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Government is a system for cooperation across a large population such as a society, province or city. This may serve the common interests of the population in areas such as civility, justice, economy, defense, education, healthcare, safety and security. Governments may also be designed to provide rights, freedoms, civil duty and political participation such that people are free to define their own lives and influence the direction of society. The following are common types of government.
DemocracyA system that gives the people the right to choose their government and their governing legislation. This requires a wide range of rights including voting, freedom of association, freedom of speech and the right to run for public office.Social Market EconomyA democracy with a capitalist market economy that uses taxation and regulations to create more even income distribution and to reduce economic bads. Most developed countries are a social market economy.
Presidential RepublicA democracy where the people vote separately for a president and a legislative branch. This invests significant power in a single individual. A system of checks and balances may be used to prevent abuse of power. The United States is a presidential republic.Parliamentary RepublicA system of government where the people vote for a legislative branch and the head of government is appointed by that branch. This allows a prime minister, premier or chancellor to be replaced at any time by the legislative branch. This essentially means that a single government is formed as opposed to a separate president and legislature.FederalismA society that balances power between a national government and multiple regional governments such as states or provinces. This is a device to unify a large country with many regional differences.LibertarianismA society that minimizes the scope of government in order to prioritize freedom, autonomy, individualism and free association.TheocracyA government that is strongly tied to a religion.Partial DemocracyA nation that has voting but isn't a full democracy due to restrictions and controls that prevent political participation. For example, a nation where the media is owned or strongly influenced by the government.KleptocracyA corrupt government that uses the resources of society as a source of wealth and power for a small elite. TotalitarianismA one-party state, monarchy or dictatorship that do not tolerate political opposition. CommunismA system where all productive property is owned and controlled by the "workers." In practice, this grants all power to a bureaucratic elite that administer every aspect of society. Without a profit motive, the economy must be centrally planned. In countries where this was implemented central planning resulted in low quality of life, extreme inefficiency and famine. Communism has only been implemented as a totalitarian state as people would be likely to take back power from the bureaucratic elite if given a vote.SocialismSocialism is a non-specific term that is commonly applied to both social market economies and communism. A reasonable definition is a democratic government that implements large scale redistribution of resources via taxation and social programs.EmpireA government that engages in conquest, colonization, plunder and subordination of foreign societies and territories using coercion and force. World GovernmentGovernment-like institutions that operate at the global level whereby a large number of nations cooperate. Democracy vs AuthoritarianismGovernments differ in the degree to which they distribute power equally. A true democracy creates political equality whereby everyone has an equal say. A partial democracy has elections but also has features or flaws that grant an elite more political power. An authoritarian government places power in the hands of a relatively small group or a single individual.Presidential Republic vs Parliamentary RepublicIn a presidential republic, a president with executive powers is directly elected by the people. This president has independent powers and is mostly not accountable to the legislature. In a parliamentary republic, a prime minister is appointed by the majority party or a coalition in the legislature. This prime minster is accountable to the legislator and can be removed at any time.Federalism vs CentralismFederalism has two levels of power such as the federal and state governments of the United States. Centralism has a single level of power at the federal level.Capitalism vs CommunismCapitalism provides a framework for open competition and economic freedoms. This can create vast wealth, economic efficiency and innovation driven by the profit motive but also produces significant inequality. Communism disallows economic freedoms in order to create economic equality whereby [in theory] everyone has the same income. This requires centrally planning as there is no competition to drive decision making and workers may be unmotivated as there are no economic incentives. Historically, communism produces economic inefficiency to the point that society can't meet the basic needs of its population.Communism vs SocialismCommunism has never been implemented at any scale as a democracy as people would tend to vote for their economic freedoms to be restored. Socialism is a government that seeks improved economic equality within a democratic system of government. This generally means using capitalism as an economic engine but then using taxation to provide limited wealth redistribution with social infrastructure and welfare programs.Libertarianism vs TotalitarianismLibertarianism is the minimization of government and maximization of rights and freedoms. Totalitarianism is the maximization of government where the government plays a role in every aspect of life. This has many flavors such as paternalism that views the people as not having much agency such that the government acts as a parent-like protector.
Key ConceptsA few key concepts related to the systems of government above.If you enjoyed this page, please consider bookmarking Simplicable.
ReferencesDikötter, Frank. Mao's great famine: The history of China's most devastating catastrophe, 1958-1962. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2010.Wemheuer, Felix. "Collectivization and famine." The Oxford Handbook of the History of Communism. 2013.Dawisha, Karen. "The limits of the bureaucratic politics model: Observations on the soviet case." Studies in Comparative Communism 13.4 (1980): 300-326.Vallentyne, Peter. "Libertarianism." (2008).Przeworski, Adam. Capitalism and social democracy. Cambridge University Press, 1986.
A complete overview of the public sector with examples.
An overview of the role of government with examples.
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