Editing Politics (section)

=== Forms of government ===
[[File:Eduskuntatalo_2_corrected_2020-03-23.jpg|thumb|Legislatures are an important political institution. Pictured is the [[Parliament of Finland]].]]
Forms of government can be classified by several ways. In terms of the '''structure of power''', there are [[Monarchy|monarchies]] (including [[Constitutional monarchy|constitutional monarchies]]) and [[republic]]s (usually [[Presidential system|presidential]], [[Semi-presidential system|semi-presidential]], or [[Parliamentary system|parliamentary]]).

The [[separation of powers]] describes the degree of '''horizontal integration''' between the [[legislature]], the [[Executive (government)|executive]], the [[judiciary]], and other independent institutions.

==== Source of power ====

The source of power determines the difference between [[Democracy|democracies]], [[Oligarchy|oligarchies]], and [[Autocracy|autocracies]].

In a democracy, political [[Legitimacy (political)|legitimacy]] is based on [[popular sovereignty]]. Forms of democracy include [[representative democracy]], [[direct democracy]], and [[Sortition|demarchy]]. These are separated by the way decisions are made, whether by [[Election|elected]] representatives, [[referendum]]s, or by [[Citizens' assembly|citizen juries]]. Democracies can be either republics or constitutional monarchies.

Oligarchy is a power structure where a minority rules. These may be in the form of [[anocracy]], [[aristocracy]], [[ergatocracy]], [[geniocracy]], [[gerontocracy]], [[kakistocracy]], [[kleptocracy]], [[meritocracy]], [[noocracy]], [[particracy]], [[plutocracy]], [[stratocracy]], [[technocracy]], [[theocracy]], or [[timocracy]].

Autocracies are either [[dictatorship]]s (including [[military dictatorship]]s) or [[Absolute monarchy|absolute monarchies]].[[File:The pathway of regional integration or separation.png|thumb|The pathway of regional integration or separation]]

==== Vertical integration ====
In terms of level of vertical integration, political systems can be divided into (from least to most integrated) [[confederation]]s, [[federation]]s, and [[unitary state]]s.

A federation (also known as a federal state) is a [[political entity]] characterized by a [[Political union|union]] of partially [[Federated state|self-governing provinces, states, or other regions]] under a central [[federal government]] ([[federalism]]). In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states, as well as the division of power between them and the central government, is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of either party, the states or the federal political body. Federations were formed first in Switzerland, then in the United States in 1776, in Canada in 1867 and in Germany in 1871 and in 1901, [[Australia]]. Compared to a [[federation]], a [[confederation]] has less centralized power.