This is an accepted version of this page
106-453: List of forms of government A republic , based on the Latin phrase res publica ('public affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public through their representatives —in contrast to a monarchy . Representation in a republic may or may not be freely elected by the general citizenry. In many historical republics, representation has been based on personal status and
212-562: A dictatorship or it may be a group, as in a one-party state . The word despotism means to "rule in the fashion of despots" and is often used to describe autocracy. Historical examples of autocracy include the Roman Empire , North Korea , the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , Eritrea and Nazi Germany . Regardless of the form of government, the actual governance may be influenced by sectors with political power which are not part of
318-566: A republic or democratic state ". The term evolved to become a title to a number of political entities. Three countries – Australia , the Bahamas , and Dominica – have the official title "Commonwealth", as do four U.S. states and two U.S. territories . Since the early 20th century, the term has been used to name some fraternal associations of states, most notably the Commonwealth of Nations , an organisation primarily of former territories of
424-454: A chapter on how to deal with the saṅgha s , which includes injunctions on manipulating the noble leaders, yet it does not mention how to influence the mass of the citizens, indicating that the gaṇasaṅgha are more of an aristocratic republic, than democracy. The Icelandic Commonwealth was established in 930 AD by refugees from Norway who had fled the unification of that country under King Harald Fairhair . The Commonwealth consisted of
530-534: A city-state should ideally be a republic, but maintained that a limited monarchy was better suited to a state with a larger territory. The American Revolution began as a rejection only of the authority of the British Parliament over the colonies, not of the monarchy. The failure of the British monarch to protect the colonies from what they considered the infringement of their rights to representative government ,
636-990: A different model in the Middle East; it installed local monarchies in several colonies and mandates including Iraq , Jordan , Kuwait , Bahrain , Oman , Yemen and Libya . In subsequent decades revolutions and coups overthrew a number of monarchs and installed republics. Several monarchies remain, and the Middle East is the only part of the world where several large states are ruled by monarchs with almost complete political control. List of forms of government List of forms of government This article lists forms of government and political systems , which are not mutually exclusive , and often have much overlap. According to Yale professor Juan José Linz there are three main types of political systems today: democracies , totalitarian regimes and, sitting between these two, authoritarian regimes with hybrid regimes . Another modern classification system includes monarchies as
742-437: A form of government in which the people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over the government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. A common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. Montesquieu included both democracies , where all the people have a share in rule, and aristocracies or oligarchies , where only some of
848-665: A great increase in monarchical power. The era of absolute monarchy replaced the limited and decentralized monarchies that had existed in most of the Middle Ages. It also saw a reaction against the total control of the monarch as a series of writers created the ideology known as liberalism . Most of these Enlightenment thinkers were far more interested in ideas of constitutional monarchy than in republics. The Cromwell regime had discredited republicanism, and most thinkers felt that republics ended in either anarchy or tyranny . Thus philosophers like Voltaire opposed absolutism while at
954-541: A historical state of human society, especially before the concentration of power afforded by agriculture. It has been presented as a viable long-term choice by individuals known as anarchists who oppose the state and other forms of coercive hierarchies. These systems are often highly organized, and include institutional or cultural systems to prevent the concentration of power. Anarchism typically advocates for social organization in non-hierarchical, voluntary associations where people voluntarily help each other . There are
1060-572: A minimum of land, wealth and status. Some critics of capitalism and/or representative democracy think of the United States and the United Kingdom as oligarchies . These categories are not exclusive. Autocracies are ruled by a single entity with absolute power, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regular mechanisms of popular control (except perhaps for implicit threat). That entity may be an individual, as in
1166-431: A minimum of wealth and status. Social democracy rejects the "either/or" phobiocratic/polarization interpretation of capitalism versus socialism. Social democracy argues that all citizens should be legally entitled to certain social rights. These are made up of universal access to public services such as: education, health care, workers' compensation, public transportation, and other services including child care and care for
SECTION 10
#17330931173161272-445: A mixture of the other forms, oligarchy and democracy . He argued that this was one of the ideal forms of government. Polybius expanded on many of these ideas, again focusing on the idea of mixed government and differentiated basic forms of government between "benign" monarchy , aristocracy , and democracy, and the "malignant" tyranny , oligarchy, and ochlocracy . The most important Roman work in this tradition
1378-598: A number of clans run by chieftains, and the Althing was a combination of parliament and supreme court where disputes appealed from lower courts were settled, laws were decided, and decisions of national importance were taken. One such example was the Christianisation of Iceland in 1000, where the Althing decreed that all Icelanders must be baptized into Christianity, and forbade celebration of pagan rituals. Contrary to most states,
1484-573: A number of small, wealthy, trade-based city-states embraced republican ideals, notably across Italy and the Baltic. In general, these mercantile republics arose in regions of Europe where feudal control by an absolutist monarchy was minimal or absent completely. In these mercantile republics, the leaders were elected by the citizenry with the primary duty of increasing the city-state's collective wealth. Many political systems can be described as socioeconomic ideologies. Experience with those movements in power and
1590-584: A powerful merchant class— Novgorod and Pskov —also adopted republican forms of government in 12th and 13th centuries, respectively, which ended when the republics were conquered by Muscovy / Russia at the end of 15th – beginning of 16th century. Following the collapse of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum and establishment of the Turkish Anatolian Beyliks , the Ahiler merchant fraternities established
1696-640: A relatively strong federal republic to replace the relatively weak confederation under the first attempt at a national government with the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union ratified in 1781. The first ten amendments to the Constitution called the United States Bill of Rights , guaranteed certain natural rights fundamental to republican ideals that justified the Revolution. The French Revolution
1802-588: A republic is a single sovereign state , but there are also subnational state entities that are referred to as republics, or that have governments that are described as republican in nature. The term originates from the Latin translation of Greek word politeia . Cicero , among other Latin writers, translated politeia into Latin as res publica , and it was in turn translated by Renaissance scholars as republic (or similar terms in various European languages). The term can literally be translated as 'public matter'. It
1908-669: A republic, in which the people, rather than a monarch, are described as sovereign. The Israelite confederation of the era of the Judges before the United Monarchy has also been considered a type of republic. The system of government of the Igbo people in what is now Nigeria has been described as "direct and participatory democracy". Early republican institutions come from the independent gaṇasaṅgha s — gaṇa means 'tribe' and saṅgha means 'assembly'—which may have existed as early as
2014-421: A republican form of government. The English Commonwealth was short-lived, and the monarchy was soon restored. The Dutch Republic continued in name until 1795, but by the mid-18th century the stadtholder had become a de facto monarch. Calvinists were also some of the earliest settlers of the British and Dutch colonies of North America. Along with these initial republican revolts, early modern Europe also saw
2120-429: A single, vastly powerful corporation deposes a weak government, over time or in a coup d'état . Some political scientists have also considered state socialist nations to be forms of corporate republics, with the state assuming full control of all economic and political life and establishing a monopoly on everything within national boundaries – effectively making the state itself amount to a giant corporation. Probably
2226-673: A standalone entity or as a hybrid system of the main three. Scholars generally refer to a dictatorship as either a form of authoritarianism or totalitarianism. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato discusses in the Republic five types of regimes: aristocracy , timocracy , oligarchy , democracy, and tyranny . The question raised by Plato in the Republic : What kind of state is best? Generational changes informed by new political and cultural beliefs, technological progress, values and morality over millenniums have resulted in considerable shifts in
SECTION 20
#17330931173162332-482: A state centered on Ankara that is sometimes compared to the Italian mercantile republics. The dominant form of government for these early republics was control by a limited council of elite patricians . In those areas that held elections, property qualifications or guild membership limited both who could vote and who could run. In many states no direct elections were held and council members were hereditary or appointed by
2438-518: A variety of forms of anarchy that attempt to discourage the use of coercion, violence, force and authority, while still producing a productive and desirable society. More generally, random selection of decision makers from a larger group is known as sortition (from the Latin base for lottery). The Athenian democracy made much use of sortition, with nearly all government offices filled by lottery (of full citizens) rather than by election. Candidates were almost always male, Greek, educated citizens holding
2544-639: Is Cicero's De re publica . Over time, the classical republics became empires or were conquered by empires. Most of the Greek republics were annexed to the Macedonian Empire of Alexander . The Roman Republic expanded dramatically, conquering the other states of the Mediterranean that could be considered republics, such as Carthage . The Roman Republic itself then became the Roman Empire. The term republic
2650-423: Is King Charles III , who also reigns as monarch directly in the 15 member states known as Commonwealth realms since his accession in 2022. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a loose alliance or confederation consisting of nine of the 15 former Soviet Republics , the exceptions being Turkmenistan (a CIS associate member), Lithuania , Latvia , Estonia , Ukraine , and Georgia . Georgia left
2756-621: Is also often referred as " Nobles' Commonwealth " (1505–1795, i.e., before the union). In the contemporary political doctrine of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, "our state is a Republic (or Commonwealth) under the presidency of the King". The Commonwealth introduced a doctrine of religious tolerance called Warsaw Confederation , had its own parliament Sejm (although elections were restricted to nobility and elected kings , who were bound to certain contracts Pacta conventa from
2862-401: Is appointed by the president or elected by the parliament and handles daily administration. The term semi-presidential distinguishes this system from presidential and parliamentary systems. A directorial republic is a government system with power divided among a college of several people who jointly exercise the powers of a head of state and/or a head of government. In the early Renaissance,
2968-487: Is defined more broadly. For example, a 2010 International Alert publication defined anocracies as "countries that are neither autocratic nor democratic, most of which are making the risky transition between autocracy and democracy". Alert noted that the number of anocracies had increased substantially since the end of the Cold War. Anocracy is not surprisingly the least resilient political system to short-term shocks: it creates
3074-529: Is not commonly used to refer to pre-classical city-states, especially if outside Europe and the area which was under Graeco-Roman influence. However some early states outside Europe had governments that are sometimes today considered similar to republics. In the ancient Near East , a number of cities of the Eastern Mediterranean achieved collective rule. Republic city-states flourished in Phoenicia along
3180-593: Is often abbreviated to Cth, refers to the federal government , and "Commonwealth of Australia" is the official name of the country. The Bahamas , a Commonwealth realm , has used the official style Commonwealth of The Bahamas since its independence in 1973. The small Caribbean republic of Dominica has used the official style Commonwealth of Dominica since 1978. Four states of the United States of America officially designate themselves as "commonwealths". All four were part of Great Britain's possessions along
3286-483: Is portrayed primarily in science fiction settings. Examples from popular culture include Gaia in Appleseed Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good . The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth or the common wealth – echoed in
Republic - Misplaced Pages Continue
3392-542: Is still an alternative translation of the traditional name Rzeczpospolita of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth . Wincenty Kadłubek (Vincent Kadlubo, 1160–1223) used for the first time the original Latin term res publica in the context of Poland in his "Chronicles of the Kings and Princes of Poland". The name was used officially for the confederal union formed by Poland and Lithuania (1569–1795). It
3498-715: The Icelandic Commonwealth in English. In this period Iceland was colonized by a public consisting largely of recent immigrants from Norway who had fled the unification of that country under King Harald Fairhair . The Commonwealth of the Philippines was the administrative body that governed the Philippines from 1935 to 1946, aside from a period of exile in the Second World War from 1942 to 1945 when Japan occupied
3604-580: The 2016 statehood referendum , at least partially in order to retain the initials "D.C." as the state's abbreviation. The Commonwealth of Nations —formerly the British Commonwealth—is a voluntary association of 56 independent sovereign states, most of which were once part of the British Empire . The Commonwealth's membership includes both republics and monarchies. The Head of the Commonwealth
3710-597: The Atlantic coast of North America prior to the American Revolution . As such, they share a strong influence of English common law in some of their laws and institutions. The four are: Two organized but unincorporated U.S. territories are called commonwealths. The two are: In 2016, the Washington, D.C. city council also selected "Douglass Commonwealth" as the potential name of State of Washington, D.C. , following
3816-480: The British Empire . It is also used in the translation for the organisation made up of formerly Soviet states, the Commonwealth of Independent States . Informally, by analogy to the Commonwealth of Nations, the French-influenced post-colonial Organisation internationale de la Francophonie is sometimes referred to in the English language as the "French Commonwealth", although the organisation itself never uses
3922-700: The Dutch Revolt (beginning in 1566), the Dutch Republic emerged from rejection of Spanish Habsburg rule. However, the country did not adopt the republican form of government immediately: in the formal declaration of independence ( Act of Abjuration , 1581), the throne of king Philip was only declared vacant, and the Dutch magistrates asked the Duke of Anjou , queen Elizabeth of England and prince William of Orange , one after another, to replace Philip. It took until 1588 before
4028-655: The Estates (the Staten , the representative assembly at the time) decided to vest the sovereignty of the country in themselves. In 1641 the English Civil War began. Spearheaded by the Puritans and funded by the merchants of London, the revolt was a success, and King Charles I was executed. In England James Harrington , Algernon Sidney , and John Milton became some of the first writers to argue for rejecting monarchy and embracing
4134-506: The Fascist regime . These frustrations contributed to a revival of the Italian republican movement. King Umberto II was pressured to call the 1946 Italian institutional referendum to decide whether Italy should remain a monarchy or become a republic. The supporters of the republic chose the effigy of the Italia turrita , the national personification of Italy, as their unitary symbol to be used in
4240-667: The Greco-Turkish War (1919–22) , the monarchy was briefly replaced by the Second Hellenic Republic (1924–35). In 1931, the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–39) resulted in the Spanish Civil War leading to the establishment of a Francoist regime . The aftermath of World War II left Italy with a destroyed economy, a divided society, and anger against the monarchy for its endorsement of
4346-459: The Levantine coast starting from the 11th century BC. In ancient Phoenicia, the concept of Shophet was very similar to a Roman consul . Under Persian rule (539–332 BC), Phoenician city-states such as Tyre abolished the king system and adopted "a system of the suffetes (judges), who remained in power for short mandates of 6 years". Arwad has been cited as one of the earliest known examples of
Republic - Misplaced Pages Continue
4452-602: The Middle East . After the classical period, during the Middle Ages , many free cities developed again, such as Venice . The modern type of republic itself is different from any type of state found in the classical world. Nevertheless, there are a number of states of the classical era that are today still called republics. This includes ancient Athens and the Roman Republic . While the structure and governance of these states
4558-550: The Protestant Reformation would be used as justification for establishing new republics. Most important was Calvinist theology, which developed in the Swiss Confederacy, one of the largest and most powerful of the medieval republics. John Calvin did not call for the abolition of monarchy, but he advanced the doctrine that the faithful had the duty to overthrow irreligious monarchs. Advocacy for republics appeared in
4664-504: The Renaissance , Europe was divided with those states controlled by a landed elite being monarchies and those controlled by a commercial elite being republics. Italy was the most densely populated area of Europe, and also one with the weakest central government. Many of the towns thus gained considerable independence and adopted commune forms of government. Completely free of feudal control, the Italian city-states expanded, gaining control of
4770-438: The military , and the police force , would be privatised . The social welfare function carried out by the state is instead carried out by corporations in the form of benefits to employees. Although corporate republics do not exist officially in the modern world, they are often used in works of fiction or political commentary as a warning of the perceived dangers of unbridled capitalism . In such works, they usually arise when
4876-476: The overthrow of the kings in 509 BC to the establishment of the Empire in 27 BC. This constitution was characterized by a Senate composed of wealthy aristocrats wielding significant influence; several popular assemblies of all free citizens, possessing the power to elect magistrates from the populace and pass laws; and a series of magistracies with varying types of civil and political authority. Most often
4982-481: The "Republic of Liberia" when it declared independence (and adopted a new constitution) in 1847. "Commonwealth" was first proposed as a term for a federation of the six Australian crown colonies at the 1891 constitutional convention in Sydney . Its adoption was initially controversial, as it was associated by some with the republicanism of Oliver Cromwell ( see above ), but it was retained in all subsequent drafts of
5088-421: The 15th century as the renewed interest in the writings of Ancient Rome caused writers to prefer classical terminology. To describe non-monarchical states, writers (most importantly, Leonardo Bruni ) adopted the Latin phrase res publica . While Bruni and Machiavelli used the term to describe the states of Northern Italy, which were not monarchies, the term res publica has a set of interrelated meanings in
5194-542: The 6th century BC and persisted in some areas until the 4th century AD in India. The evidence for this is scattered, however, and no pure historical source exists for that period. Diodorus , a Greek historian who wrote two centuries after the time of Alexander the Great 's invasion of India (now Pakistan and northwest India) mentions, without offering any detail, that independent and democratic states existed in India. Modern scholars note
5300-675: The CIS in August 2008 following the 2008 invasion of the Russian military into South Ossetia and Abkhazia . Its creation signalled the dissolution of the Soviet Union , its purpose being to "allow a civilised divorce" between the Soviet Republics . The CIS has developed as a forum by which the member-states can co-operate in economics , defence , and foreign policy . Labour MP Tony Benn sponsored
5406-511: The Commonwealth to an end. The Althing, however, is still Iceland's parliament, almost 800 years later. In Europe new republics appeared in the late Middle Ages when a number of small states embraced republican systems of government. These were generally small, but wealthy, trading states, like the Mediterranean maritime republics and the Hanseatic League , in which the merchant class had risen to prominence. Knud Haakonssen has noted that, by
SECTION 50
#17330931173165512-501: The Creole elite had little interest in giving these groups power and broad-based popular sovereignty . Simón Bolívar , both the main instigator of the revolts and one of its most important theorists, was sympathetic to liberal ideals but felt that Latin America lacked the social cohesion for such a system to function and advocated autocracy as necessary. In Mexico, this autocracy briefly took
5618-492: The French liberal thinkers, and also in the history of the classical republics. John Adams had notably written a book on republics throughout history. In addition, the widely distributed and popularly read-aloud tract Common Sense , by Thomas Paine , succinctly and eloquently laid out the case for republican ideals and independence to the larger public. The Constitution of the United States , which went into effect in 1789, created
5724-816: The Icelandic Commonwealth had no official leader. In the early 13th century, the Age of the Sturlungs , the Commonwealth began to suffer from long conflicts between warring clans. This, combined with pressure from the Norwegian king Haakon IV for the Icelanders to rejoin the Norwegian "family", led the Icelandic chieftains to accept Haakon IV as king by the signing of the Gamli sáttmáli (" Old Covenant ") in 1262. This effectively brought
5830-718: The People combined American, European, and Chinese ideas. Under his leadership, the Republic of China was proclaimed on January 1, 1912. Republican ideas were spreading, especially in Asia. The United States began to have considerable influence in East Asia in the later part of the 19th century, with Protestant missionaries playing a central role. The liberal and republican writers of the West also exerted influence. These combined with native Confucian inspired political philosophy that had long argued that
5936-570: The Vajji Mahajanapada were the Licchavis. The Empire of Magadha included republican communities such as the community of Rajakumara. Villages had their own assemblies under their local chiefs called gramakas . Their administrations were divided into executive, judicial, and military functions. Scholars differ over how best to describe these governments, and the vague, sporadic quality of the evidence allows for wide disagreements. Some emphasize
6042-405: The beginning of the reign). "A commonwealth of good counsaile" was the title of the 1607 English translation of the work of Wawrzyniec Grzymała Goślicki "De optimo senatore" that presented to English readers many of the ideas present in the political system of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between 1914 and 1925, Catalonia was an autonomous region of Spain. Its government during that time
6148-447: The behest of the sultan and generally only required a tax from the lower classes, instead of military service and/or manual labour like in the feudal system. Governments can also be categorized based on their size and scope of influence: Certain major characteristics are defining of certain types; others are historically associated with certain types of government. This list focuses on differing approaches that political systems take to
6254-453: The belief about the origination of political authority, who may participate in matters of state, how people might participate, the determination of what is just, and so forth. Index of Forms of Government. Systems resembling anarchism can be a natural, temporary result of civil war in a country, when an established state has been destroyed and the region is in a transitional period without definitive leadership. It has also been proposed as
6360-449: The central role of the assemblies and thus tout them as democracies; other scholars focus on the upper-class domination of the leadership and possible control of the assembly and see an aristocracy . Despite the assembly's obvious power, it has not yet been established whether the composition and participation were truly popular. This is reflected in the Arthashastra , an ancient handbook for monarchs on how to rule efficiently. It contains
6466-508: The chance to change things. An oligarchy does not have to be hereditary or monarchic. An oligarchy does not have one clear ruler but several rulers. ( Ancient Greek ὀλιγαρχία (oligarkhía) literally meant rule by few") Some historical examples of oligarchy include the Roman Republic , in which only males of the nobility could run for office and only wealthy males could vote, and the Athenian democracy , which used sortition to elect candidates, almost always male, Greek, educated citizens holding
SECTION 60
#17330931173166572-425: The classical republics has influenced republican thought throughout the subsequent centuries. Philosophers and politicians advocating republics, such as Machiavelli , Montesquieu , Adams , and Madison , relied heavily on classical Greek and Roman sources which described various types of regimes. Aristotle 's Politics discusses various forms of government. One form Aristotle named politeia , which consisted of
6678-407: The constitution. The term was finally incorporated into law in the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 , which established the federation. Australia operates under a federal system, in which power is divided between the federal (national) government and the state governments (the successors of the six colonies). So, in an Australian context, the term "Commonwealth" (capitalised), which
6784-398: The country . It replaced the Insular Government , a United States territorial government, and was established by the Tydings–McDuffie Act . The Commonwealth was designed as a transitional administration in preparation for the country's full achievement of independence, which was achieved in 1946. The Commonwealth of the Philippines was a founding member of the United Nations . Republic
6890-457: The decisions of the assembly. Elected by the gaṇa , the chief apparently always belonged to a family of the noble class of Kshatriya Varna . The chief coordinated his activities with the assembly; in some states, he did so with a council of other nobles. The Licchavis had a primary governing body of 7,077 gaṇa mukhyas , the heads of the most important families. On the other hand, the Shakyas , Koliyas , Mallakas , and Licchavis , during
6996-407: The distribution of sovereignty , and the autonomy of regions within the state. These have no conclusive historical or current examples outside of speculation and scholarly debate. While retaining some semblance of republican government, a corporate republic would be run primarily like a business , involving a board of directors and executives . Utilities , including hospitals , schools ,
7102-428: The elderly. Social democracy is connected with the trade union labour movement and supports collective bargaining rights for workers. Contemporary social democracy advocates freedom from discrimination based on differences of: ability/disability, age, ethnicity, sex, language, religion, and social class. Oligarchies are societies controlled and organised by a small class of privileged people, with no intervention from
7208-425: The electoral campaign and on the referendum ballot on the institutional form of the State, in contrast to the Savoy coat of arms , which represented the monarchy. On June 2, 1946 the republican side won 54.3% of the vote and Italy officially became a republic, a day celebrated since as Festa della Repubblica . Italy has a written democratic constitution , resulting from the work of a Constituent Assembly formed by
7314-435: The end of the French First Republic and her Sister Republics , each replaced by " popular monarchies ". Throughout the Napoleonic period, the victors extinguished many of the oldest republics on the continent, including the Republic of Venice , the Republic of Genoa , and the Dutch Republic . They were eventually transformed into monarchies or absorbed into neighboring monarchies. Outside Europe, another group of republics
7420-434: The existing council. This left the great majority of the population without political power, and riots and revolts by the lower classes were common. The late Middle Ages saw more than 200 such risings in the towns of the Holy Roman Empire. Similar revolts occurred in Italy, notably the Ciompi Revolt in Florence. While the classical writers had been the primary ideological source for the republics of Italy, in Northern Europe,
7526-418: The form of a monarchy in the First Mexican Empire . Due to the Peninsular War , the Portuguese court was relocated to Brazil in 1808. Brazil gained independence as a monarchy on September 7, 1822, and the Empire of Brazil lasted until 1889. In many other Latin American states various forms of autocratic republic existed until most were liberalized at the end of the 20th century. The French Second Republic
7632-407: The formal government. These are terms that highlight certain actions of the governors, such as corruption , demagoguery , or fear mongering that may disrupt the intended way of working of the government if they are widespread enough. The Polity IV dataset recognizes anocracy as a category. In that dataset, anocracies are exactly in the middle between autocracies and democracies. Often the word
7738-644: The later 20th century a socialist political party known as the Common Wealth Party was active. Previously a similarly named party, the Commonwealth Land Party , was in existence. The period of Icelandic history from the establishment of the Althing in 930 to the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king in 1262 is usually called the Icelandic Nation ( Icelandic : Þjóðveldið ) in Icelandic and
7844-419: The medieval city-states as heirs to the legacy of Greece and Rome. Across Europe a wealthy merchant class developed in the important trading cities. Despite their wealth they had little power in the feudal system dominated by the rural land owners, and across Europe began to advocate for their own privileges and powers. The more centralized states, such as France and England, granted limited city charters. In
7950-557: The model it had for its earlier settler colonies of creating independent Commonwealth realms still linked under the same monarch. While most of the settler colonies and the smaller states in the Caribbean and the Pacific retained this system, it was rejected by the newly independent countries in Africa and Asia , which revised their constitutions and became republics instead. Britain followed
8056-402: The modern synonym "public wealth"), it comes from the old meaning of " wealth ", which is "well-being", and was deemed analogous to the Latin res publica . The term literally meant "common well-being". In the 17th century, the definition of "commonwealth" expanded from its original sense of " public welfare " or " commonweal " to mean "a state in which the supreme power is vested in the people;
8162-476: The monarch's branding of those requesting redress as traitors, and his support for sending combat troops to demonstrate authority resulted in widespread perception of the British monarchy as tyrannical . With the United States Declaration of Independence the leaders of the revolt firmly rejected the monarchy and embraced republicanism. The leaders of the revolution were well-versed in the writings of
8268-403: The monarch, who mostly rule kingdoms. The actual role of the monarch and other members of royalty varies from purely symbolical ( crowned republic ) to partial and restricted ( constitutional monarchy ) to completely despotic ( absolute monarchy ). Traditionally and in most cases, the post of the monarch is inherited , but there are also elective monarchies where the monarch is elected. Rule by
8374-550: The more loosely governed Holy Roman Empire , 51 of the largest towns became free imperial cities . While still under the dominion of the Holy Roman Emperor most power was held locally and many adopted republican forms of government. The same rights to imperial immediacy were secured by the major trading cities of Switzerland. The towns and villages of alpine Switzerland had, courtesy of geography, also been largely excluded from central control. Unlike Italy and Germany, much of
8480-688: The most infamous secret society is the Illuminati , who had in their general statutes, "The order of the day is to put an end to the machinations of the purveyors of injustice, to control them without dominating them." Secret societies are illegal in several countries, including Italy and Poland , who ban secret political parties and political organizations in their constitutions. Secret societies are often portrayed in fiction settings. Some examples from popular culture include: Magocracies are portrayed primarily in fiction and fantasy settings. Some examples from popular culture include: Synthetic technocracy
8586-437: The most part of society; this small elite is defined as sharing some common trait. De jure democratic governments with a de facto oligarchy are ruled by a small group of segregated, powerful or influential people who usually share similar interests or family relations. These people may spread power and elect candidates equally or not equally. An oligarchy is different from a true democracy because very few people are given
8692-524: The only republics in Europe. This changed when, after the 1908 Lisbon Regicide , the 5 October 1910 revolution established the Portuguese Republic . In East Asia, China had seen considerable anti-Qing sentiment during the 19th century, and a number of protest movements developed calling for constitutional monarchy. The most important leader of these efforts was Sun Yat-sen , whose Three Principles of
8798-457: The original Latin. In subsequent centuries, the English word commonwealth came to be used as a translation of res publica , and its use in English was comparable to how the Romans used the term res publica . Notably, during The Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell the word commonwealth was the most common term to call the new monarchless state, but the word republic was also in common use. At
8904-414: The people rule, as republican forms of government. These categories are not exclusive. A semi-presidential republic is a government system with power divided between a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government, used in countries like France , Portugal , and Ukraine . The president, elected by the people, symbolizes national unity and foreign policy while the prime minister
9010-455: The period around Gautama Buddha , had the assembly open to all men, rich and poor. Early republics or gaṇasaṅgha , such as Mallakas, centered in the city of Kusinagara , and the Vajjika (or Vṛjika) League, centered in the city of Vaishali , existed as early as the 6th century BC and persisted in some areas until the 4th century AD. The most famous clan amongst the ruling confederate clans of
9116-882: The populace had the right to reject unjust governments that had lost the Mandate of Heaven . During this period, two short-lived republics were proclaimed in East Asia; the Republic of Formosa and the First Philippine Republic . Republicanism expanded significantly in the aftermath of World War I when several of the largest European empires collapsed: the Russian Empire (1917), German Empire (1918), Austro-Hungarian Empire (1918), and Ottoman Empire (1922) were all replaced by republics. New states gained independence during this turmoil, and many of these, such as Ireland , Poland , Finland and Czechoslovakia , chose republican forms of government. Following Greece's defeat in
9222-465: The present time, the term republic commonly means a system of government which derives its power from the people rather than from another basis, such as heredity or divine right . While the philosophical terminology developed in classical Greece and Rome , as already noted by Aristotle there was already a long history of city states with a wide variety of constitutions, not only in Greece but also in
9328-438: The promise but not yet the actuality of an inclusive and effective political economy, and threatens members of the established elite; and is therefore very vulnerable to disruption and armed violence. Countries with monarchy attributes are those where a family or group of families (rarely another type of group), called the royalty , represents national identity, with power traditionally assigned to one of its individuals, called
9434-470: The representatives of all the anti-fascist forces that contributed to the defeat of Nazi and Fascist forces during the liberation of Italy . In the years following World War II , most of the remaining European colonies gained their independence, and most became republics. The two largest colonial powers were France and the United Kingdom. Republican France encouraged the establishment of republics in its former colonies. The United Kingdom attempted to follow
9540-420: The role of elections has been limited. This remains true today; among the 159 states that use the word republic in their official names as of 2017, and other states formally constituted as republics, are states that narrowly constrain both the right of representation and the process of election. The term developed its modern meaning in reference to the constitution of the ancient Roman Republic , lasting from
9646-454: The rule of Oliver Cromwell and his son and successor Richard . From 1653 to 1659, although still legally known as a Commonwealth, the republic, united with the former Kingdom of Scotland , operated under different institutions (at times as a de facto monarchy) and is known by historians as the Protectorate . In a British context, it is sometimes referred to as the "Old Commonwealth". In
9752-536: The rural area was thus not controlled by feudal barons, but by independent farmers who also used communal forms of government. When the Habsburgs tried to reassert control over the region both rural farmers and town merchants joined the rebellion. The Swiss were victorious, and the Swiss Confederacy was proclaimed, and Switzerland has retained a republican form of government to the present. Two Russian cities with
9858-457: The rural hinterland. The two most powerful were the Republic of Venice and its rival the Republic of Genoa . Each were large trading ports, and further expanded by using naval power to control large parts of the Mediterranean. It was in Italy that an ideology advocating for republics first developed. Writers such as Bartholomew of Lucca , Brunetto Latini , Marsilius of Padua , and Leonardo Bruni saw
9964-495: The same time being strongly pro-monarchy. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Montesquieu praised republics, and looked on the city-states of Greece as a model. However, both also felt that a state like France, with 20 million people, would be impossible to govern as a republic. Rousseau admired the republican experiment in Corsica (1755–1769) and described his ideal political structure of small, self-governing communes. Montesquieu felt that
10070-460: The strong ties they may have to particular forms of government can cause them to be considered as forms of government in themselves. These categories are not exclusive. A similar system is the Iqta‘ , used by medieval Islamic societies of the middle east and north Africa. This functioned much like the feudal system but generally had titles that weren't granted to a family dynasty but to individuals at
10176-416: The term republic can also be used in a general way to refer to any regime, or to refer specifically to governments which work for the public good. In medieval Northern Italy , a number of city states had commune or signoria based governments. In the late Middle Ages, writers such as Giovanni Villani described these states using terms such as libertas populi , a free people. The terminology changed in
10282-561: The term. Translations of Ancient Roman writers' works to English have on occasion translated " Res publica ", and variants thereof, to "the commonwealth", a term referring to the Roman state as a whole. The Commonwealth of England was the official name of the political unit ( de facto military rule in the name of parliamentary supremacy) that replaced the Kingdom of England (after the English Civil War ) from 1649 to 1653 and 1659 to 1660, under
10388-534: The word democracy at the time of the 3rd century BC and later suffered from degradation and could mean any autonomous state, no matter how aristocratic in nature. Key characteristics of the gaṇa seem to include a gaṇa mukhya (chief), and a deliberative assembly. The assembly met regularly. It discussed all major state decisions. At least in some states, attendance was open to all free men. This body also had full financial, administrative, and judicial authority. Other officers, who rarely receive any mention, obeyed
10494-726: The writings of the Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion . Calvinism played an important role in the republican revolts in England and the Netherlands. Like the city-states of Italy and the Hanseatic League, both were important trading centres, with a large merchant class prospering from the trade with the New World. Large parts of the population of both areas also embraced Calvinism. During
10600-526: Was also not republican at its outset. Only after the Flight to Varennes removed most of the remaining sympathy for the king was a republic declared and Louis XVI sent to the guillotine. The stunning success of France in the French Revolutionary Wars saw republics spread by force of arms across much of Europe as a series of client republics were set up across the continent. The rise of Napoleon saw
10706-521: Was created as the Napoleonic Wars allowed the states of Latin America to gain their independence. Liberal ideology had only a limited impact on these new republics. The main impetus was the local European-descended Creole population in conflict with the Peninsulares —governors sent from overseas. The majority of the population in most of Latin America was of either African or Amerindian descent, and
10812-557: Was created in 1848 but abolished by Napoleon III who proclaimed himself Emperor in 1852. The French Third Republic was established in 1870 when a civil revolutionary committee refused to accept Napoleon III's surrender during the Franco-Prussian War . Spain briefly became the First Spanish Republic in 1873–74, but the monarchy was soon restored. By the start of the 20th century France, Switzerland and San Marino remained
10918-465: Was different from that of any modern republic, there is debate about the extent to which classical, medieval, and modern republics form a historical continuum. J. G. A. Pocock has argued that a distinct republican tradition stretches from the classical world to the present. Other scholars disagree. Paul Rahe, for instance, argues that the classical republics had a form of government with few links to those in any modern country. The political philosophy of
11024-420: Was given the title mancomunidad ( Catalan : mancomunitat ), which is translated into English as "commonwealth". The Commonwealth of Catalonia had limited powers and was formed as a federation of the four Catalan provinces. A number of Catalan-language institutions were created during its existence. Between 1838 and 1847, Liberia was officially known as the "Commonwealth of Liberia". It changed its name to
11130-537: Was titled Politeia . However, apart from the title, modern translations are generally used. Aristotle was apparently the first classical writer to state that the term politeia can be used to refer more specifically to one type of politeia , asserting in Book III of his Politics : "When the citizens at large govern for the public good, it is called by the name common to all governments ( to koinon onoma pasōn tōn politeiōn ), government ( politeia )". In later Latin works
11236-405: Was used by Roman writers to refer to the state and government, even during the period of the Roman Empire . The term politeia can be translated as form of government , polity , or regime , and it does not necessarily imply any specific type of regime as the modern word republic sometimes does. One of Plato 's major works on political philosophy, usually known in English as The Republic ,
#315684