 1.

As to number of persons exercising sovereign

powers:

 Monarchy. That in which the supreme power or

authority is in the hands of a single person
without regard to the source of his election or
the nature or duration of his tenure.
 Absolute monarchy – where the ruler rules by
divine right.
Limited or Constitutional monarchy – where the
rules in accordance with the limits set by the
Constitution.
 Aristocracy. That in which the supreme power
or authority is vested upon a few privileged
classes whose right arises from the fact of
their birth, wealth or wisdom. It is known as
oligarchy.

 Democracy. That in which the supreme power

of authority is vested upon a majority or mass
of people. Democracy may be further
classified into:
• Direct or Pure democracy – one in which the
will of the state is formulated and expressed
directly and immediately through the people
in a mass meeting or primary assembly rather
than through the medium of delegates or
representatives chosen to act for them.
• (Question: Is pure democracy physically
possible in any country of the world?)
• Indirect, Represent or Republican democracy
– one in which the will of the state is
formulated and expressed through the
agency or a relatively small and select body of
persons chosen by the people to act as heir
representatives.
 Unitary government– one in which the
control of the national and local affairs is
exercised by the central or national
government; and
 Federal government – one in which the
powers of the government are divided
between two sets of organs, one for the
national affairs and the other for the local
affairs, each organ being supreme within its
own sphere. (USA)
 Parliamentary government – one which the
state confers upon the legislature the power
to terminate the tenure of office of the real
executive. Under this system, the cabinet or
ministry is immediately and legally
responsible to the legislature and
immediately and politically responsible to the
electorate.
 Presidential government - one in which the
state makes the executive constitutionally
independent of the legislature as regards his
tenure and to a large extent as regards his
policies and acts, and furnishes him with
sufficient powers to prevent the legislature
from trenching upon the sphere marked out
by the constitution as executive
independence and prerogative.
 REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY
 A UNITARY AND PRESIDENTIAL
GOVERNMENT WITH SEPARATION
OF POWERS
 EMBODIES SOME ASPECTS OF
PURE DEMOCRACY (THROUGH
INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM)
 Monarchy
• Absolute monarchy – Qatar, United Arab
Emirates, Andorra, Brunei, Oman, Vatican City
• Limited or Constitutional monarchy – Australia,
Bahrain, Cambodia, Canada, Denmark, England,
Japan, Kuwait, Malaysia
 Aristocracy – Denmark, England, Spain, United
Kingdom
 Democracy
• Pure Democracy – Switzerland
• Indirect, Represent or Republican democracy –
Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Algeria,
Georgia, Germany, North Korea, Algeria