List of countries by system of government

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Politics and government

This is a list of countries categorized by

system of government.

Presidential / Separated
republics
Where a president is the active head of
the executive branch of government and
is independent from the legislature. The
following list includes democratic and
States by their systems of government as of April 2006.
non-democratic states:
██ presidential republics, full presidential system
██ presidential republics, executive presidency linked to a parliament
Full presidential systems ██ presidential republics, semi-presidential system
██ parliamentary republics
██ parliamentary constitutional monarchies in which the monarch
In full presidential systems, the president does not personally exercise power
is both head of state and head of ██ constitutional monarchies in which the monarch personally
government. There is no prime minister. exercises power, often alongside a weak parliament
██  absolute monarchies
██ states whose constitutions grant only a single party the right to
govern
██ military dictatorships

Afghanistan Côte d'Ivoire Republic of Korea Philippines

Argentina Cyprus Kyrgyzstan Rwanda
Armenia Djibouti Liberia Senegal
Azerbaijan Dominican Madagascar Seychelles
Belarus Republic Malawi Sierra Leone
Benin Ecuador Maldives Sudan
Bolivia El Salvador Mali Suriname
Botswana Equatorial Marshall Islands Tajikistan
Brazil Guinea Mexico Tanzania
Burkina Faso Gabon Federated States of Togo
Burundi The Gambia Micronesia Tunisia
Cameroon Georgia Mozambique Turkmenistan
Central African Republic Ghana Namibia Uganda
Chad Guatemala Nauru United States of
Chile Guinea Nicaragua America
Colombia Guinea-Bissau Niger Uruguay
Comoros Haiti Nigeria Uzbekistan
Democratic Republic of Honduras Palau Venezuela
the Congo Indonesia Panama Zambia
Republic of the Congo Kazakhstan Paraguay Zimbabwe
Costa Rica Kenya Peru
Kiribati

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.
 Algeria Moldova São Tomé and Príncipe
Angola Mongolia South Africa
Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro Sri Lanka
Cape Verde Pakistan Republic of China (Taiwan)
Egypt Palestinian Authority Ukraine
France Romania Western Sahara
Guyana Russia Yemen
Lebanon San Marino

Parliamentary republics
Where a prime minister is the active head of the executive branch of government and also leader of
the legislature. However, there is also a president who serves as a symbolic head of state in some
figurehead capacity. The following list includes democratic and non-democratic states:

Albania Ethiopia Ireland Portugal

Austria Fiji Israel Serbia
Bangladesh Finland Italy Singapore
Bulgaria Germany Latvia Slovakia
Croatia Greece Lithuania Slovenia
Czech Republic Hungary Macedonia Switzerland
Dominica Iceland Malta Trinidad and Tobago
East Timor India Mauritius Turkey
Estonia Iraq Poland Vanuatu

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

Bhutan Swaziland
Brunei Tonga
Oman United Arab Emirates
Qatar Vatican City State
Saudi Arabia

Constitutional monarchies
Where 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 and is largely a figurehead.

Andorra Malaysia
Belgium Netherlands
Cambodia Norway
Denmark Samoa
Japan Spain
Lesotho Sweden
Luxembourg

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 Monaco
Jordan Morocco
Kuwait Nepal
Liechtenstein

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 New Zealand

Australia Papua New Guinea
The Bahamas Saint Kitts and Nevis
Barbados Saint Lucia
Belize Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Canada Solomon Islands
Grenada Tuvalu
Jamaica United Kingdom

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

Iran
the Holy See (Vatican City)

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)

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.

Libya
 Mauritania
Myanmar
Pakistan
Sudan
Thailand

Transitional
States which have a system of government which is in transition or turmoil and cannot be accurately
classified.

Somalia

Systems of Internal Governance

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 Mexico (31 states and 1 federal district)
autonomous city) Nigeria (36 states)
Australia (6 states and 2 territories) Pakistan (4 provinces and 1 territory)
Austria (9 states) Palau (16 states)
Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia) Papua New Guinea (20 provinces)
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Federation of Russia (49 oblasts, 21 republics, 10 autonomous
Bosnia and Herzegovina and Republika okrugs, 6 krays, 2 federal cities, 1 autonomous
Srpska) oblast)
Brazil (26 states and 1 federal district) Saint Kitts and Nevis
Canada (10 provinces and 3 territories) South Africa (9 provinces)
Comoros ( Anjouan, Grande Comore, Switzerland (26 cantons)
Mohéli and Mayotte) United Arab Emirates (7 emirates)
Ethiopia United States (50 states, one District, two
Federated States of Micronesia ( Chuuk, Commonwealths, and 12 Territories)
Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap) Venezuela (23 states and 1 capital district)
Germany (16 states)
India (28 states and 7 union territories)
Malaysia (13 states and 3 federal
territories)

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)

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 'administrative' status and one
granted 'autonomous' status)
Serbia, significant autonomy granted to Kosovo.

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 13 counties;

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

Unitary

see Unitary state

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