Forms of government

This exhaustive list details the various forms of government found in the galaxy, as well as their associated terms.

## The Basics - Read No Further!

So you want to create a government. This tends to be complicated, but if you want to make one without bursting a blood vessel, this brief guide can help you! Just as long as you don't go further than this section. We'll explain below.

Governments are comprised of four basic structures:

* Primary forms by *power structure*:
	+ **Unitary** - Central government is supreme.
	+ **Federal** - Union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central government.
	+ **Confederal** - Permanent union, often by treaty, of separate political entities for common action in relation to other entities.
	+ **Anarchy** - No governing structure; mob rule.
* Primary forms by *power source*:
	+ **Aristocracy** - A few elites rule, AKA **oligarchy**.
	+ **Democracy** - Majority rules.
* Primary forms by *legal system*:
	+ **Authoritarian** - Strong central power and limited political freedoms.
	+ **Republic** - Elected officials make decisions.
* Primary forms by *political alignment*:
	+ **Left-wing** - Favors collective responsibility, nationalization (non-private, state-run industry), and social programs (*e.g.* handouts). Encourages collective defense (relying on state services for personal protection) and higher taxes for the middle- and upper-class (as per wealth redistribution).
	+ **Right-wing** - Favors individual responsibility, privatization (self-owned, free industry), fewer social programs. Encourages individual defense (*e.g.* gun ownership) and individual wealth (lower taxes in general).
	+ **Centrist** - A mix of left and right.
	+ **Extremist**
		- **Socialist (far-left, authoritarian)** - Extensively nationalizes industries, regulates media (propaganda, censorship), and discourages capitalism and the free market. Encourages wealth redistribution (overtaxation), class inequality under the guise of class equality (leading to poor vs. elite, with no middle class), and state surveillance. State supremacy veiled by egalitarianism. Also called Marxism.
		- **Fascist (far-left, authoritarian)** - An offshoot of socialism, created by radical nationalists as an alternative to the more globally-minded communism. Supports state-owned industry and self-sufficiency, opposes classism. Often falsely referred to as right-wing.
		- **Communist (farther-left, authoritarian)** - Completely nationalizes industries and controls media; no private property or individual wealth (except for the state elites). Enforced by police or military. Opposition is suppressed, no free speech. Extensive state surveillance. State supremacy is paraded and can lead to compulsory military service and expansionism.
		- **Alt-Right** - Often incorrectly considered a political alignment. It is a fictitious term created to vilify right-wing proponents.

Government typing usually contains a mix of terms in varying numbers. For example, a unitary theocratic republic, a democratic federal republic, a matriarchal oligarchy, a communist technocracy, etc. Want more options? Well...

Below is a comprehensive and **unspeakably exhaustive** list of common and special government types. Read at your own risk! Do not come whining to us that you missed a meeting that happened three days ago because you couldn't pull away from this **monumental wall of text**!

## A - C

* **Adhocracy**
Adhocracy operates in opposite manner to a bureaucracy. The word is a portmanteau of the Latin *ad hoc*, meaning "for the purpose", and the suffix -cracy, from the ancient Greek *kratein* (κρατεῖν), meaning "to govern". It is essentially any form of organization that goes beyond typical bureaucratic lines to capture opportunities, solve problems, and get results. It generally requires sophisticated and often automated technical systems to exist.

* **Aesymnetocracy**
Aesymnetocracy is effectively elective tyranny. It is run by an Aesymnetes, who is both of monarchic and tyrannical authority, appointed legally and ruling over willing subjects, but at the same time is not bound by any laws. The name is from Greek αισυμνήτης, from αίσα, *aisa*, a "just portion", hence "a person who gives everyone his just portion". It is not hereditary, but is sometimes held for life, and at other times only until some object is accomplished, such as the reconciling of the various factions in the state. One example of a government that utilizes this system is the Arisracan Mandate.

* **Androcracy**
Androcracy, or andrarchy, is a form of government in which the government rulers are male only. It is usually used as an adjective for a more basic government form, such as "androcratic democracy". It is the opposite of a gynocracy (female-dominated) and gylany (gender-equal). It is not necessarily the same as a patriarchy, in which the prime ruler is male.

* **Aristocracy**
Aristocracy is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule, generally those with considerable influence and wealth. It can be a form of oligarchy.

* **Athenian democracy**
Athenian democracy is a sort of direct democracy where the people do not elect representatives to vote on their behalf, but vote on legislation and executive bills themselves. Participation is not typically open (often only for land-owners), but the in-group of participants are of all economic classes, and they often participate on a large scale.

* **Authoritarianism**
Authoritarianism is a form of government characterized by strong central power and limited political freedoms. Individual freedoms are subordinate to the state and there is no constitutional accountability under an authoritarian regime. There is limited political pluralism, a basis for legitimacy based on emotion ("Sure, we might be strict, but what is personal freedom in the face of security? You need us."), minimal social mobilization (protests forbidden), and informally defined executive power with often vague and shifting powers.

* **Autocracy**
An autocracy is a government in which one person possesses supreme political power to direct all the activities of the state, and his decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control (unless the implicit threat of a coup d'état or mass insurrection exists). It is synonymous with totalitarianism. It is distinct from oligarchy ("rule by the few") and democracy ("rule by the people").

* **Benevolent dictatorship**
Benevolent dictatorship is a form of government in which a dictator exercises political power for the benefit of the whole population rather than exclusively for himself or only a small portion of the population. A benevolent dictator may allow for some democratic decision-making to exist. Many dictatorships portray themselves as benevolent, often demonizing democratic regimes as messy, inefficient, and corrupt, but few are widely viewed as such outside their sphere of influence and are not *true* benevolent dictatorships. The free military dictatorship of Qromeelln is sometimes seen as a form of true benevolent dictatorship.

* **Caliphate**
A caliphate is an aristocratic–constitutional republic with strong elements of a theocracy, which means that the head of state, the Caliph, and other officials are representatives of the people and their religion (often militaristic in nature). The officials must govern according to constitutional and religious law. It sometimes displays elements of direct democracy and an elective monarchy. The name comes from the Arabic *khilāfa*, and Turkish *hilafet*. The planet of Timimo-Hamine is an example of a worldwide caliphate.

* **Capitalist republic**
A capitalist republic is the polar opposite of Marxist thought. Whereas a socialist republic is a "dictatorship of the proletariat", a capitalist republic is a "dictatorship of the bourgeoisie". Tlu Komoy, leader of Malotow, distinguishes his vision of a republic from a capitalist republic, which he characterizes as an "old Terran form" of government that is "out of date and unstable".

* **Carceral archipelago**
A carceral archipelago ("prison and a series of islands") refers to a state with heavily-monitored social control and discipline over its population in all areas of social life. It ideally employs on the idea of an incarceration system, producing society's need for prisons, and great physical boundaries are established to gain control of urban space. In the form of a carceral dystopia, public space is transformed into defendable space, with the installation of walls, gates, fences, surveillance cameras, security checkpoints, and occasionally panopticon facilities. In these spaces, gatherings of strangers to the area are discouraged, and barricades of various forms can prevent people from crossing. Certain sections of Malotow feature cities with walled districts.

* **Coconstitutionalism**
Coconstitutionalism is where two institutional cultures exist in a complex semi-autonomous relationship to each other.

* **Collaborative governance**
Collaborative governance is a process in which participants (parties, agencies, stakeholders) representing different interests are collectively empowered to make a policy decision or make recommendations to a final decision-maker who will not substantially change consensus recommendations from the group. It can include or disclude public participation.

* **Collective leadership**
Collective leadership is characterized by limiting the powers of the leader as related to other offices by enhancing the powers of collective bodies. It is a form of oligarchy. The post-Stalin Soviet Union was a collective leadership communist state.

* **Communist state**
A communist state is characterized by single-party rule or dominant-party rule of a communist party and the adherence to a Leninist or Marxist-Leninist communist ideology. According to this principle, public ownership of all means of production by the Communist party-run state is necessary for the possibility to further the interest of the working class. Many planets with communist regimes or elements also suffer from sentient rights abuses and weak economies. A good example of this is the planet of Kurudris.

* **Confederation**
A confederation is a permanent union of political entities for common action in relation to other entities. Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense, foreign affairs or a common currency, with the central government being required to provide support for all members.

* **Confessionalism**
Confessionalism is a theocratic system of government that refers to *de jure* (in law) mix of religion and politics. It can mean distributing political and institutional power proportionally among religious communities.

* **Congruocracy**
Congruocracy (from "congruence"; also called "properocracy", "carpocracy", or "perfectionate") is a term used to describe an extremely legalistic form of government; an unwavering by-the-book system effectively run by perfectionists. Congruocracies generally leave no room for error, as "congruocrats" believe erroneous behavior in any case is dangerous to society; and circumstances are seldom considered to warrant a broken law. A congruocracy requires few mistakes be made in anything, usually including grammar. Repeated grammatical mistakes earn a sort of "speech ticket/citation" or even mandatory re-education in extreme cases. A few congruocrats advocate the public execution of rappers. The planet of Kossenla is considered by some folks to be a partial congruocracy since grammatical and other linguistic mistakes are treated as a form of profanity.

* **Consensus democracy**
Consensus democracy is characterized by a decision-making structure which involves and takes into account as broad a range of opinions as possible, as opposed to systems where minority opinions can potentially be ignored by vote-winning majorities. It also features increased citizen participation both in determining the political agenda and in the decision-making process itself.

* **Consociationalism**
Consociationalism (kon-SO-see-AY-shun-al-izzm) is a form of government involving guaranteed group representation, often used for managing conflict in deeply divided societies. A consociational state as a state which has major internal divisions along ethnic, religious, or linguistic lines, with none of the divisions large enough to form a majority group, but nonetheless manages to remain stable due to consultation among the elites of each of its major social groups. Consociational states are often contrasted with states with majoritarian electoral systems. An example of a planet under consociationalism is Merensesti.

* **Constitutional dictatorship**
A Constitutional dictatorship is a form of government in which dictatorial powers are exercised during an emergency. The dictator is not absolute and the dictator's authority remains limited by the constitution.

* **Constitutional monarchy**
Constitutional monarchy (or limited monarchy) is where a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution. This form of government differs from absolute monarchy in which an absolute monarch serves as the unbounded source of regulatory power. Most constitutional monarchies employ a parliamentary system in which the monarch may have strictly ceremonial duties or may have reserve powers. There is usually also a prime minister who is the head of government and exercises effective political power.

* **Constitutional theocracy**
A constitutional theocracy is where a single religion is granted an authoritative central role in the legal and political system. In contrast to a pure theocracy, power resides in non-clergy political figures operating within the bounds of a constitution, rather than in the religious leadership.

* **Cooperative federalism**
Cooperative federalism is a concept of federalism in which planetary, national, state, and local governments interact cooperatively and collectively to solve common problems, rather than making policies separately or clashing over a policy in a system dominated by the planetary or national government.

* **Corporatism**
Corporatism, also known as corporativism, is a system of economic, political, or social organization that involves association of the people of society into corporate groups, such as agricultural, business, ethnic, labor, military, patronage, or scientific affiliations, on the basis of common interests. Corporatism is based upon the interpretation of a community as an organic body. This is **not to be confused** with a corporatocracy.

* **Corporative federalism**
Corporative federalism, not to be confused with "cooperative federalism", is a system of federalism not based on the common federalist idea of relative land area or nearest spheres of influence for governance. Essentially, groups who are considered incorporated members of their own prerogative structure can delegate their individual effective legislature within the overall government.

* **Corporate republic**
A corporate republic is governed a board of directors and executives, much like a business but **not necessarily** as a full corporatocracy. Utilities, including hospitals, schools, the army, and the police force are all privatized. The social welfare function is carried out by corporations in the form of benefits to employees. Socialist governments can also be forms of corporate republics; with the state assuming full control of all economic and political life and establishing a monopoly on everything within national boundaries - effectively making the state into a giant corporation.

* **Corporatocracy**
Corporatocracy denotes a system of government that serves the interest of, and is usually run by, megacorporations (usually a single megacorp) and involves ties between government and business. It is where corporations and conglomerates directly control the direction and governance of a country, including carrying out economic planning. Various planets in the galaxy are corporatocracies, and a prominent example is Earth, which is governed by the Wanesta Redlaun Linowood megacorporation and its five Directors, effectively making it a corporate oligarchy or quintumvirate.

* **Counterintelligence state**
Counterintelligence state (sometimes also called intelligence state or spookocracy) is a state in which the state security service penetrates and permeates all societal institutions, including the military. It is characterized by the presence of a large, elite force acting for the state, which claims it must maintain an enormous vigilance and enforcement apparatus. This apparatus is not accountable to the public and enjoys immense police powers. Whether the civilian government is able to control the security bodies is an open question; indeed, the civilian government is so penetrated by the apparatus that there is no clear distinction between the two.

* **Crowned republic**
A crowned republic is a form of constitutional monarchy where the monarch's role is ceremonial and all the royal prerogatives are prescribed by custom and law in such a way that the monarch has little or no discretion over governmental and constitutional issues.

* **Cyberocracy**
The fundamental feature of a cyberocracy is the rapid transmission of relevant information from the source of a problem to the people in a position able to fix said problem via a system of interconnected computer networks and automated information sorting software, with sentient decision makers only be called into use in the case of unusual problems, problem trends, or through an appeal process pursued by an individual. Cyberocracy is the functional antithesis of traditional bureaucracies which notoriously suffer from fiefdomism, slowness, and a list of other unfortunate qualities. A cyberocracy may use administrative AIs, if not an AI as head of state, forming a Machine Rule government. The planet of Pera Tomiu is an example of a democratic cyberocracy that uses both organic politicians and AI programs to deal with issues.

## D - F

* **Defensive democracy**
Defensive democracy is where members of a democratic society believe it necessary to limit some rights and freedoms, in order to protect the institutions of the democracy. This includes, but is not limited to, banning a particular party or ideology that has caused dire problems in the past.

* **Demarchy**
Demarchy (or lottocracy) is a form of government in which the state is governed by randomly selected decision makers who have been selected by sortition (lot) from a broadly inclusive pool of eligible citizens. These groups, sometimes termed "policy juries", "citizens' juries", or "consensus conferences", deliberately make decisions about public policies in much the same way that juries decide criminal cases.

* **Democracy**
Democracy is a society in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Planets and smaller political units ascribing to this ideal generally have been organized such that by far, most of these decisions are made by a select few. Some units use a form of "direct democracy", while other units use various forms of "indirect democracy". Usually, this includes equal (and more or less direct) participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law. It can also encompass social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination.

* **Democratic republic**
Also called a "representative democracy", a democratic republic is a variety of democracy founded with elected people representing a group of people, as opposed to direct democracy. It is an element of both the parliamentary system and presidential system of government and is typically used in a lower chamber such as a House of Commons, and is generally curtailed by constitutional constraints such as an upper chamber. It has been described by some political theorists as polyarchy.

* **Despotism**
Despotism is a form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute power. That entity may be an individual, as in an autocracy, or it may be a group, as in an oligarchy. The word despotism means to "rule in the fashion of a despot" and does not necessarily require only a singular despot.

* **Diarchy**
Diarchy is a form of government in which two individuals, the diarchs, are the heads of state. In most diarchies, the diarchs hold their position for life and pass the responsibilities and power of the position to their children or family when they die. It is **not to be confused** with a duumvirate.

* **Dictablanda**
Dictablanda describes a dictatorship in which civil liberties are preserved instead of destroyed. The word dictablanda is a portmanteau of the Spanish words dictadura ("dictatorship") and blanda ("soft"). There is an element of punning in the expression, involved in that blanda replaces dura, meaning "hard". The term "dictablanda" is contrasted with "democradura", meaning an illiberal democracy—a system in which the government and its leaders are elected, but is nevertheless relatively deficient in civil liberties. The government of Qromeelln is a form of dictablanda called a "free military dictatorship".

* **Dual monarchy**
Dual monarchy is where two separate kingdoms are ruled by the same monarch, follow the same foreign policy, exist in a customs union with each other, and have a combined military—but are otherwise self-governing. A dual monarchy is not necessarily a "personal union". In a personal union, two or more kingdoms are ruled by the same person but there are no other shared government structures. States in personal union with each other have separate militaries, separate foreign policies and separate customs duties.

* **Dual system of government**
The dual system of government is a form of diarchy whereby the "temporal ruler" coexists with the spiritual authority of the realm, usually unified under a third single ruler. The actual distribution of power between institutions can vary over time and location. It can also mean "dual system of religion and politics." Because the ultimate ruler is the patron and protector of state religion, some aspects of the dual system of government may be likened to the Supreme Governance of the Church, or even to theocracy. However, other aspects resemble secularism, aiming to separate the doctrines of religion and politics. Generally, both religious and temporal authorities wield actual political power, albeit within officially separate institutions. Religious and secular officials might work side by side, each responsible to different bureaucracies.

* **Duchy**
A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess. They can be sovereign states or subordinate districts of kingdoms. It can also be called a "grand duchy".

* **Duumvirate**
A duumvirate (doo-UM-vir-ate) is an alliance between two equally powerful political or military leaders, called duumvirs. The term can also be used to describe a state with two different military leaders who both declare themselves to be the sole leader of the state. It can also pertain to a state ruled by two co-princes, but with a prime minister who wields *de facto* power as the head of government. It can also be called a tandemocracy, and is **not to be confused** with a diarchy.

* **Egalitarianism**
Egalitarianism (from French égal, meaning "equal") is a trend of thought that favors equality of some sort among moral agents, whether people or animals. Emphasis is placed upon the fact that equality contains the idea of equity of quality. That is, all people should be treated with the same dignity or be regarded as possessing the same intrinsic qualities despite our societal diversity of race, religion, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, political affiliation, socioeconomic status, (dis)ability or cultural heritage.

* **Electocracy**
An electocracy is a political system where citizens are able to vote for their government but cannot participate directly in governmental decision-making and where the government does not share any power. In contrast to democracy where citizens are able to participate in the making of decisions that affect them, electocracy sees decision-making limited to an elected individual or group who may then govern in an arbitrary and unaccountable manner until the next election.

* **Electoral college**
While not a form of government in itself, it plays a large role in many republics. It acts as an equalizer to the concept of the popular vote. It sets a voting value for each territory within a nation, equal to its congressional representation instead of its population size. In essence, it is meant to even out the importance of each territory so that the most populous territories don't have so much voting power that they decide each election, as it would be if the election had been based purely on popular vote. Politicians are thus forced to care about each territory if they are to win an election.

* **Emirate**
An emirate is a political territory that is ruled by a dynastic monarch-styled emir. It is essentially a variant of monarchy and usually has religious overtones.

* **Empire**
Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples (ethnic groups) united and ruled either by a monarch (emperor, empress) or an oligarchy. Aside from the traditional usage, the term empire can be used in an extended sense to denote a large-scale business enterprise (like a transnational corporation), or a political organisation of either national-, regional- or city scale, controlled either by a person (a political boss) or a group authority (political bosses). An imperial political structure is established and maintained in two ways: (i) as a territorial empire of direct conquest and control with force (direct, physical action to compel the emperor’s goals), and (ii) as a coercive, hegemonic empire of indirect conquest and control with power (the perception that the emperor can physically enforce his desired goals). The former provides greater tribute and direct political control, yet limits further expansion because it absorbs military forces to fixed garrisons. The latter provides less tribute and indirect control, but can utilize military forces for further expansion. Territorial empires tend to be contiguous areas. The term on occasion has been applied to maritime empires or thalassocracies (such as the Caiiosi Trade Empire) with looser structures and more scattered territories.

* **Ergatocracy**
Ergatocracy (from the Greek word "ergates", meaning "worker") is a type of government dominated by the labor and solidarities similar to communist beliefs. It is a government ruled by the working class. Citizens who do not have jobs are sometimes disqualified from voting.

* **Ethnic democracy**
Ethnic democracy is a political system that combines a structured ethnic dominance with democratic, political and civil rights for all. Both the dominant ethnic group and the minority ethnic groups have citizenship and are able to fully participate in the political process. Ethnic democracy **differs from** ethnocracy in being more truly democratic. It provides the non-core groups with more political participation, influence and improvement of status than ethnocracy supposedly does. Nor is an ethnic democracy a Herrenvolk democracy, which is a democracy officially limited to the core ethnic nation only.

* **Ethnocracy**
Ethnocracy is a form of government where representatives of a particular ethnic group hold a number of government posts disproportionately large to the percentage of the total population that the particular ethnic group represents and use them to advance the position of their particular ethnic group, often to the detriment of others. The minority ethnic groups are systematically discriminated against by the state and may face repressions or violations of human rights at the hands of state organs. Ethnocracy can also be a political regime which is instituted on the basis of qualified rights to citizenship, and with ethnic affiliation (defined in terms of race, descent, religion, or language) as the distinguishing principle.

* **Family dictatorship**
A hereditary dictatorship, or family dictatorship, in political science terms a personalistic regime, is a form of dictatorship that occurs in a nominally or formally republican regime, but operates in practice like an absolute monarchy, in that political power passes within the dictator's family. Thus, although the key leader is a called president or prime minister rather than a king or emperor, power is transmitted between members of the same family due to the overwhelming authority of the leader. A family dictatorship is different from an absolute monarchy in that the transition of power within a family is not required by general law. In some cases, a special law might be enacted to formally nominate one particular family member of the present leader as the successor. In other cases, the law of the state may even formally provide for elections, but control exerted by the leader on the political and electoral process ensures a hereditary succession. Furthermore, whether each succession succeeds depends on the level of authority and control of the leader. As a result, modern family dictatorships often transition into a non-familial (non-personalistic) regime after a small number of successions: usually just one, and rarely more than two.

* **Fascist state**
A fascist state is a radical left, authoritarian, nationalist, single-party system that seeks the mass mobilization of a nation through discipline, indoctrination, physical education, and family policy (such as eugenics or ethnic identity). Fascists forbid and suppress opposition, and seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood. They purge forces, ideas, people, and systems deemed to be the cause of problems. Fascists promote political violence and war as actions that create national regeneration, spirit, and vitality. They view violence as a fact of life that is a necessary means to achieve societal progress. Militarism is exalted as providing positive transformation, spiritual renovation, education, and instilling of a will to dominate in people's character and creating national comradeship through military service. Fascists commonly utilize paramilitary organizations for violent attacks on opponents or to overthrow a political system. They oppose class-based identity and society, and ideologies such as conservatism, liberalism, democracy, parliamentary systems, capitalism, and two major forms of socialism: communism and social democracy. By contrast, they support a state-directed, regulated economy that is dedicated to the nation; the use and primacy of regulated private property and private enterprise contingent upon service to the nation or state; the use of state enterprise where private enterprise is failing or is inefficient; and autarky, the quality of being self-sufficient (not to be confused with "autarchy").

* **Federacy**
A federacy is a form of government where one or several substate units enjoy considerably more independence than the majority of the substate units. The system features of both federation and unitary aspects. To some extent, such an arrangement can be considered as similar to asymmetric federalism. At least one of the constituent parts of the state is autonomous, while the other constituent parts are either not autonomous or comparatively less autonomous.

* **Federation**
A federation, also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central (federal) government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of the central government. It can be considered the opposite of another system, the unitary state. The component states are known as in some sense sovereign, in so far as certain powers are reserved to them that may not be exercised by the central government. However, a federation is more than a mere loose alliance of independent states. The component states of a federation usually possess no powers in relation to foreign policy and so they enjoy no independent status under international, planetary, or regional law. It is **not to be confused** with a "federacy".

* **Federal monarchy**
A federal monarchy is a federation of states with a single monarch as over-all head of the federation, but retaining different monarchs, or a non-monarchical system of government, in the various states joined to the federation.

* **Free association**
A free association is a confederation of unequal members when the lesser partner(s) delegate to the major one some authority normally exclusively retained by a self-governing state, often in such fields as defense and foreign relations, while often enjoying favorable economic terms such as market access. Free associated states or planets can be described as independent or not, but free association is not a qualification of an entity's statehood or status as a subject of regional law.

* **Free military dictatorship**
This is a peculiar form of single-party, military-governed system in which the dictator (often called the General of the Planet, or simply General) enforces personal liberty, responsibility and rights upon the populace; a sort of "be free, or else" governance. While a democracy will offer freedom as a basic right in its constitution, a free military dictatorship enforces a list of absolute, irrevocable freedoms and offers a stiff punishment to citizens who abuse their freedom or politicians who try to impose laws that even hint at taking away freedom. In the case of Qromeelln, there is a type of hyper-militarization added in which the citizens are required to keep and bear arms at all times, thus keeping crime low and acting as a deterrent to outside threats. It is a form of dictablanda.

* **Futarchy**
Futarchy is a form of government in which measures of national welfare and prediction markets are used to determine which policies will have the most positive effect.

## G - I

* **Gatekeeper state**
Gatekeeper states are nations or planets that were systematically conquered, but not so systematically ruled. Such states tend to suffer from a peculiar politico-economic dysfunction that derives from a particular historical sequence. Such colonial states have trouble taking care of inward issues, but can control the interface of local and import economies. The former conquerors (such as empires or massive conglomerates) generally wanted specific things from such states (like natural resources) and hence had a small or nonexistent transformational agenda since extraction could occur in the absence of a strong state. Ultimately, the authority of colonial regimes depended on the superior military forces of the metropole, which could easily defeat organized resistance but could neither routinize authority nor gain legitimacy. The survival of each colony therefore depends on external resources and support, not on internal factors like in established states. As a result, colonial governments have weak roots in the colonies nominally under their control and therefore cannot really govern the social or cultural realms of their subjects. In turn, this external dependence produces an outward orientation focused on ‘guarding the gate’: gatekeepers collect most of their revenues from taxes on imports and exports, control entry and exit visas, distribute foreign aid, decide who could move currency in or out, and issue licenses that determine who can engage in business activities. The post-colonial "successor governments" inherit the mantle of gate-keeper from their former rulers. However, the negative consequences of gate-keeping are increased by independence because, as it was taken for granted who would control the gate (along with the power and wealth derived from it), in the post-colonial period there was no external military force to impose order. Furthermore, unlike the colonial powers, the local rulers often end up wanting to impose their authority internally in order to affect a far-reaching transformation of the economy and society. And given, moreover, that control of the gate is an "either/or phenomenon" or a zero-sum game, the stakes of control are extremely high because the winners gain control of resources they could use to entrench their rule. Consequently, fierce competition for control of the gate arise soon after independence, and this results in the collectively irrational political instability that occurrs after independence as evidenced by, among other things, cycles of coups and counter coups.

* **Geniocracy**
The term geniocracy comes from the word "genius" and proposes a system that is designed to select for intelligence and compassion as the primary factor for governance. While having a democratic electoral apparatus, it differs from traditional liberal democracy by instead suggesting that candidates for office and the body electorate should meet a certain minimal criterion of problem-solving or creative intelligence. The common thresholds are 50% above the mean for an electoral candidate and 10% above the mean for an elector.

* **Gerontocracy**
A gerontocracy is a form of oligarchical rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are significantly older than most of the adult population. Often the political structure is such that political power within the ruling class accumulates with age, so that the oldest hold the most power. Those holding the most power may not be in formal leadership positions, but often dominate those who are.

* **Government by itineration**
Government by itineration is a method of governing by which monarchs travel around their jurisdictions in order to check what is happening. A monarch travels around his realm, stopping on the way and staying a few days in the cities through which he passes. There, he is informed of recent events and deal with any legal cases that need hearing. He also typically samples local cuisine, hosting feasts for local dignitaries and sometimes the entire population of the city.

* **Green state**
A green state (or envirocracy) proposes critical political ecology where the regulatory ideals and democratic procedures of the democratic state are informed by ecological democracy, effectively governed by environmentalists or "envirocrats". The sovereign state is recast in the role of ecological steward and facilitator of transnational or interplanetary democracy.

* **Guided democracy**
Guided democracy, also called managed democracy, is a term for a democratic government with increased autocracy. Governments are legitimated by elections that, while free and fair, are used by the government to continue their same policies and goals. Or, in other words, the government has learned to control elections so that the people can exercise all their rights without truly changing public policy. While following basic democratic principles there can be minor deviations towards authoritarianism.

* **Gylany**
Gylany is a partnership society based on gender equality. Gylany is balanced and equalitarian, and **should not be confused** with gynocracy or matriarchy, which define systems where women impose hierarchical power over men; or androcracy/patriarchy, in which men dominate.

* **Hegemony**
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the *hegemon* (leader state) rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force.

* **Hollow state**
A hollow state is a state which is generally considered to be a state that has the appearance of a properly functioning democratic nation or state. This state/nation/planet has democratic elections and most other aspects of a democracy, but what it lacks are such things acting in the best interest of the public but rather supporting the interests of autocracies, dictators, oligopolies, special interest groups and kleptocracies. It can also be called a "shell state" or "shellocracy".

* **Illiberal democracy**
An illiberal democracy, also called a pseudo democracy, partial democracy, low intensity democracy, empty democracy, hybrid regime or delegative democracy, is a governing system in which, although elections take place, citizens are cut off from knowledge about the activities of those who exercise real power because of the lack of civil liberties. It is not an 'open society'. There are many countries that are categorized as neither “free” nor “not free,” but as “probably free,” falling somewhere between democratic and nondemocratic regimes. This is often because a constitution limiting government powers exists, but its liberties are ignored; or because an adequate legal constitutional framework of liberties does not exist.

* **Imperialism**
Imperialism is the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationship, usually between states or planets and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination. Imperialism employs expansionist, merchantilist policies. The Vokam Empire is imperialist in nature.

* **Inclusive management**
Inclusive management is a pattern of practices, whether political or economic, by public managers or rulers that facilitate the inclusion of public employees, experts, the public, and politicians in collaboratively addressing public problems or concerns of public interest. The management component of the compound idea of inclusive management signifies that inclusion is a managed, ongoing project rather than an attainable state. Inclusion involves active boundary spanning across differences in perspectives, institutions, issues, and time, which may or may not be founded upon work to integrate socioeconomically diverse participants.

* **Integralism**
Integralism, or Integral nationalism, is an ideology according to which a nation is an organic unity. Integralism defends social differentiation and hierarchy with co-operation between social classes, transcending conflict between social and economic groups. It advocates trade unionism (or conversely, a guild system) corporatism, and organic political representation instead of ideological forms of representation. Integralism claims that the best political institutions for given nations will differ depending on the history, culture and climate of the nation's habitat. It is a sort of proto-fascism.

* **Isocracy**
An isocracy is a form of government where all citizens have equal political power. The term derives from Greek "isos", meaning "equal." An isocracy embodies self ownership, by extension informed consent and natural resources, as the source of public income, and limits public governance to the public sphere and private governance to the private sphere. It also argues in that public peace, defense, and emergency services can be managed through inclusive militia. Isocrats claim that they represent "the best elements of liberal, socialist and anarchist thought."

## K - M

* **Khanate**
A Khanate describes a political entity ruled by a Khan. This political entity can be equivalent to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or even empire. A prominent example of a khanate is the mafia empire of Obsidian Blade Syndicate, which rules Riesel.

* **Kleptocracy**
Kleptocracy, alternatively cleptocracy or kleptarchy, (from Greek "kleptēs", meaning "thief", hence "rule by thieves") is a form of government corruption where the government exists to increase the personal wealth and political power of its officials and the ruling class at the expense of the wider population, often without pretense of honest service. This type of government corruption is often achieved by the embezzlement of state funds. Kleptocracies are generally associated with corrupt forms of authoritarian governments, particularly dictatorships, oligarchies, military juntas, or some other forms of autocratic and nepotist government in which no outside oversight is possible, due to the ability of the kleptocrats to personally control both the supply of public funds and the means of determining their disbursal. Kleptocratic rulers typically treat their country's treasury as though it were their own personal bank account, spending the funds on luxury goods as they see fit. Many kleptocratic rulers also secretly transfer public funds into secret bank accounts in foreign countries in order to provide them with continued luxury if/when they are eventually removed from power and forced to flee the country.

* **Kratocracy**
Kratocracy (from the Greek "krateros", meaning "strong") is a government run by those who are strong enough to seize power through force or cunning.

* **Kritarchy**
Kritarchy refers to the rule of judges. It may be ruled by a council of judges, making it an oligarchy, or a single Chief Magistrate. It is also known as "kritocracy".

* **Liberal democracy**
Liberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive. Political pluralism is usually defined as the presence of multiple and distinct political parties. A liberal democracy may take various constitutional forms, such as republics, monarchies, a full or semi-presidential system, or a parliamentary system.

* **Logocracy**
Logocracy is the rule of—or government by—words. It is derived from the Greek λόγος (logos) - "word" and from κράτος (kratos) - to "govern". Effectively, one can have power over others via the tricky use of words. Every offensive or defensive measure is enforced by a wordy battle, or "paper war". A politician who has the greatest verbosity or literary prowess often gains the victory. Writing utensils, figuratively speaking, carry honor, abuse, and ammunition of war. Totalitarianism, according to some, can be considered a logocracy since ideas within it are trivial when compared to the manner in which they are expressed.

* **Matriarchy**
A matriarchy is a society in which females, especially mothers, have the central role (or roles) of political leadership and moral authority. It is also sometimes called a gynocratic or gynocentric society. It is **not necessarily the same** as a "gynocracy", in which all politicians are female only. The male equivalent is a "patriarchy".

* **Margravate**
A margravate is a form of military government, generally for one of the border planets of a multi-planet empire. The greater exposure of a border planet to military invasion provides the Margrave (or Margravine for females) with military forces greater than the forces of the other governors of the region, thereby indicating superior rank. As a military governor, the margrave is often responsible for a territory greater than the inner territories due to border expansion following the conquest of neighboring areas. A margrave usually exercises greater autonomy of action (tactical, strategic, political) than the other governors of the realm and maintains the great armed forces and fortifications required for repelling invasion, which gives him or her great political strength and independence relative to the sovereign. Moreover, if successful in war, a margrave usually conquers more territory that he or she might retain as personal domain; the consequent wealth and power might allow the establishment of an independent empire.

* **Mediocracy**
Mediocracy is a from of democracy in which mediocre people prevail. The society is then subordinated to a quasi-egalitarian ideology in which words and ideas are redefined by mediocre people, to be convenient for mediocre people.

* **Meritocracy**
Meritocracy is a system of government or other administration wherein appointments and responsibilities are objectively assigned to individuals based upon their "merits", namely intelligence, credentials, and education, determined through evaluations or examinations. The most common definition of meritocracy conceptualizes merit in terms of tested competency and ability, and most likely as measured by IQ or standardized achievement tests. Meritocracy itself is not a form of government, but rather an ideology. The true governmental form of this would be "geniocracy" or, more loosely, "technocracy".

* **Military government**
Military government is the form of administration by which an occupying power exercises governmental authority over occupied territory. It is **not to be confused** with a military dictatorship.

* **Military dictatorship**
A military dictatorship is a form of government wherein the political power resides with the military. It is similar but **not identical** to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military. Like any dictatorship, a military dictatorship may be official or unofficial, and as a result may not actually qualify as stratocratic.

* **Military junta**
A junta or military junta is a government led by a committee of military leaders. Sometimes it becomes a military dictatorship, though the terms are **not synonymous**.

* **Minarchism**
Minarchism (also known as minimal statism) is a libertarian capitalist political philosophy which maintains that the state's only legitimate function is the protection of individuals from aggression, theft, breach of contract, and fraud, and the only legitimate governmental institutions are the military, police, and courts. It also includes fire departments, prisons, the executive, and legislatures as legitimate government functions. Such states are called "night watchman" states. Minarchists argue that the state has no right to use its monopoly on the use of force to interfere with free transactions between people, and see the state's sole responsibility as ensuring that transactions between private individuals are free. Minarchists generally advocate a laissez faire approach to the economy.

* **Monarchy**
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication, is most often hereditary, and usually accords official pre-eminence to members of the reigning dynasty. The monarch often bears the title king or queen. However, emperor/empress, grand duke/grand duchess, prince/princess and other terms are or have been used to designate monarchs. Although the word monarch derives from the term 'single ruler', traditionally heads of state bearing the title president or premier are not officially considered monarchs.

* **Multi-party system**
A multi-party system is a system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition. The effective number of parties in a multi-party system is normally larger than two but lower than ten. It is a system where there are large amounts of major and minor political parties that all hold a serious chance of receiving office, and because they all compete, a majority may not come to be, forcing the creation of a coalition.

## N - P

* **Nanny state**
A nanny state is the perception of a situation characterised by governmental policies of over-protectionism, economic interventionism, or heavy regulation of economic, social or other nature. It can include aspects such as: public health interventions such as disease surveillance, quarantines, mandatory or government-subsidized vaccination, food labeling regulations, school lunch programs; consumer protectionism that enforces (or discourages) certain behaviors such as bicycle and motorcycle helmet laws, anti-smoking laws, speed limits on roads, bans on texting, and other laws seen by some as interfering in personal choices and/or personal privacy; creation and enforcement of laws that prohibit victimless crimes, such as gun control, building codes, and prohibitions on drug use, gambling, and prostitution; national economic and social policies (regulation and intervention) that affect large and state-favored businesses; and international trade policies that favor native corporate industries (protectionism).

* **Netocracy**
Netocracy (a portmanteau of "internet" and "aristocracy/democracy") refers to a perceived global upper-class that bases its power on a technological advantage and networking skills, in comparison to what is portrayed as a bourgeoisie of a gradually diminishing importance. Those who are elites in such a system are referred to as the "digerati".

* **Night watchman state**
A night watchman state, or a minimal state, is a form of government in political philosophy where the state's only legitimate function is the protection of individuals from aggression, theft, breach of contract, and fraud, and the only legitimate governmental institutions are the military, police, and courts. It also includes fire departments, prisons, the executive, and legislatures as legitimate government functions. Advocacy of a night watchman state is known as "minarchism".

* **Nomocracy**
A nomocracy (from Greece "nomos" (law) and "kratos" (power), dominion, rule) is a government which is ruled by law. That is, a government under the sovereignty of rational laws and civic right as opposed to one under theocratic systems of government. In a nomocracy, ultimate and final authority (sovereignty) exists in the law. It can also be described as the opposite of an autocracy.

* **Non-partisan democracy**
Nonpartisan democracy (also no-party democracy) is a system of representative government or organization such that universal and periodic elections take place without reference to political parties. Sometimes electioneering and even speaking about candidates may be discouraged, so as not to prejudice others' decisions or create a contentious atmosphere (though that can easily allow a politician with negative aspects to be elected through ignorance). Nonpartisan democracies may possess indirect elections whereby an electorate are chosen who in turn vote for the representatives.

* **Noocracy**
Noocracy, or "aristocracy of the wise" (no-OCK-ruh-see), is a social and political system that is based on the priority of the sentient mind. The thinking matter increases its mass in nature, and geo- and biospheres grow into a noosphere (NO-oh-sphere). It is the power of the collective brain rather than separate individuals representing certain social groups or society as whole.

* **Ochlocracy**
Ochlocracy, the "rule of the general populace" (ock-LOCK-ruh-see), is democracy spoiled by demagoguery ("tyranny of the majority") and the rule of passion over reason. Ochlocracy is synonymous with "mobocracy", or "mob-rule".

* **Oligarchy**
Oligarchy ("rule by the few") is a form of power structure in which power effectively rests with an elite class distinguished by royalty, wealth, family ties, commercial, and/or military legitimacy. It may or may not be corrupt.

* **Panarchy**
Panarchy is a form of government in which people have the right to choose the political surroundings in which to live. In each community exists a "Bureau of Political Membership". This office sends every responsible citizen a declaration form to fill in. Typically, it asks, "What form of government would you desire?" and the citizen can answer "monarchy", "democracy", or something else. Once registered, unless the declaration is withdrawn, the citizen thereby becomes either a royal subject or citizen of the republic. Each citizen is thus in no way involved with anyone else's government—no more than a Qromeelln citizen is with Terran authorities. The primary governing realm of such a world typically has many different sections and senates or parliaments for each form of government. Panarchy is incredibly rare, but has been seen before—albeit on a short-term basis.

* **Parliament**
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster parliamentary system. Legislatures called parliaments operate under a parliamentary system of government in which the executive is constitutionally answerable to the parliament. This can be contrasted with a presidential system, on the model of the United States' congressional system, which operate under a stricter separation of powers whereby the executive does not form part of, nor is appointed by, the parliamentary or legislative body. Typically, congresses do not select or dismiss heads of governments, and governments cannot request an early dissolution as may be the case for parliaments. Some states have a semi-presidential system which combines a powerful president with an executive responsible to parliament.

* **Parliamentary republic**
A parliamentary republic or parliamentary constitutional republic is a type of republic which operates under a parliamentary system of government - meaning a system with no clear-cut separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches. Most examples have a clear differentiation between the head of government and the head of state; with the head of government holding real power, much like constitutional monarchies. Some have fused the roles of head of state and head of government, much like presidential systems.

* **Particracy**
Particracy (also 'partitocracy', 'partocracy', or 'partitocrazia') is a *de facto* form of government where one or more political parties dominate the political process, rather than citizens and/or individual politicians. Particracy tends to install itself as the cost of campaigning and the impact of the media increase so that it can be prevalent at the national level with large electoral districts but absent at a local level; a few prominent politicians of renown may hold enough influence on public opinion to resist their party or dominate it.

* **Patriarchy**
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of the male as the primary authority figure is central to social organization, and where fathers hold authority over women, children, and property. It implies the institutions of male rule and privilege, and entails female subordination. Many patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that property and title are inherited by the male lineage. It is **not necessarily the same** as an "androcracy", in which all politicians are male.

* **Personal union**
A personal union is the combination by which two or more different states have the same monarch while their boundaries, their laws and their interests remain distinct. It should not be confused with a federation which is internationally considered a single state. Nor is it to be confused with dynastic union, where the union can be under a dynasty. Personal unions can arise for very different reasons, ranging from coincidence (a princess who is already married to a king becomes queen regnant, and their child inherits the crown of both countries) to virtual annexation (where a personal union sometimes was seen as a means of preventing uprisings). They can also be codified (i.e., the constitutions of the states clearly express that they shall share the same person as head of state) or non-codified, in which case they can easily be broken (e.g., by the death of the monarch when the two states have different succession laws).

* **Pharmocracy**
A pharmocracy is a government run by the medical establishment, whether it be a medical corporation (i.e. pharmocratic corporatocracy) or a set of laws based around health and medicine, or both. Societies under such rule generally have a very strict health code for almost every aspect of life, and tax-supported healthcare is often very widespread. Citizens are generally required to stay within certain weight limits per body type, and certain foods - especially ones with high carb and calorie counts - are typically banned. In more extreme cases, privatized pharmacies are banned, as are personal herb gardens, and natural health products in general are forbidden in favor of synthetic medications. It is often implemented parallel to a police state ideology, and at least some aspects of kleptocracy are also apparent.

* **Plantocracy**
A plantocracy, also known as a "slavocracy", is a ruling class, political order or government composed of (or dominated by) plantation owners. A number of agricultural colony planets in the galaxy are plantocracies, usually consisting of a small settler population relying on a slave population (whether of local inhabitants or droids) for labor.

* **Plutocracy**
Plutocracy is rule by the wealthy, or power provided by wealth. The combination of both plutocracy and oligarchy is called "plutarchy".

* **Police state**
A police state is one in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population. A police state typically exhibits elements of totalitarianism and social control, and there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive. The inhabitants of a police state experience restrictions on their mobility, and on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force which operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state.

* **Political union**
A political union is a type of state which is composed of or created out of smaller states. Unlike a personal union, the individual states share a central government and the union is recognized internationally as a single political entity. A political union may also be called a legislative union or state union.
A union may be effected in a number of forms, broadly categorized as:
	+ Incorporating union: a new state is created, the former states being entirely dissolved into the new state (albeit that some aspects may be preserved)
	+ Incorporating annexation: a state or states is united to and dissolved in an existing state, whose legal existence continues. Annexation may be voluntary or, which is more frequent, by conquest.
	+ Federal (or confederal) union: the states continue in existence but place themselves under a new federal authority. The federal state alone will be the state in international law though the federated states retain an existence in domestic law.
	+ Federative annexation: a state becomes a federated unit of another existing state and the latter continuing its legal existence. The new federated state thus ceases to be a state in international law but retains its legal existence in domestic law, subsidiary to the federal authority.
	+ Mixed unions

* **Polyarchy**
Polyarchy is a form of government in which power is vested in three or more persons.

* **Presidential system**
A presidential system is a system of government where an executive branch exists and presides (hence the name) separately from the legislature, to which it is not responsible and which cannot, in normal circumstances, dismiss it. The head of state is generally called a "president". Although not exclusive to republics, and applied in the case of semi-constitutional monarchies where a monarch exercises power alongside a legislature, the term is often associated with republican systems.

* **Prime ministerial government**
Prime ministerial government is a government where the prime minister is dominant in terms of the executive. As the prime minister is, by definition, a member of a cabinet - this form of government is often a development from cabinet government. In true cabinet government the prime minister is primus inter pares (first among equals), where prime ministerial government necessitates the crossing of this boundary.

* **Primogeniture**
Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings (compare to ultimogeniture). Historically for Mankind, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females; but this varies per region and species. According to some traditions, the first-born son inherits the entirety of a parent's wealth, estate, title or office and is then responsible for any further passing of the inheritance to his siblings. In the absence of children, inheritance passed to the collateral relatives, in order of seniority of the males of collateral lines. The eligible descendants of deceased elder siblings take precedence over living younger siblings, such that inheritance is settled in the manner of a depth-first search. The principle has applied in history to inheritance of real property (land) and inherited titles and offices, most notably monarchies.

* **Principality**
A principality (or princedom) is a monarchical feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or (in the widest sense) by a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince.

* **Procedural democracy**
Procedural democracy is a democracy in which the people or citizens of the state have less influence than in traditional liberal democracies. This type of democracy is characterized by voters choosing to elect representatives in free elections. Procedural democracy is quite different from "substantive democracy", which is manifested by equal participation of all groups in society in the political process.

* **Provisional government**
A provisional government is an emergency or interim government set up when a political void has been created by the collapse of a very large government.

* **Puppet state**
A puppet state (also known as puppet government or marionette government) is a nominal sovereign of a state who is *de facto* controlled by a foreign power. A puppet state is an entity which in fact lacks independence, preserves all the external paraphernalia of independence, but in reality is only an organ of another state who has set it up and whose satellite it is.

## Q - S

* **Quadrumvirate**
A quadrumvirate (kwa-DRUM-vir-ate) is an alliance between four equally powerful political or military leaders, called quadrumvirs. The term can also be used to describe a state with four different military leaders who each declare themselves to be the sole leader of the state. It can also be called a tandemocracy, and is **not to be confused** with a tetrarchy.

* **Quintumvirate**
A quintumvirate (kwin-TUM-vir-ate) is an alliance between five equally powerful political or military leaders, called quintumvirs. The term can also be used to describe a state with five different military leaders who each declare themselves to be the sole leader of the state. A prominent example is the corporatocratic government of Earth, the Wanesta Redlaun Linowood corporation. It can also be called a tandemocracy, and is **not to be confused** with a pentarchy.
It can go further with sext- or hexumvirate (6), sept- or heptumvirate (7), octumvirate (8), novemvirate (9), decemvirate (10), and so on.

* **Real union**
Real union is a union of two or more states, which share some state institutions as in contrast to personal unions; however they are not as unified as states in a political union. It has developed from personal union and usually is limited to monarchies. Unlike the personal union, the real one almost exclusively brings about a downfall of sovereignty of the politically weaker constituent.

* **Regional state**
A regional state is a state more centralized than a federation, but less centralized than an unitary state. Regional states include federations in which power has become more centralized, and unitary states in which some power has been devolved to regional governments.

* **Republic**
A republic is a form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. A common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch.

* **Scientocracy**
Scientocracy is the practice of basing public policies on science.

* **Sectarian democracy**
Sectarian democracies are multiethnic/multifactional countries where the ethnic group with the greatest power has a democratic government that does not allow minorities to participate in the democratic process of that nation. The opposite of sectarian democracy is "consociationalistic democracy".

* **Semi-authoritarian**
The term semi-authoritarian is used to refer to a state or regime that shares both democratic and authoritarian features. Such states are ambiguous systems that combine the insincere acceptance of liberal democracy, the existence of some formal democratic institutions, and political liberties with essentially illiberal or even authoritarian traits. They generally have dominant-party systems - that is, states where opposition parties are allowed and free elections are held, but where the opposition has no real chance of winning. Sometimes the dominant party maintains power through election fraud, while other times the elections themselves are fair, but the electoral campaigns preceding them are not.

* **Semi-presidential system**
The semi-presidential system is a system of government in which a president and a prime minister are both active participants in the day-to-day administration of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a popularly elected head of state who is more than a purely ceremonial figurehead, and from the presidential system in that the cabinet, although named by the president, is responsible to the legislature, which may force the cabinet to resign through a motion of no confidence.

* **Single-party state**
A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system government in which a single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election. Sometimes the term "*de facto* single-party state" is used to describe a dominant-party system where laws or practices prevent the opposition from legally getting power.

* **Socialist**
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership or control of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy, and a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: state ownership, cooperative enterprises, common ownership, direct public ownership or autonomous state enterprises. There are many variations of socialism, and they differ in the type of social ownership they advocate, the degree to which they rely on markets versus planning, how management is to be organized within economic enterprises, and the role of the state in constructing socialism. Socialist systems typically involve substantial amounts of regulation and taxation. Personal wealth is discouraged, as those who are wealthy are taxed at a much higher percentage than those who are poor. Depending on income, an individual could pay 20-50% of their paycheck to the government in order to support the high number of state-sponsored social services. Social services are often touted as free of charge for the public, though they are still technically paid for.

* **Sociocracy**
Sociocracy is a system of governance that uses consent-based decision making among equivalent individuals and an organizational structure based on cybernetic principles (not to be confused with cybernetic augmentation). It is not expressed with the 'one man, one vote' law of democracy but rather by a group of individuals reasoning together until a decision is reached that is satisfactory to each one of them.

* **Soviet democracy**
Soviet democracy (sometimes "council democracy") is a form of democracy in which workers' councils called "soviets" (Russian for "council"), consisting of worker-elected delegates, form organs of power possessing both legislative and executive power. The soviets begin at the local level and onto a national parliament-like assembly.

* **Stratocracy**
A stratocracy is a form of government headed by military chiefs; the term is derived from two Greek terms signifying army and power. It is **not the same** as a military dictatorship where the military's political power is not enforced or even supported by other laws. Rather, stratocracy is a form of military government in which the state and the military are traditionally the same thing and government positions are always occupied by military leaders. The military's political power is supported by law and the society. As such, a stratocracy does not have to be autocratic by nature in order to preserve its right to rule.

* **Sultanate**
A sultanate is a government ruled by a sultan. It is a form of absolute monarchy or authoritarianism and is often associated with dynasties and caliphates, usually carrying religious aspects.

* **Superstate**
A superstate is an agglomeration of nations and/or states, often linguistically and ethnically diverse, under a single political-administrative structure. This is distinct from the concept of superpower, although these are frequently seen together. It is also **distinct from** the concept of empire, where one nation dominates other nations through military, political, and economic power.

* **Syndicalism**
Syndicalism is a type of economic system proposed as a replacement for capitalism and an alternative to state socialism, which uses federations of collectivized trade unions or industrial unions. It is a form of socialist economic corporatism that advocates interest aggregation of multiple non-competitive categorized units to negotiate and manage an economy. It is associated with union democracy.

## T - W

* **Technocracy**
Technocracy is a system in which science is in control of all decision making. Scientists, engineers and technologists who have knowledge, expertise or skills compose the governing body, instead of politicians, businessmen and economists. In a technocracy, decision makers are selected based upon how knowledgeable and skillful they are in their field.

* **Tetrarchy**
The term tetrarchy describes a polyarchic system of government where power is divided among four individuals (tetrarchs). In most tetrarchies, the tetrarchs hold their position for life and pass the responsibilities and power of the position to their children or family when they die. It is **not to be confused** with a quadrumvirate.

* **Thalassocracy**
The term thalassocracy refers to a state with primarily maritime realms—an empire at sea. Such governments are commonly seen on planets dominated by oceans partially or completely, and they often consist of a network of ships and floating merchant cities.

* **Theocracy**
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion. Theocracy should be distinguished from other, secular, forms of government that have a state religion, or are merely influenced by theological or moral concepts. It can also be called a "hierocracy".

* **Theodemocracy**
Theodemocracy is a system that includes elements of democracy. Theodemocracy is a fusion of traditional republican democratic rights with theocratic principles.

* **Timocracy**
A timocracy can be defined as either a state where only property owners may participate in government, or a government in which love of honor is the ruling principle. The more extreme forms of timocracy, where power derives from wealth rather than honor, may shift in their form and become a plutocracy where the wealthy and powerful use their power to entrench their wealth.

* **Totalitarianism**
Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a political system where the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible. Totalitarian regimes stay in political power through an all-encompassing propaganda campaign, which is disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, a single party that is often marked by personality cultism, control over the economy, regulation and restriction of speech, mass surveillance, and widespread use of terror.

* **Triarchy**
Triarchy is a form of government in which three individuals, the triarchs, are the heads of state. In most triarchies, the triarchs hold their position for life and pass the responsibilities and power of the position to their children or family when they die. It is **not to be confused** with a triumvirate.

* **Tribalism**
Tribalism is a system run by one or more tribes. It can also refer to an open, egalitarian, classless and cooperative community.

* **Triumvirate**
A triumvirate (try-UM-vir-ate) is an alliance between three equally powerful political or military leaders, called triumvirs. The term can also be used to describe a state with three different military leaders who both declare themselves to be the sole leader of the state. It can also be called a tandemocracy, and is **not to be confused** with a triarchy.

* **Two-party system**
A two-party system is a system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and, as a result, all or nearly all elected offices are members of one of the two major parties. Under a two-party system, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referred to as the majority party while the other is the minority party.

* **Tyranny**
A tyranny is a form of totalitarian rule, led by a tyrant. In common usage, the word "tyrant" carries connotations of a harsh and cruel ruler who places his or her own interests or the interests of an oligarchy over the best interests of the general population, which the tyrant governs or controls.

* **Unitary state**
A unitary state is a state governed as one single unit in which the central government is supreme and any administrative divisions (subnational units) exercise only powers that their central government chooses to delegate. Many states in the world have a unitary system of government.

* **Unrechtsstaat**
The term Unrechtsstaat is a pejorative used to refer to a state that is not a Rechtsstaat, or a constitutional state in which the exercise of governmental power is constrained by the law. An Unrechtsstaat is characterized by a lack of striving for rights and an overall failure to achieve them.

* **Videocracy**
Videocracy is the power of the image over society. "Voter-generated-content", such as videos on the Galactinet, have been identified as examples of a videocracy.

* **Welfare state**
A welfare state is a "concept of government in which the state plays a key role in the protection and promotion of the economic and social well-being of its citizens. It is based on the principles of equality of opportunity, equitable distribution of wealth, and public responsibility for those unable to avail themselves of the minimal provisions for a good life. It is usually associated with socialism.

* **Westminster system**
The Westminster system is a democratic multi-party parliamentary system of government. Such a system includes: a sovereign or head of state who is the nominal or legal and constitutional holder of executive power; a head of government (or head of the executive), known as the prime minister (PM), premier or first minister; a *de facto* executive branch; an elected legislature, often bicameral, in which at least one house is elected; a lower house of parliament with an ability to dismiss a government by rejecting a budget, passing a motion of no confidence, or defeating a confidence motion; a parliament which can be dissolved and elections called at any time; and "parliamentary privilege", which allows the Legislature to discuss any issue deemed by itself to be relevant, without fear of consequences stemming from defamatory statements or records thereof.

* **World-system**
A world system can refer to any government that rules an entire planet.