Forms of government and state structure

The form of government depends on how supreme state power is formed and passed on. In a republic the head of state is elected, while in a monarchy the throne is usually inherited. Republics are of three kinds: presidential (the president forms the government; USA, Brazil, Indonesia, Uzbekistan), parliamentary (the government is formed by parties according to the parliamentary election, and the president’s powers are limited; Germany, Italy, India) and mixed (the president and parliament both take part in forming the government; France, Russia). In a constitutional monarchy the monarch’s powers are limited and parliament and government play the decisive role (United Kingdom, Japan, Spain, Canada); in an absolute monarchy the monarch’s powers are not limited (Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Oman, Qatar). By state structure, countries are unitary (single laws and centralised government; France, Japan, Uzbekistan) or federal (power is divided between the centre and regions – states, provinces, republics; USA, Germany, Russia, India, Brazil). Most of the world’s countries are republics and unitary states, while federations number fewer than 30.