Such constitutional monarchies as Britain, Canada, and Sweden are generally counted as democracies in practice. Governing America , second edition, by Dr. Theodore J. Lowi, John L. Senior Professor of American Insitutions, Cornell University, copyright 1981. Power may be vested in one person, a small group, or a majority of the people. The following list provides definitions of the labels applied to several basic forms of government. A single, usually hereditary, chief of state with life tenure exercises government powers varying from nominal to absolute.
Unlimited power is possessed by one person.
Supreme power is exercised by them directly. Government is ruled indirectly by the people through a system of representation or delegate authority. Dr. Howerton won't like this. Ideally, he believed, one wise and benevolent man should rule. Yet, practically, he recognized the ease with which a king could be corrupted into tyranny.