Government Terms

A government where a king and his advisors make most of the decisions.

• monarchy
• constitutional monarchy
• autocracy
• oligarchy

A system in which a political party or other small group takes over a government and makes all of the major decisions; government by the few.

• oligarchy
• autocracy
• democracy
• federal system

A political system in which the people play a much greater role in deciding who the rulers are and what decisions are made; "people power".

• oligarchy
• democracy
• unitary
• autocracy

A democratic form of government in which the people vote for members of political parties; the leader of which may become prime minister.

• presidential democracy
• parliamentary democracy
• hereditary monarchy
• constitutional monarchy

Sometimes called a congressional form of government; in this type of government a president is chosen to be leader.

• presidential democracy
• parliamentary democracy
• constitutional monarchy
• absolute monarchy

The name given to the head of the government; chief executive of a parliamentary democracy.

• king
• president
• prime minister
• head of state

The chief executive of a democratic government that does NOT have a parliament.

• president
• prime minister
• king
• head of state

A government in which the powers of the king or queen are restricted to those granted under the constitution or laws of the nation.

• constitutional monarchy
• absolute monarchy
• presidential system
• parliamentary system

A leader who heads the military, enforces laws, and keeps a country running day to day.

• chief executive
• head of state

In a parliamentary system, the symbolic leader of a country.

• head of state
• chief executive
• prime minister
• president