Over time, people have established various forms of government to accomplish the tasks of providing for the needs of citizens. These forms—for example, democracy, fascism, communism, socialism, and constitutional monarchy—have very different values. Each of these is described below.

Democracy is a form of government in which the power to alter the basic laws and form of government resides with the people—the citizens who vote. Elected representatives, acting with the consent of the voters, meet to address the needs of the people. Modern democracies are characterized by free and just elections, universal suffrage, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and equality before the law. Democracy has been characterized as a form of government having majority rule with minority rights.

The United States has a system of representative, rather than direct, democracy. In a system of direct democracy, citizens make policy decisions directly, in person, without going through representatives. Representative democracy entails citizens electing individuals to represent them in various government bodies to make local, state, or national laws and policy.

Fascism refers to an authoritarian form of government which considers the nation to be more important than the individual. Characterized by extreme economic and social regimentation, fascist governments espouse fervent nationalism and often racism. For the Fascist, the state is absolute; individuals exist to serve the state, not the other way around.

Communism is the name given to a form of government that favors the direct, communal control of society. Such a society is classless because all property is owned by the community as a whole and all people have equal social and economic status. Communism can take a utopian (ideal) form in which capitalism "withers away," or a revolutionary form, in which society passes beyond capitalism by means of revolution.

Socialism is based on the belief that a society's economic system should be operated for the good of all rather than for the benefit of a few. Socialism favors cooperation over competition, centralized economic planning, and collective or cooperative ownership of all goods and services. Socialism is defined by state ownership of property and state planning of the means of production and economic life.

Constitutional monarchy is a form of government established under a constitution that acknowledges a hereditary or an elected monarch as the traditional head of state. Today, such a system is almost always combined with a representative democracy. Usually, the leader of a parliamentary government (such as a prime minister) actually governs the country. Constitutional monarchies have their origin in the later Middle Ages when monarchs (kings or queens) reigned with absolute authority. Today, such figures rule only as symbolic executives, as is the case with Great Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. For such present-day monarchs, their prerogatives include being consulted and advised, and informing others of their concerns.

Oligarchy implies a privileged ruling class. This ruling class is typically a small group of elites either unrelated by kinship or related by blood as with royalty. Oligarchies may exist in various types of societies, for example, under capitalism as in South Africa in the 20th century, or under communism as in the former Soviet Union.

Autocracy refers to an authoritarian system in which political power rests in one ruler. Absolute monarchies and dictatorships are two of the forms autocracy may take.

Now that you have read about various political systems that exist elsewhere, read on for more about how our political system operates in the United States.