hey guys, I thought I might just ask about something I've always wanted to know...
you know how there are countries like australia bieng democratic.. america, I think its republic I'm not sure, and other countries being a dictatorship, or comunist... could someone give me a list of all the different types of government and they're differences and beliefs/ values and an example of each...
thanks heaps :D

Here is a partial list:


List of forms of government

Aristocracy
Autocracy
Democracy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy
Despotism
Dictatorship
Meritocracy
Monarchy
Absolute monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Oligarchy
Plutocracy
Republic
Islamic republic
Single-party state
Theocracy
Tyranny

A more complete list and a description for each type is found at the following site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor..._of_government

There are only three forms of government. All governments utilize one or more elements of these three.

Monarchy = Rule of One. Sometimes called a dictatorship. Where the political and governmental decisions are decided by one person.

Democracy = Rule of the people. In this form, the citizen participates directly with the functions and decisions of government.

Aristocracy = Rule of the Best. This is the most common form of government where the government is run by a select group of people.

The United States is an Aristocracy. The government is selected by using the democratic process of citizens voting for their representatives. Another term for aristocracy is republic. Do not confuse the term aristocracy with hereditary nobility -that is something completely different but often mistakenly applied.
Why don't I list communism or fascism? These are economic and political philosophies, not forms of government. The USSR wasn't always a dictatorship- They had the Grand Soviet made up of representatives from each of the Soviet Republics. Nazi Germany still had its Reichstag (Parliament) although Hitler assumed great control over the government. Theoretically, you could have a communist democracy and a fascist aristocracy and historically, these did exist, although few countries are small enough to have functional democracies any more.

What is Meritocracy ?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dealta

what is Meritocracy ?

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Sounds like a system of government based or merit selection. Perhaps people apply for the position(s) of rulers based on their C.V.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Tut