Democracy (rule by many) Oligarchy (rule by few) Autocracy (rule by one) Anarchy (rule by none)
Autocracy, the source of power is the leader. Democracy, the source of power are the people through popular sovereignty. (???) Ethnocracy, the source of power is ethnicity. Meritocracy, the source of power is talent.
- Noocracy, talent is measured by wisdom.
- Technocracy, talent is measured by expertise. Stratocracy, the source of power is the military. Theocracy, the source of power is God(s). Oligarchy, the source of power is the elite.
- Aristocracy, the elite are hereditary.
- Gerontocracy, the elite are the elderly. Plutocracy, the source of power is wealth.
Definitions of Government
The Columbia Encyclopedia defines government as "a system of social control under which the right to make laws, and the right to enforce them, is vested in a particular group in society" The word government derives from the Greek verb κυβερνάω kubernáo meaning to steer with a gubernaculum (rudder), the metaphorical sense being attested in the literature of classical antiquity, including Plato's Ship of State.
History of Government
The moment and place that the phenomenon of human government developed is lost in time; however, history does record the formations of early governments. About 5,000 years ago, the first small city-states appeared.6 By the third to second millenniums BC, some of these had developed into larger governed areas: Sumer, ancient Egypt, the Indus Valley civilization, and the Yellow River civilization.7
The development of agriculture and water control projects were a catalyst for the development of governments.8 On occasion a chief of a tribe was elected by various rituals or tests of strength to govern his tribe, sometimes with a group of elder tribesmen as a council. The human ability to precisely communicate abstract, learned information allowed humans to become ever more effective at agriculture,9 and that allowed for ever increasing population densities.6 David Christian explains how this resulted in states with laws and governments.
As farming populations gathered in larger and denser communities, interactions between different groups increased and the social pressure rose until, in a striking parallel with star formation, new structures suddenly appeared, together with a new level of complexity. Like stars, cities and states reorganize and energize the smaller objects within their gravitational field.
Left-Right Spectrum
The left–right political spectrum is a system of classifying political positions, ideologies and parties, with emphasis placed upon issues of social equality and social hierarchy.
The terms "left" and "right" appeared during the French Revolution of 1789 when members of the National Assembly divided into supporters of the king to the president's right and supporters of the revolution to his left. In France, where the terms originated, the left has been called "the party of movement" or liberal, and the right "the party of order" or conservative. Some modern methods of mapping the political spectrum confine left and right to economic policy on the x-axis and use the y-axis for social policy (libertarian and authoritarian).
Generally, the left wing is characterized by an emphasis on "ideas such as freedom, equality, fraternity, rights, progress, reform and internationalism" while the right wing is characterized by an emphasis on "notions such as authority, hierarchy, order, duty, tradition, reaction and nationalism"
Political Spectrum
In 2006, Brian Patrick Mitchell identified four main political traditions in Anglo-American history based on their regard for kratos (defined as the use of force) and archē or "archy" (defined as the recognition of rank).
Republican constitutionalism = pro archy, anti kratos Libertarian individualism = anti archy, anti kratos Democratic progressivism = anti archy, pro kratos Plutocratic nationalism = pro archy, pro kratos
There is a central problem at the heart of all political philosophies. It is this: That those who need and want leaders are in no way qualified to choose them That those who don’t need or want leaders are forced to live within States that impose them. That those few who are actually worthy of leading often have no desire to do so. That the lowest quality and most psychopathic people desire for political power and will do anything to get it.
A single individual, or a small group of individuals, with great wisdom, morals, intelligence, and vision would be only form of government that would work.
But how does that individual become the sovereign leader in a nation of idiots and corruption?
Plato’s philosopher-kings
Noocracy where nous means 'wise' and kratos means 'rule' therefore 'rule of the wise' ) is a form of government where decision making is done by wise people. One of the first attempts to implement such a political system was perhaps Pythagoras' "city of the wise" that he planned to build in Italy together with his followers, the order of "mathematikoi".