different forms of government first of all a government is a body or a group of people that determines the way in which a country state province township city or village is run put simply a government is that which constitutes the governing authority of a political unit or organization it must be noted that laws and policies are made at each of these levels regarding everything connected to the daily life of a community and all citizens are expected to abide by these laws and policies some of the most famous forms of government are democracy monarchy republic totalitarianism facism dictatorship communism socialism oligarchy anarchy theocracy aristocracy and colonialism let me discuss very briefly each of these forms of government on democracy the word democracy comes from the two greek words demos which means people and kratos which means power democracy therefore literally means power of the people sometimes the word kratos is translated as rule for this reason democracy can also mean rule by the people formally speaking democracy is a system of government of a country whose leaders have been elected by the people therefore the power is with the people there are many types of democracies but all have the main feature of the people being able to decide who will lead and represent their interests this happens through the process of free and fair elections so the people can give their opinions about issues occurring in their communities on monarchy a monarchy is a form of government led by an individual who holds the position for life having inherited the position and who passes it on to a relative which is usually a son or daughter in the past all monarchs held great power and made all the decisions and laws of the country this is known as absolute monarchy today most monarchs act as head of state filling a ceremonial role with little or no power regarding the actual governing of the country a constitutional monarchy is a country which has a written constitution that sets out the rules for how the country will be governed in the rights and responsibilities of its people and has a monarch as head of state on republic a republic is a country where the head of government is an elected or chosen president sometimes the president is also the head of state presidents are usually elected for a specific length of time called a term of office in some countries a president may only serve for a few terms a republic may or may not be democratic in a democratic republic the people choose their leaders through elections although in countries where a president is in a ceremonial role it may be by government appointment rather than by election in some undemocratic republics the leaders are chosen by a small number of people and may stay in office for a long time sometimes without ever being elected or re-elected in some cases there may be elections but these may be conducted in corrupt ways or electors are not given a free choice of who to vote for on totalitarianism in a totalitarian society the government holds absolute control over all areas of the lives of its people a set of beliefs is imposed on its people who must conform or face unpleasant consequences this form of government came into existence during the 1920s when the fascist governments of italy and nazi germany came into power on fascism fascism is a form of government usually headed by a dictator it involves total government control of political economic cultural religious and social activities some industries may be owned by individuals but under government control this form of government involves extreme patriotism warlike policies and extreme discrimination against minority groups on dictatorship in a dictatorship one person called a dictator has absolute power this differs from totalitarianism in that it is less controlling and not marked by a rigid set of beliefs sometimes a country run by a dictatorship may be called a republic such republics have only one political party and the dictator makes most government policies and decisions to remain in power dictators must continue to use force or threats and suppress the people's freedom on communism communism is an economic system in which there is little or no private ownership of anything property is held by the community rather than by individuals all economic activity is controlled by the government including what food crops are grown what goods are manufactured and to whom they are sold and at what prices also limited personal freedom of individuals is allowed including where they can travel and how they spend their money on socialism socialism is a system that encourages cooperation rather than competition among citizens citizens communally own the means of production and distribution of goods and services while a centralized government manages it each person benefits from and contributes to the system according to their needs and ability on oligarchy an oligarchy is a form of government in which only a few wealthy people hold power a republic may be an oligarchy if just a few people have the right to vote in most oligarchies the power of the leadership is supported by the wealthy and the military hence in oligarchy a specific set of qualities such as wealth heredity and race are used to give a small group of people power oligarchies often have authoritative rulers and an absence of democratic practices or individual rights on anarchy the word anarchy comes from the two greek words and which means without an archos which means chief or ruler thus anarchy literally means without a chief or without a ruler or without rulers hence in an anarchical society there is a state of lawlessness or political disorder because there is no governmental authority on theocracy theocracy refers to a form of government in which a specific religious ideology determines the leadership laws and customs in many instances there is little to no distinction between scriptural laws and legal codes likewise religious clergy will typically occupy leadership roles sometimes including the highest office in the nation on aristocracy aristocracy refers to a government form in which a small elite ruling class called the aristocrats have power over those in lower socioeconomic strata members of the aristocracy are usually chosen based on their education upbringing and genetic or family history aristocracies often connect wealth and ethnicity with both the ability and right to rule on colonialism colonialism is a form of government in which a nation extends its sovereignty over other territories in other words it involves the expansion of a nation's rule beyond its borders colonialism often leads to ruling over indigenous populations and exploiting resources the coloniser typically installs its economy culture religious order and government form to strengthen its authority