{"id":40,"date":"2026-05-06T19:03:43","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/medievalisms\/?page_id=40"},"modified":"2026-05-06T19:05:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T19:05:31","slug":"basic-government-concepts","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/medievalisms\/contents\/medievalism-government-and-human-rights\/basic-government-concepts\/","title":{"rendered":"Basic Government Concepts"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6 style=\"text-align: right;\">by Carol L. Robinson<br \/>\nKent State University<\/h6>\n<p>Many of these types of government can be merged with other types of government to form a single form of government.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Capitalism:<\/strong>\u00a0People can own their own business and property, privately, but usually pay taxes from some of the money they make. Most capitalist governments provide their own education, health, and welfare services.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Communism:<\/strong>\u00a0The government owns businesses and farms and provides healthcare, education, and welfare services.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Despotism:<\/strong>\u00a0The government is run by a single leader, and subjects of this government are considered to be that single leader\u2019s slaves.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Socialism:<\/strong>\u00a0People own business and property together, publicly, providing free access to basic life necessities like food, housing, and healthcare.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fascism:<\/strong>\u00a0a far-right form of government in which most of the country\u2019s power is held by one ruler or a small group, under a single party (totalitarian and authoritarian).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Authoritarian State:<\/strong>\u00a0The government seeks to suffocate politics and political activity. The government The government is run by only one political party (no competition with other parties, ever), often run by a dictator; social and economic institutions are not necessarily under government control.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Totalitarian State:<\/strong>\u00a0The government seeks to control politics and political activity. The government is run by only one political party (no competition with other parties, ever), often run by a dictator; social and economic institutions are under government control. It is the most tyrannical type of authoritarian systems.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dictatorship:<\/strong>\u00a0A country ruled by a single, un-elected leader who has full power over the country.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Federal:<\/strong>\u00a0A central government shares power with a number of small local governments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Republic:<\/strong>\u00a0A country that has no monarch and the head of the country is usually an elected president.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Democracy:<\/strong>\u00a0A central government elected by the people.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Plutocracy:<\/strong>\u00a0A central government composed of the wealthy class.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Oligarchy:<\/strong>\u00a0A Central government ruled by a small group of people who share similar interests, family relations, and\/or values.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Autocracy:<\/strong>\u00a0Power typically held by one person or a small group of people<\/li>\n<li><strong>Monarchy:<\/strong>\u00a0Governmental power controlled by a king or queen, who has inherited the role and expects to pass it onto their heir.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Theocracy:<\/strong>\u00a0Governmental power and religious power are linked together to be one and the same<\/li>\n<li><strong>Anarchy:<\/strong>\u00a0A situation where there is no government.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/cyberspacerobinson.org\/honors-colloquium-2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Hedley-Bull-The-Anarchical-Society_-A-Study-of-Order-in-World-Politics-Palgrave-Macmillan-2002.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Anarchical Society: A Study of Order in World Politics<\/a>\u00a0(Hedley Bull)<br \/>\nHedley Bull coined the term \u201cneomedievalism\u201d to define some contemporary economic structures.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CjfZT9FavLM?si=1fn-_87TeKTL07Gz\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nEvery Form of Government Explained in 8 Minutes<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/2df1kYoehhY?si=M0PTs3cVV-Fkn4hd\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nMedieval Feudalism, Explained<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Carol L. Robinson Kent State University Many of these types of government can be merged with other types of government to form a single form of government. Capitalism:\u00a0People can own their own business and property, privately, but usually pay &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/medievalisms\/contents\/medievalism-government-and-human-rights\/basic-government-concepts\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":39,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-40","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/medievalisms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/medievalisms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/medievalisms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/medievalisms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/medievalisms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/medievalisms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45,"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/medievalisms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/40\/revisions\/45"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/medievalisms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/39"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unicorn-castle.org\/medievalisms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}