List of Countries
List of Countries
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No constitutionally-defined basis to
Afghanistan Provisional n/a
current regime[note 1]
confidence
confidence
Central African
Republic Executive Presidency is independent of legislature
Republic
confidence
Dominican
Republic Executive Presidency is independent of legislature
Republic
Equatorial
Republic Executive Presidency is independent of legislature
Guinea
confidence
parliamentary confidence
No constitutionally-defined basis to
Libya Provisional n/a
current regime
confidence
Saudi Arabia Absolute monarchy Executive All authority vested in absolute monarch
Head of
Name Constitutional form Basis of executive legitimacy
state
Vatican City Absolute monarchy Executive All authority vested in absolute monarch
No constitutionally-defined basis to
Yemen Provisional n/a
current regime[note 4]
Other states
Head of
Name Constitutional form Basis of executive legitimacy
state
Presidency is independent of
Abkhazia Republic Executive
legislature
Presidency is independent of
Artsakh Republic Executive
legislature
Presidency is independent of
Somaliland Republic Executive
legislature
Systems of governance
Italics indicate states with limited recognition.
Presidential systems
These are systems in which a president is the active head of the executive branch of
government, and is elected and remains in office independently of the legislature.
In full presidential systems, the president is both head of state and head of government.
There is generally no prime minister, although if one exists, in most cases they serve
purely at the discretion of the president.
The following list includes democratic and non-democratic states:
Presidential systems without a prime minister
Angola
Artsakh
Benin
Bolivia
Brazil
Chile
Colombia
Comoros
Costa Rica
Cyprus
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Gambia, The
Ghana
Guatemala
Honduras
Indonesia
Kenya
Liberia
Malawi
Maldives
Mexico
Nicaragua
Nigeria
Palau
Panama
Paraguay
Philippines
Senegal
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somaliland
South Sudan
Turkey
Turkmenistan
United States
Uruguay
Venezuela
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Nations with limited recognition are in italics.
Presidential systems with a Supreme Leader
Iran[note 5]
Presidential systems with a prime minister
The following countries have presidential systems where a post of prime
minister (official title may vary) exists alongside that of the president. The president is
still both the head of state and government and the prime minister's roles are mostly to
assist the president. Belarus, Gabon and Kazakhstan, where the prime minister is
effectively the head of government and the president the head of state, are exceptions.
Abkhazia
Argentina (see Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers)
Belarus
Burundi
Cameroon
Central African Republic
Djibouti
Gabon
Equatorial Guinea
Ivory Coast
Kazakhstan
Kyrgyzstan
Peru
South Korea
Rwanda
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Togo
Tunisia
Uganda
Uzbekistan
Nations with limited recognition are in italics.
Semi-presidential systems
In semi-presidential systems, there is always both a president and a head of
government, commonly but not exclusively styled as a prime minister. In such systems,
the president has genuine executive authority, but the role of a head of government may
be exercised by the prime minister.
Premier-presidential systems
The president chooses a prime minister and cabinet from the parliament with approval
from the parliament, however only the parliament may remove them from office with
a vote of no confidence. The president does not have the right to dismiss the prime
minister or the cabinet.
Algeria
Cape Verde
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
East Timor
Egypt
France
Haiti
Lithuania
Madagascar
Mongolia
Niger
Northern Cyprus
Portugal
Romania
São Tomé and Príncipe
Sri Lanka
Ukraine[10]
Nations with limited recognition are in italics.
President-parliamentary systems
The president is head of state and the prime minister is head of government, although
the prime minister generally works under the discretion of the former more so than in a
premier-presidential system. The president chooses the prime minister and the cabinet
without a confidence vote from the parliament, but must have the support of a
parliamentary majority for their selection. In order to remove a prime minister or their
cabinet from power, the president may dismiss them or the parliament can remove them
by a vote of no confidence.
Azerbaijan[11]
Congo, Republic of the
Guinea-Bissau
Mauritania
Mozambique
Namibia
Palestine
Russia[11]
South Ossetia
Syria
Taiwan
Transnistria
Nations with limited recognition are in italics.
Parliamentary republican and related systems
In a parliamentary republic, the head of government is selected or nominated by the
legislature and is also accountable to it. The head of state is ordinarily called a president
and (in full parliamentary republics) is separate from the head of government, serving a
largely apolitical, ceremonial role. In these systems, the head of government is usually
called the prime minister, chancellor or premier. In mixed republican systems and
directorial republican systems, the head of government also serves as head of state and
is usually titled president.
Full parliamentary republican systems
In some full parliamentary systems, the head of state is directly elected by voters. Under
other classification systems, however, these systems may instead be classed as semi-
presidential systems (despite their weak presidency).[12] Full parliamentary republican
systems that do not have a directly elected head of state usually use either an electoral
college or a vote in the legislature to appoint the president.
Directly elected head of state
Austria
Bosnia and Herzegovina[note 6]
Bulgaria[13]
Croatia[14]
Czech Republic[15]
Finland
Iceland[16]
Ireland[17]
Moldova[18]
Montenegro[19]
North Macedonia
Poland[4][5]
Serbia[20]
Singapore[21]
Slovakia[22]
Slovenia[23]
Indirectly elected head of state
Albania
Armenia
Bangladesh
Barbados
Dominica
Estonia
Ethiopia
Fiji
Georgia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
India
Iraq
Israel
Italy
Kosovo
Latvia
Lebanon
Malta
Mauritius
Nepal
Pakistan
Samoa
San Marino[note 7][24][25]
Somalia
Trinidad and Tobago
Vanuatu
Nations with limited recognition are in italics.
Parliamentary republics with an executive presidency
A combined head of state and head of government in the form of an executive
president is either elected by the legislature or by voters after candidates are nominated
for the post by the legislature (in the case of Kiribati), and they must maintain the
confidence of the legislature to remain in office. In effect, "presidents" in this system
function the same as prime ministers do in other parliamentary systems.
Botswana[note 8]
Kiribati[26]
Marshall Islands[27]
Nauru[28]
South Africa[29]
Assembly-independent republican systems
A combined head of state and head of government (usually titled president) is elected
by the legislature but is immune from a vote of no confidence (as is their cabinet), thus
acting more independently from the legislature.[30] They may or may not also hold a seat
in the legislature.
Switzerland[note 11]
Constitutional monarchies
These are systems in which the head of state is a constitutional monarch; the existence
of their office and their ability to exercise their authority is established and restrained by
constitutional law.
Constitutional monarchies with ceremonial/non-executive monarchs
Systems in which a prime minister is the active head of the executive branch of
government. In some cases, the prime minister is also leader of the legislature, while in
other cases the executive branch is clearly separated from legislature (although the
entire cabinet or individual ministers must step down in the case of a vote of no
confidence).[32][33][dubious – discuss] The head of state is a constitutional monarch who normally only
exercises his or her powers with the consent of the government, the people and/or their
representatives (except in emergencies, e.g. a constitutional crisis or a political
deadlock).[note 12]
Andorra[note 13]
Antigua and Barbuda[note 14]
Australia[note 14]
Bahamas[note 14]
Belgium
Belize[note 14]
Cambodia
Canada[note 14]
Cook Islands[note 14][note 15]
Denmark
Grenada[note 14]
Jamaica[note 14]
Japan
Lesotho
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Netherlands
New Zealand[note 14][note 15]
Niue[note 14][note 15]
Norway
Papua New Guinea[note 14]
Saint Kitts and Nevis[note 14]
Saint Lucia[note 14]
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines[note 14]
Solomon Islands[note 14]
Spain
Sweden
Thailand
Tuvalu[note 14]
United Kingdom[note 14]
Constitutional monarchies with active monarchs
The prime minister is the nation's active executive, but the monarch still has
considerable political powers that can be used at their own discretion.
Bahrain
Bhutan
Jordan
Kuwait
Liechtenstein
Monaco
Morocco
Qatar
Tonga
United Arab Emirates[note 16][34][35]
Absolute monarchies
Specifically, monarchies in which the monarch's exercise of power is unconstrained by
any substantive constitutional law. The monarch acts as both head of state and head of
government.
Brunei
Eswatini
Oman
Saudi Arabia
Vatican City[note 17]
One-party states
States in which political power is by law concentrated within one political party whose
operations are largely fused with the government hierarchy (as opposed to states where
the law establishes a multi-party system but this fusion is achieved anyway through
electoral fraud or simple inertia).
Afghanistan[note 1][45]
Libya
Yemen[note 4][46]
Nepal (seven provinces)
Nigeria (36 states and one federal territory: Federal Capital Territory)
Pakistan (4 provinces, 2 autonomous territories and 1 federal territory)
Russia (46 oblasts, 22 republics (one of which is disputed), nine krais, four autonomous
okrugs, three federal cities (one of which is disputed), one autonomous oblast)
Saint Kitts and Nevis (Saint Kitts, Nevis)
Somalia (six federal member states)
South Sudan (ten states)
Sudan (17 states)
Switzerland (26 cantons)
United Arab Emirates (seven emirates)
United States (50 states, one incorporated territory, and one federal district: District of
Columbia)
Venezuela (23 states, one capital district and one federal dependency)
European Union
Main article: List of European Union member states by political system
The exact political character of the European Union is debated, some arguing that it
is sui generis (unique), but others arguing that it has features of a federation or
a confederation. It has elements of intergovernmentalism, with the European
Council acting as its collective "president", and also elements of supranationalism, with
the European Commission acting as its executive and bureaucracy.[47]
See also
List of sovereign states
List of countries by date of transition to republican system of government
List of political systems in France
List of current heads of state and government
Government
References
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External links
Global Scan- Election Tracker
Countries categorized by system of government in 20th century at Historical
Atlas of 20th Century
A Chronology of political history based on Government form
Political Chronology Chronological development of political history
Bertelsmann Transformation Index 2012
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This page was last edited on 24 March 2023, at 19:31 (UTC).
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