions that are not handled by the supreme leader. The people do have some say in the government as they do get to elect some positions of the government directly and others indirectly. Whether or not a person has rights depends on the person. Islamic Law does not treat everyone equally.