State and Forms of Government
Senior 1 · History and Citizenship
State and Forms of Government
Lesson 2 of 5
24 min
Every state must decide where power sits: in one central government, or shared between a central government and regional governments. Figure 2 compares the two main answers, using Rwanda and Nigeria.
Worked example: reading a diagram of power
Definition
Unitary state: a state in which the central government holds supreme power, and local governments have only the powers it gives them by law. Example: Rwanda, where one Parliament makes laws for the whole country.
Definition
Federal state (federation): a state in which the Constitution divides power between a federal (central) government and regional governments, each with its own powers. Example: Nigeria, with a federal government in Abuja and 36 states.
Definition
Confederation: a loose union of sovereign states that keep most of their power and hand only a few tasks, such as defence, to a joint body. Example: the Senegambia Confederation of Senegal and The Gambia, 1982 to 1989.
A second question is who rules and how they come to rule. The table compares the basic forms of government. Many countries combine more than one: Lesotho is both a constitutional monarchy and a democracy, while Rwanda's Constitution describes it as a democratic republic.
| Form | Who holds power | How rulers get power | Real examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute monarchy | one king or queen, whose power has almost no legal limits | inheritance within a royal family | Eswatini today; the Rwanda Kingdom before colonial rule (Unit 4) |
| Constitutional monarchy | an elected parliament and government; the monarch is head of state with limited, mostly ceremonial power | the monarch inherits; the government is elected | Lesotho, the United Kingdom, Japan |
| Republic | leaders who hold office for a fixed time; the head of state is not a monarch | election or appointment, never inheritance | Rwanda (since 1961), Kenya, Ghana, France |
| Democracy | the people, directly or through representatives they choose | free, regular elections (Unit 8) | ancient Athens (direct); most republics and constitutional monarchies today (representative) |
| Dictatorship | one person, or a small group such as army officers, with power not limited by law | often by force (a coup), then kept by fear and control | Uganda under Idi Amin (1971 to 1979); Germany under Adolf Hitler (1933 to 1945) |
| Oligarchy | a small group: the rich, a few families or a minority | wealth, birth, or laws that shut others out | ancient Sparta; South Africa under apartheid (1948 to 1994), where the white minority ruled and the Black majority had no vote |
| Theocracy | religious leaders, or rulers who govern in the name of God | religious office; religious law is state law | Vatican City, ruled by the Pope; Iran since 1979, led by a Supreme Leader who is a religious scholar |
Definition
Monarchy: government headed by a king or queen (a monarch) who inherits the position and usually rules for life. Example: the kingdom of Eswatini.
Definition
Republic: a state whose head of state is elected or appointed for a fixed term, not born into the office. Example: Rwanda, a republic since 1961.
Definition
Dictatorship: government by one person or a small group whose power is not limited by laws, courts or elections. Example: Uganda under Idi Amin, 1971 to 1979.
Definition
Oligarchy: government by a small, privileged group, such as the richest families or a minority. Example: apartheid South Africa (1948 to 1994), where the white minority held power and the Black majority could not vote.
Definition
Theocracy: government by religious leaders, or in the name of a religion, with religious law as the law of the state. Example: Vatican City.
Important
For centuries Rwanda was a monarchy ruled by the mwami (Unit 4). At the end of colonial rule its form of government changed:
Since then Rwanda has been a republic under several governments; as you saw in Lesson 1, the state continued while governments changed.
Nigeria has the largest population in Africa and more than 250 ethnic groups speaking many languages. Its leaders chose federalism so that each large region could run its own affairs while staying in one country. At independence in 1960 it had three regions; today it has 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory at Abuja. Rwanda, by contrast, is small, and nearly everyone speaks Kinyarwanda, so one central government serves it well.
Would a federal system suit Rwanda? Think about its size, its population, its shared language, and the cost of running two levels of government. Then give one argument for and one against.
Tip
Exam technique: when a question asks you to "classify" a state, answer three questions in order: Is power shared across regions? (unitary or federal) Is the head of state born or chosen? (monarchy or republic) Who really holds power, and can the people remove them? (democracy, dictatorship, oligarchy or theocracy)
CFR Education (Council on Foreign Relations): "Forms of Government Explained: Democracy, Authoritarianism, and More". Watch for how the video separates democratic from authoritarian governments, and match its terms to the table above.
Practice
Sources and credits
