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The Evolution of Governance

Totalitarianism

Extreme form of authoritarianism

Authoritarianism

Military Dictatorship

Dictatorship

The despot continually strives to maintain power, usually through propaganda

The authoritarian result of a military coup, technically illegal according to law

Easy to maintain control, owing to its military nature, but tends to quickly raise the ire of its people and neighboring states in the modern day

Wherein the despot tries to control every aspect of the peoples' lives

Can result in very stable system, due to extreme control... until people are sick of it, and it's subject to severe civil unrest

Shogunate

Empire

Despotism

The emperor holds technical power, and supposedly chooses the shoguns, but the shoguns hold the true power, through military means, in their respective regions

In the past, the shoguns have tended to go to war with each other

A monarchy which controls, but does not integrate, other states (a hegemony ruled by a monarch)

Benefits from extended area, but rebellions are a larger threat

Monarchy

Tyranny

Rule by a single entity, be it an individual or a group

Rule by a single individual

Easy to enact laws, but abuse is equally easy; it can also be subject to significant conflict over succession and right to rule

Wherein the monarch is illegitimate;

either by technical means, as with a coup, or by moral means, as when the rule is characterized by cruelty and injustice

Caliphate

Theocracy

The sultans hold power in their respective regions, but they all answer to the caliph, a theocratic figure

Officially ruled by a deity, in practice it is ruled by a monarch "chosen" by said deity

Suffers from any religious unrest, and subject to usurpers claiming to be the deity's true intended ruler

Oligarchy

Timocracy

Aristocracy

Where only the wealthy can influence law

This is widely regarded as a simple bad idea, the twisting of the "well-intended aristocracy"

Only those born and raised in privilege can influence law.

This was intended to ensure a "governance of the best-qualified" -- due to the tie between privilege and education -- but it tends to quickly devolve into simple oppression

A small group of people hold ultimate power

Seen as a better form of monarchy, as laws are still easy to enact, but multiple rulers keep each other in line

Military Junta

Stratocracy

Military Dictatorship characterized by the rule of a group of military officials, rather than one

Wherein the legitimate government and the military are one and the same; not to be confused with a military dictatorship

Can be very stable and powerful, can also be very harsh. Historical example: Sparta

Commonwealth

Republic

Wherein the people hold power "by proxy"; they elect leaders to influence law on their behalf, and can remove the power of those leaders at will

Tends to be a more efficient system than democracy, for similar results, but there is a danger of elected leaders losing touch with the people

Interestingly, most governments throughout history have adapted some form of republican rule, such as a council of some sort, to aid their "main" form of government

Parliament

References

Democracy

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/junta

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theocracy

http://www.britannica.com/topic/caliph

http://www.britannica.com/topic/shogunate

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/stratocracy

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=timocracy

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/despotism

http://www.constitution.org/tyr/prin_tyr.htm

The people make the law.

In the original sense, "Direct Democracy" worked by selecting large groups of citizens by random lots to publicly discuss, create, and modify law

This mays sound great, but unfortunately, it quickly turned into "tyranny by the majority"

The modern use of the word usually refers to a Republic

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/republic

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