List of countries by system of government

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This is a list of countries categorized by system of government.

Contents 1 Alphabetical list of countries 2 Systems of Governance 2.1 Presidential / Separated republics 2.1.1 Full presidential systems 2.1.2 Semi-presidential systems 2.2 Parliamentary republics 2.3 Constitutional monarchies 2.3.1 Commonwealth realms 2.3.2 Semi-constitutional monarchies 2.4 Absolute monarchies 2.5 Theocracies 2.6 One-party states 2.7 Military junta states 2.8 Transitional 3 Systems of Internal Governance 3.1 Federal 3.2 Devolved 3.3 Regionalized unitary 3.4 Federacy 3.5 Unitary 4 Notes 5 See also 6 External links

[edit] Alphabetical list of countries

Name	Constitutional basis	Head of state	Basis of executive legitimacy
Afghanistan	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Albania	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Algeria	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Andorra	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Angola	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Antigua and Barbuda	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Argentina	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Armenia	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Australia	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Austria	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Azerbaijan	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Bahamas	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Bahrain	Constitutional monarchy	Monarch personally exercises power alongside weak parliament
Bangladesh	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Barbados	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Belarus	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Belgium	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Belize	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Benin	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Bhutan	Absolute monarchy
Bolivia	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Botswana	Republic	Executive	Parliamentary
Brazil	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Brunei	Absolute monarchy
Bulgaria	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Burkina Faso	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Burundi	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Cambodia	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Cameroon	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Canada	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Cape Verde	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Central African Republic	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Chad	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Chile	Republic	Executive	Presidential
China, People's Republic of	Republic	Power constitutionally linked to a single political movement
China, Republic of	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Colombia	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Comoros	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Congo, Democratic Republic of the	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Congo, Republic of the	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Costa Rica	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Côte d'Ivoire	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Croatia	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Cuba	Republic	Power constitutionally linked to a single political movement
Cyprus	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Czech Republic	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Denmark	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Djibouti	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Dominica	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Dominican Republic	Republic	Executive	Presidential
East Timor	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Ecuador	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Egypt	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
El Salvador	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Equatorial Guinea	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Eritrea	Republic	No constitutional basis to current regime
Estonia	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Ethiopia	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Fiji	Republic	No constitutional basis to current regime
Finland	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
France	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Gabon	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Gambia	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Georgia	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Germany	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Ghana	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Greece	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Grenada	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Guatemala	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Guinea	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Guinea-Bissau	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Guyana	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Haiti	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Honduras	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Hungary	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Iceland	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
India	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Indonesia	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Iran	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Iraq	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Ireland	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Israel	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Italy	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Jamaica	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Japan	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Jordan	Constitutional monarchy	Monarch personally exercises power alongside weak parliament
Kazakhstan	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Kenya	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Kiribati	Republic	Executive	Parliamentary
Korea, North	Republic	Power constitutionally linked to a single political movement
Korea, South	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Kuwait	Constitutional monarchy	Monarch personally exercises power alongside weak parliament
Kyrgyzstan	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Laos	Republic	Power constitutionally linked to a single political movement
Latvia	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Lebanon	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Lesotho	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Liberia	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Libya	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Liechtenstein	Constitutional monarchy	Monarch personally exercises power alongside weak parliament
Lithuania	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Luxembourg	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Macedonia	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Madagascar	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Malawi	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Malaysia	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Maldives	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Mali	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Malta	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Marshall Islands	Republic	Executive	Parliamentary
Mauritania	Republic	No constitutional basis to current regime
Mauritius	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Mexico	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Micronesia	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Moldova	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Monaco	Constitutional monarchy	Monarch personally exercises power alongside weak parliament
Mongolia	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Montenegro	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Morocco	Constitutional monarchy	Monarch personally exercises power alongside weak parliament
Mozambique	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Myanmar	Republic	No constitutional basis to current regime
Namibia	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Nauru	Republic	Executive	Parliamentary
Nepal	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Netherlands	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
New Zealand	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Nicaragua	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Niger	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Nigeria	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Norway	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Oman	Absolute monarchy
Pakistan	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Palau	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Panama	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Papua New Guinea	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Paraguay	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Peru	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Philippines	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Poland	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Portugal	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Qatar	Absolute monarchy
Romania	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Russia	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Rwanda	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Saint Lucia	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Samoa	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
San Marino	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
São Tomé and Príncipe	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Saudi Arabia	Absolute monarchy
Senegal	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Serbia	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Seychelles	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Sierra Leone	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Singapore	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Slovakia	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Slovenia	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Solomon Islands	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Somalia	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
South Africa	Republic	Executive	Parliamentary
Spain	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Sri Lanka	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Sudan	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Suriname	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Swaziland	Absolute monarchy
Sweden	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Switzerland	Republic	Executive	Parliamentary
Syria	Republic	Power constitutionally linked to a single political movement
Tajikistan	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Tanzania	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Thailand	Constitutional monarchy	No constitutional basis to current regime
Togo	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Tonga	Absolute monarchy
Trinidad and Tobago	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Tunisia	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Turkey	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Turkmenistan	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Tuvalu	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Uganda	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Ukraine	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
United Arab Emirates	Constitutional monarchy	Monarch personally exercises power alongside weak parliament
United Kingdom	Constitutional monarchy	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
United States	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Uruguay	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Uzbekistan	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Vanuatu	Republic	Ceremonial	Parliamentary
Vatican City	Absolute monarchy
Venezuela	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Vietnam	Republic	Power constitutionally linked to a single political movement
Yemen	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Western Sahara	Republic	Executive	Semi-Presidential
Zambia	Republic	Executive	Presidential
Zimbabwe	Republic	Executive	Presidential

[edit] Systems of Governance

[edit] Presidential / Separated republics

These are systems in which a president is the active head of the executive branch of government and is elected and remains in office independently of the legislature. The following list includes democratic and non-democratic states:

[edit] Full presidential systems

In full presidential systems, the president is both head of state and head of government. There is no prime minister.

Afghanistan Argentina Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Benin Bolivia Botswana Brazil Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Chile Colombia Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Costa Rica

Côte d'Ivoire Cyprus Djibouti Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Gabon The Gambia Georgia Ghana Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Haiti Honduras Indonesia Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati

Republic of Korea Kyrgyzstan Liberia Madagascar Malawi Maldives Mali Marshall Islands Mexico Federated States of Micronesia Mozambique Namibia Nauru Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Palau Panama Paraguay Peru

Philippines Rwanda Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Sudan Suriname Tajikistan Tanzania Togo Tunisia Turkmenistan Uganda United States of America Uruguay Uzbekistan Venezuela Zambia Zimbabwe

[edit] Semi-presidential systems

In semi-presidential systems, there is a president and a prime minister. In such systems, the President has genuine executive authority, unlike in a parliamentary republic, but some of the role of a head of government is exercised by the prime minister, who is also head of the legislature.

Algeria Angola Bosnia and Herzegovina Cape Verde Egypt France Guyana Lebanon

Moldova Mongolia Montenegro Pakistan Romania Russia San Marino

São Tomé and Príncipe South Africa Sri Lanka Republic of China (Taiwan) Ukraine Western Sahara [1] Yemen

[edit] Parliamentary republics

A Parliamentary republic is a system in which a prime minister is the active head of the executive branch of government and also leader of the legislature. However, there can also be an elected president that serves as a symbolic head of state or figurehead.

Albania Austria Bangladesh [2] Bulgaria Croatia Czech Republic Dominica East Timor Estonia

Ethiopia Finland Germany Greece Hungary Iceland India Iraq Ireland

Israel Italy Latvia Lithuania Macedonia Malta Mauritius Poland Portugal

Serbia Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Switzerland [3] Trinidad and Tobago Turkey Vanuatu

[edit] Constitutional monarchies

Systems in which a prime minister is the active head of the executive branch of government and also leader of the legislature. The head of state is a constitutional monarch who only exercises his or her powers with the consent of the government, the people or their representatives.

Andorra [4] Belgium Cambodia Denmark Japan Lesotho Luxembourg

Malaysia Netherlands Norway Samoa Spain Sweden

[edit] Commonwealth realms

Constitutional monarchies, in which Queen Elizabeth II serves as head of state over an independent government. In each Realm, she acts as the monarch of that state, and is usually titled accordingly - for example, Queen of Australia. The Queen appoints a Governor-General to each country other than the United Kingdom to act as her representative. The prime minister is the active head of the executive branch of government and also leader of the legislature.

Antigua and Barbuda Australia The Bahamas Barbados Belize Canada Grenada Jamaica

New Zealand Papua New Guinea Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Solomon Islands Tuvalu United Kingdom

[edit] Semi-constitutional monarchies

The prime minister (or equivalent) is the nation's active executive, but the monarch still has considerable political powers that can be used at his/her own independent discretion.

Bahrain Jordan Kuwait Liechtenstein

Monaco Morocco Nepal [5]

[edit] Absolute monarchies

Monarchies in which the monarch is the active head of the executive branch and exercises all powers.

Bhutan [6] Brunei Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia

Swaziland Tonga United Arab Emirates [7] Vatican City State

[edit] Theocracies

Non-democratic states based on a state religion where the head of state is selected by some form of religious hierarchy.

• Iran ^[8]
• the Holy See (Vatican City)

[edit] One-party states

Non-democratic states in which political power is concentrated within a single political party whose operations are largely fused with the government hierarchy.

People's Republic of China (Communist Party) (list) Cuba (Communist Party) (list) Eritrea (People's Front) (list) Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Workers' Party) (list) Laos (Revolutionary (Communist) Party) (list) Syria (Arab Socialist Ba'th Party) (list) Turkmenistan (Democratic Party) (list) Vietnam (Communist Party) (list)

[edit] Military junta states

The nation's armed forces control the organs of government and all high-ranking political executives are also members of the military hierarchy.

• Fiji^[9]
• Libya
• Mauritania ^[10]
• Myanmar

[edit] Transitional

States which have a system of government which is in transition or turmoil and cannot be accurately classified. (with current direction of change)

• Somalia (toward semi-presidential republic)
• Sudan (bipartisan Government of National Unity)
• Palestinian Authority (toward semi-presidential republic)
• Thailand (toward constitutional monarchy)
• Nepal (toward constitutional monarchy or parliamentary republic)
• Iraq (toward parliamentary republic)

[edit] Systems of Internal Governance

[edit] Federal

States in which the federal government shares power with semi-independent regional governments. In many cases, the central government is (in theory) a creation of the regional governments; a prime example is the United States.

Argentina (23 provinces and 1 autonomous city) Australia (6 states and 2 territories) Austria (9 states) Belgium (Flanders/Flemish Region and Wallonia/Walloon Region) Bosnia and Herzegovina (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika Srpska) Brazil (26 states and 1 federal district) Canada (10 provinces and 3 territories) Comoros (Anjouan, Grande Comore, Mohéli) Ethiopia (9 regions and 2 chartered cities) Federated States of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap) Germany (16 states) India (28 states and 7 union territories) Malaysia (13 states and 3 federal territories)

Mexico (31 states and 1 federal district) Nigeria (36 states) Pakistan (4 provinces and 2 territories) Palau (16 states)[citation needed] Papua New Guinea (20 provinces)[citation needed] Russia (49 oblasts, 21 republics, 10 autonomous okrugs, 6 krays, 2 federal cities, 1 autonomous oblast) Saint Kitts and Nevis South Africa (9 provinces)[citation needed] Switzerland (26 cantons) United Arab Emirates (7 emirates) United States (50 states, one District, two Commonwealths, and 12 Territories) Venezuela (23 states and 1 capital district)

[edit] Devolved

States in which the central government has delegated some of its powers to self-governing subsidiary governments, creating a de facto federation.

• Spain (17 autonomous communities)
• United Kingdom (Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales; England remains under full control of the central government)

[edit] Regionalized unitary

States in which the central government has delegated some of its powers to regional governments.

• Chile (13 regions, each one divided into smaller provinces, which are sub-divided into several municipalities).
• Italy (20 regions, five granted 'autonomous' status)
• New Zealand (12 regions, 4 unitary authorities)
• People's Republic of China (22 provinces, 5 autonomous regions, 4 municipalities, and 2 Special Administrative Regions: Hong Kong and Macau)
• Philippines (79 provinces grouped into 17 regions, one granted 'autonomous' status)

[edit] Federacy

A federacy is a country in which some substates function like states in a federation and others like states in a unitary state.

• Denmark with 2 autonomous regions and 5 regions;
• Finland with 1 autonomous province and 19 regions;
• The Netherlands with 2 states and 12 provinces.
• France with 1 sui generis collectivity and 26 régions, 4 collectivités d'outre-mer, 1 territoire d'outre-mer
• Serbia, significant autonomy granted to Vojvodina; Kosovo-Metohija under UN protectorate, future status being negotiated.
• Ukraine, 24 oblasts, 2 special-status cities, and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea
• Tanzania, 21 mainland regions, 5 regions under autonomous government of Zanzibar

[edit] Unitary

see Unitary state

[edit] Notes

1. ^ The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a government in exile, located in Tindouf, Algeria. Most of the territory of Western Sahara is under military occupation by Morocco; the rest is administered by the SADR.
2. ^ In Bangladesh, a Caretaker government takes over for three months during parliamentary elections. The Caretaker government is headed by a Chief advisor (the last Chief Justice to retire), and a group of neutral, non-partisan advisors chosen from the civil society. During this time, the president has jurisdiction over the Ministry of defense and the Ministry of foreign affairs.
3. ^ There is neither a prime minister nor a president of Switzerland. The President of the Swiss Confederation is merely primus inter pares in the Swiss Federal Council, the seven-member executive council which constitutes the government as well as the head of state of Switzerland.
4. ^ Bishop of Urgell and President of France serve as ex-officio co-princes
5. ^ The King of Nepal gave himself absolute authority for three years in 2005; he has given up absolute power on April 21, 2006, but constitutional government has not yet resumed
6. ^ Bhutan is in the process of democratization by request of the king.
7. ^ UAE is a federation of absolute monarchies, with the federal president drawn from hereditary emirs
8. ^ Iran combines the forms of a presidential republic, with a president elected by universal suffrage; and a theocracy, with a Supreme Leader who is ultimately responsible for state policy, chosen by the elected Assembly of Experts. Candidates for both the Assembly of Experts and the presidency are vetted by the appointed Guardian Council.
9. ^ The President of Fiji is the actual leader who on 4 December 2006 dissolved the parliament without the prime minister's consent, thereby setting the stage for a coup by the military commander.
10. ^ On August 3, 2005, the military of Mauritania staged a coup and declared a two year transitional military dictatorship

[edit] See also

• List of forms of government
• List of countries by date of transition to republican system of government

[edit] External links

• Global Scan- Election Tracker
• Countries categorized by system of government in 20th century at Historical Atlas of 20th Century

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