Political systems

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe. The supranational union has a total area of 4,233,255 km2 (1,634,469 sq mi), an estimated population of approximately 451 million (2025), and the EU member states generated a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of around €18.802 trillion (2025), accounting for approximately one sixth of global economic output. The EU is often described as a sui generis political entity combining characteristics of both a federation and a confederation.

A monarchy is a hereditary form of government in which political power is legally passed on to the family members of the monarch, a head of state who rules for life. While monarchs gain their power depending on specific succession laws, they can also gain their authority via election.

thumb|The Rhodes Colossus|Political cartoon satirising the [[Cape to Cairo Railway, a symbol of British imperialism during the Scramble for Africa]]

thumb|Investiture of a knight (miniature from the statutes of the Order of the Knot, founded in 1352 by [[Louis I of Naples)]] thumb|Orava Castle in Slovakia. Medieval castles are a traditional symbol of a feudal society. Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of various customs and systems that flourished in medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structuring society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.

form of government

Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political status quo, and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and the rule of law. Authoritarian regimes may be either autocratic or oligarchic and may be based upon the rule of a party, the military, or the concentration of power in a single person. States that have a blurred boundary between democracy and authoritarianism have sometimes been characterized as "hybrid democracies", "hybrid regimes" or "competitive authoritaria

[[File:Map of unitary and federal states.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|

A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states or chiefdoms united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issues, such as defence, foreign relations, internal trade or currency, with the central government being required to provide support for all its members. Confederalism represents a main form of intergovernmentalism, defined as any form of interaction around states that takes place on the basis of sovereign independence or government.

thumb|233x233px|Pol Pot, leader of the [[Khmer Rouge, is widely regarded as one of the most brutal despots of the 20th century, responsible for the deaths of an estimated quarter of Cambodia's population.]] thumb|233x233px|Suharto, who ruled [[Indonesia from 1967 to 1998 under the 'New Order' regime, is regarded as a despot whose rise to power followed the 1965–66 anti-communist purges, during which an estimated half a million people were killed, and whose rule was marked by authoritarianism, repression, and endemic corruption.]]

system of government in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet

Meritocracy (merit, from Latin , and -cracy, from Ancient Greek 'strength, power') is the notion of a political system in which economic goods or political power are vested in individual people based on ability and talent, rather than wealth or social class. Advancement in such a system is based on performance, as measured through examination or demonstrated achievement.

situation of two states sharing a monarch without merging

A khanate ( ) or khaganate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. Khanates were typically nomadic Mongolic and Turkic societies located on the Eurasian Steppe, and politically equivalent in status to kinship-based chiefdoms and feudal monarchies. Khanates and khaganates were organised tribally, where leaders gained power on the support and loyalty of their warrior subjects, gaining tribute from subordinates as realm funding. In comparison to a khanate, a khaganate, the realm of a khagan, was a large nomadic state maintaining subjugation over numerous smaller khanates. The tit

system of politics and government

democratic regime in 5th- and 4th-century-BCE Athens

thumb|upright=1.1|Emblems used by medieval German guilds and [[corporations, displaying various symbols related to their professions]]

democratic, parliamentary system of government which developed in the United Kingdom

system in which multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in coalition

A gerontocracy is a form of rule in which an entity is ruled by leaders who are substantially older than most of the adult population.

former Mesoamerican empire

monarchy ruled by an elected monarch

minor partner in a formal, free relationship between a political territory

state of governance which has some features of liberal democracy but lacks personal freedom

multidisciplinary, macro-scale approach to world history and social change that stresses that the world-system should be the primary unit of social analysis

political science concept: what a 'minimal' state hypothetically consists of

type of local government body that covers two levels of government

thumb|Protester holding Adbusters' Corporate American flag at the [[Second inauguration of George W. Bush in Washington, D.C.]] Corporatocracy or corpocracy is an economic, political and judicial system controlled or influenced by business corporations or corporate interests.

proposed political order by Nazi Germany for its conquered areas in Europe and other regions of the world

form of government

thumb|The Labarum of [[Constantine the Great, the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity]]

former political system in Poland and Poland-Lithuania

Folkhemmet (, ) is a political concept that played an important role in the history of the Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Swedish welfare state. It is also sometimes used to refer to the long period between 1932 and 1976 when the Social Democrats were in power (except for a brief period in 1936 when Axel Pehrsson-Bramstorp from the Farmers' League was prime minister) and the concept was put into practice, but also works as a poetic name for the Swedish welfare state. Sometimes referred to as "the Swedish Middle Way", folkhemmet was viewed as midway between capitalism and socialism. Th

In international relations, intergovernmentalism treats states (and national governments in particular) as the primary actors in the integration process. Intergovernmentalist approaches claim to be able to explain both periods of radical change in the European Union because of converging governmental preferences and periods of inertia because of diverging national interests.

continuous dominance of a single political party in elections

monarchy over two kingdoms

form of delegative democracy

political system

king who rules through love and knowledge, as described by Plato

system of government that excludes minorities

thumb|Cartoon from the republican magazine (1869-1876) denouncing caciquism and electoral fraud. It shows the liberal Sagasta, perched on the "[[universal suffrage" funnel, at the head of a cohort of caciques and members of the forces of law and order carrying ballot boxes and pushing wheelbarrows of votes, followed by "canned municipal councils", prisoners, peasants and workers, the latter of whom "vote the dead".]] Caciquism is a network of political power wielded by local leaders called "", aimed at influencing electoral outcomes. It is a feature of some modern-day societies with incomplete

lists of political institutions of ancient Rome

system of government

A superstate is defined as "a large and powerful state formed when several smaller countries unite", or "A large and powerful state formed from a federation or union of nations", or "a hybrid form of polity that combines features of ancient empires and modern states." This is distinct from the concept of superpower, although these are sometimes seen together.

Technolibertarianism, sometimes referred to as cyberlibertarianism, is a political ideology with roots in the Internet's early hacker cypherpunk culture in Silicon Valley in the early 1990s and in American libertarianism. The ideology focuses on minimizing government regulation, censorship, or anything else in the way of a "free" World Wide Web. In this case, the word "free" is referring to the meaning of libre (no restrictions), not gratis (no cost). Cyber-libertarians embrace fluid, meritocratic hierarchies, which are believed to be best served by markets. The most widely known cyberlibertar

political entities of Southeast Asia that functioned like self-governing states

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specific phase in a political system

official leader with few powers

Hybrid regime with regular but unfair elections

form of government

one-government dominance of a parliament

A federacy is a form of government where one or several substate units enjoy considerably more independence than the majority of the substate units. To some extent, such an arrangement can be considered to be similar to asymmetric federalism.

system where voters vote simultaneously for both prime minister and members of legislature

practice of ensuring minority participation in government

2011 book by Francis Fukuyama

unchangeable, constitutional core structure of the community according to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany

thumb|Júlio de Castilhos, creator and main theoretician of Castilhism

official body for popular representation

An electocracy is a political system where citizens are able to elect their government but cannot participate directly in governmental decision making as the government does not share its power. Electocracy is seen as a premature form of democracy due to the shared similarities of citizens casting ballots, however electocracy is not considered a democracy, though many democracies have electocracy involvement. 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 wh

Hellenoturkism (; ) is a political concept that encompasses two things: a fact of civilization (i.e. the co-habitation and interdependence, since the 11th century) of the Greek and Turkish peoples and cultures, and a political ideology based on the above civilizational phenomenon, which aims at establishing a Hellenic–Turkish political ensemble, national, and cultural identity.