- absolute monarchies
- governments wherein a monarch has absolute or unmitigated power
- anarchy
- the absence of any organized government
- authority
- power that people accept because it comes from a source that is perceived as legitimate
- charismatic authority
- power legitimized on the basis of a leader’s exceptional personal qualities
- constitutional monarchies
- national governments that recognize monarchs but require these figures to abide by the laws of a greater constitution
- democracy
- a form of government that provides all citizens with an equal voice or vote in determining state policy
- dictatorship
- a form of government in which a single person (or a very small group) wields complete and absolute authority over a government or populace after the dictator rises to power, usually through economic or military might
- monarchy
- a form of government in which a single person (a monarch) rules until that individual dies or abdicates the throne
- oligarchy
- a form of government in which power is held by a small, elite group
- one person, one vote
- a concept holding that each person’s vote should be counted equally
- patrimonialism
- a type of authority wherein military and administrative factions enforce the power of the master
- politics
- a means of studying a nation’s or group’s underlying social norms as values as evidenced through its political structure and practices
- power
- the ability to exercise one’s will over others
- power elite
- a small group of powerful people who control much of a society
- rational-legal authority
- power that is legitimized by rules, regulations, and laws
- representative democracy
- a government wherein citizens elect officials to represent their interests
- totalitarian dictatorship
- an extremely oppressive form of dictatorship in which most aspects of citizens’ lives are controlled by the leader
- traditional authority
- power legitimized on the basis of long-standing customs