Other forms of government: monarchy, theocracy, dictatorship and oligarchy

Detail

1. Monarchy: rule by one family

• Monarchy means one person rules because of birth. Power is hereditary: it passes down the family, usually to the eldest son.
• Two old ways to justify a king's power:
• Ancient India: kings were guided by assemblies such as the sabha and samiti, and by councils of ministers. (Early Indian republics such as the ganas and village bodies such as those in the Uttaramerur inscriptions are covered in Section 6.)
• Elsewhere: kings claimed a divine right. This means they said God gave them power, so no human could question them.

1a. Absolute monarchy

• Absolute monarchy: the monarch makes the law, enforces it and judges it. No constitution limits these powers. All three organs of government sit in one person.
• Saudi Arabia is the main example.
• The king issued the Basic Law of Government in 1992. It sets guidelines for how the government runs and lists citizens' rights and duties [9].
• Article 1 of the Basic Law calls Saudi Arabia a sovereign Arab Islamic state. It says the Quran ("God's Book") and the Sunnah (the Prophet's sayings and practice) are its constitution [10].
• A Law on the Consultative Council (Shura) was also issued in 1992 [10]. The Consultative Council (Majlis al-Shura) started work in 1993. It can draft laws, but only the king can approve them. The king appoints its members [11]. It has 150 members [11].

• The council gives advice. The king does not have to follow it.

• Other absolute monarchies: Brunei, Oman, Eswatini.

1b. Constitutional monarchy

• Constitutional monarchy: the monarch is head of state in name only (a nominal head). Real power lies with an elected Prime Minister and Parliament.
• UK: King Charles III has reigned since 2022. NCERT says the UK is "really a parliamentary democracy".
• Other examples: Japan, Sweden, Canada.
• Bhutan (India's neighbour):
• Until the 1950s Bhutan was an absolute monarchy under the Druk Gyalpo ("Dragon King") [4].
• Its kings gave up power step by step. In 2008 King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk finished handing power to an elected, multiparty, bicameral legislature, meaning one with two houses [4].
• A new constitution was promulgated on 18 July 2008. The monarch is head of state. The Prime Minister is head of government [4].

1c. Nepal: from monarchy to republic

• May 2008: Nepal ended its monarchy and declared itself a republic [5].
• 20 September 2015: a permanent constitution was promulgated. It created a secular, federal republic with seven provinces and a bicameral legislature [5].
• Official name: Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal [5].

Feature	Absolute monarchy	Constitutional monarchy
Who holds real power	The monarch	Elected PM and Parliament
Limits on the monarch	None	A constitution, written or unwritten
Role of advisers	Advice does not bind the ruler	Ministers answer to Parliament
Examples	Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Oman, Eswatini	UK, Japan, Sweden, Canada, Bhutan

2. Theocracy: rule by religion

• Theocracy: government by religious law and religious leaders. Religious authority sits above the law made by people.
• Iran is a hybrid of theocracy and democracy:
• It became an Islamic Republic in 1979. The post of Supreme Leader was created in the same year. The system mixes elected bodies with control by Twelver Shia clerics [6].
• Supreme Leader: head of state for life. He oversees almost every part of the government, directly or indirectly [6].
• Assembly of Experts: a body of Islamic jurists, elected every eight years. It chooses the Supreme Leader when the post falls vacant. It can remove him if he is unqualified, but it has never publicly challenged him [7].
• Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen by the Assembly of Experts in March 2026. He succeeded his father, Ali Khamenei [6].
• Council of Guardians (12 members):
  • It acts much like an upper house. It checks every law, and it screens candidates for Parliament, for the presidency and for the Assembly of Experts [8].
  • The Supreme Leader appoints 6 experts in Islamic law. Parliament appoints the other 6, who are jurists nominated by the Supreme Judicial Council [8].
• Elected parts: a President and Parliament (the Majles). Clerics stand above both.

• Why it is a hybrid: people vote, but clerics screen the candidates and have the final say.

• Other examples: Vatican City, and Afghanistan under Taliban rule since August 2021.

3. Dictatorship: one ruler, no legal limits

• Dictatorship: one person or group holds absolute power. No constitution or law limits it, there are no free elections, and no one can hold the ruler accountable.
• Adolf Hitler (Germany):
• Became Chancellor in 1933 → took full powers → got rid of the opposition.
• In the Holocaust his regime killed at least six million Jews. It also killed Roma and others.
• Roma box (NCERT): the Roma are a people of Indian origin.

• He started World War II (1939–45).

• Idi Amin (Uganda, 1971–79):

• His rule saw mass killings.
• In 1972 he expelled Uganda's Asians. Many were of Indian origin.

4. Totalitarianism and authoritarianism

• Totalitarianism: the most extreme form of dictatorship. One party or leader controls public life and private life too, using ideology, propaganda, terror and surveillance.
• It puts every part of citizens' lives under the state, with one charismatic leader at the top [2].
• It differs from ordinary dictatorship and authoritarianism. It destroys old political institutions, legal traditions and social traditions, and replaces them with new ones that serve the state [2].
• Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), is the standard work on the subject [2]. Arendt saw totalitarianism as the result of the traditional nation-state breaking down [2]. She traced its roots to 19th-century antisemitism, imperialism and racism [3].

• Examples: Nazi Germany, Stalin's USSR, North Korea.

• NCERT's "Story of Shane" (North Korea):

• Military service lasts until the state decides to end it.
• The state prescribes haircuts.
• There is no access to the global internet.

• Citizens are expected to inform on one another.

• Authoritarianism: power is concentrated, nobody can hold it accountable, and freedoms are limited. Unlike totalitarianism, it does not try to control all of private life.

• Examples: military regimes and one-party states.

	Authoritarianism	Totalitarianism
Goal	Political control	Total control of public and private life
Tools	Censorship, bans on opposition	Ideology, propaganda, terror, surveillance
Private life	Largely left alone	Directed by the state
Examples	Military regimes, one-party states	Nazi Germany, Stalin's USSR, North Korea

5. Rule by the few

• Oligarchy (Greek olígos = few, árkhō = rule): a small group of wealthy or influential families makes the decisions.
• History: the aristocratic Greek city-states.

• In democracies: commentators see oligarchic traits when politicians and big business together capture policy. NCERT examples are an 1889 cartoon of business monopolies controlling the US Senate and Russia's "oligarchs" (tycoons with political power).

• Plutocracy: rule by the wealthy. Money power in Indian elections is covered in the electoral-reforms note.

• Technocracy: rule by unelected experts.
• Italy under Mario Monti (2011–13) and Mario Draghi (2021–22).
• Trade-off: experts bring skill, but voters cannot remove them, so there is no electoral accountability.

6. Comparing forms and the NCERT exercises

• Table 9.2 (Class 7) compares forms of government on five tests:
• universal adult franchise
• equality
• free speech
• separation of powers (law-making, law-enforcing and judging are kept in separate hands)

• people's wellbeing

• Democracy meets all five. Absolute monarchy, theocracy and dictatorship fail most of them.

• Exercise Q5–Q6: match practices to forms, then classify:
• Bhutan: constitutional monarchy under the 2008 Constitution [4]
• Nepal: federal democratic republic under the 2015 Constitution [5]
• Bangladesh: parliamentary republic. It went through an upheaval in 2024, then an interim government, then a 2026 election (check the latest position).
• South Africa: parliamentary republic. Parliament chooses the executive President.

• Brazil: presidential federal republic.

• Republic vs monarchy: in a republic the head of state is elected, not born into the post. India, Nepal, South Africa and Brazil are republics. The UK and Bhutan are monarchies.

Prelims Hooks

• Saudi Arabia: Basic Law of Government (1992). Article 1 names the Quran and the Sunnah as its constitution [10]. The Shura Council has 150 members appointed by the king [11] and gives advice only.
• Bhutan: constitution promulgated 18 July 2008. It is a constitutional monarchy, and the king is called the Druk Gyalpo [4].
• Nepal: monarchy abolished May 2008. The constitution of 20 September 2015 created a secular federal republic with 7 provinces [5].
• Iran: the Assembly of Experts (elected every 8 years) chooses and can remove the Supreme Leader [7]. The 12-member Council of Guardians checks laws and screens candidates [8]. Mojtaba Khamenei has been Supreme Leader since March 2026 [6].
• Trap: Bhutan is not an absolute monarchy, and Nepal is not a constitutional monarchy.
• Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) links totalitarianism to the breakdown of the nation-state and to antisemitism, imperialism and racism [2][3].
• Totalitarian vs authoritarian: only totalitarianism tries to control private life.
• Roma: a people of Indian origin, killed in the Holocaust. Uganda, 1972: Idi Amin expelled the Asians.
• Technocracy example: Italy under Monti (2011–13) and Draghi (2021–22).
• South Africa: a parliamentary republic, even though it has an executive President, because Parliament elects the President.

Mains Points

• Democracy vs other forms (GS-II): Table 9.2 shows that only democracy gives universal franchise, equality, free speech and separation of powers together. Absolute monarchy and dictatorship put all three powers in one person and allow no accountability.
• India's neighbourhood shows two paths away from absolute monarchy: Bhutan moved step by step to a constitutional monarchy (2008) [4]. Nepal ended its monarchy (2008) and became a federal secular republic (2015) [5]. Both show that political legitimacy now depends on elections and a constitution.
• Hybrid regimes: Iran holds regular elections, but clerical bodies screen candidates and overrule elected organs [7][8]. Elections alone do not make a democracy. Free competition, rule of law and accountability are also needed.
• Oligarchic and technocratic drift inside democracies: when big business captures policy (plutocracy) or unelected experts govern (technocracy), democracy weakens. Possible remedies include transparent political funding, limits on election spending and strong legislative oversight. These connect to the electoral-reforms and outcomes-of-democracy notes.