1. Types of Government

2. MONARCHY * A monarchy has a king, queen, emperor or empress.
* The ruling position can be passed on to the ruler’s heirs (passed down to their children).
* In some traditional monarchies, the monarch has absolute power.
* A constitutional monarchy, like the UK and Australia, also have a democratic government that limits the monarch's control

3. DEMOCRACY * In a democracy, the government is elected by the people.
* Everyone who is eligible to vote has a chance to have their say over who runs the country.
* A democracy is determined either directly or through elected representatives.

4. ARISTOCRACY * A form of government in which a few elite citizens rule.
* In earlier times it was usually rich land owners that ruled, however in more modern times the rulers are usually from the highest social class.
* Power to rule is inherited or passed down from parents to their children.

5. OLIGARCHY
* A few people or a small group, generally those who are richer and more powerful than the others rule the country.
* Women or the wives of the men rulers often tell their husbands what should
happen.
* Sometimes they may be
elected by the citizens, or
they are born into their position,
or they have a certain amount
of money or land in order to be
in the ruling group.

6. DICTATORSHIP
*This is a country ruled by a single leader. Often a strong individual who seizes power and rules alone.
*The leader has not been elected and may use
force to keep control.
* In a military dictatorship, the army is in control.

7. ANARCHY * A situation where there is no government.
* This can happen after a civil war in a country, when a government has been destroyed and rival groups are fighting to take its place.
ANARCHY

8. REPUBLIC * A republic is a country that has no monarch.
* Citizens elect who they want to represent them.
* The head of the country is
usually an elected president.