Refugee and Migrants' Country Guides

A form of government is a category or classification relating to a given country’s political structure and system. How the government is run or operates will depend on the involvement of citizens in choosing who can lead or form a government: the more involved people are, the more democratic, and the less involved, the more authoritarian the system.

The refugees and migrant country guide use five terms regarding forms of government. The five terms and their meanings are:

• Full Democracy – a full democracy is one where a country offers all its citizens civil liberties and freedoms. Where those living within that country can freely elect officials and where political freedoms are respected and reinforced by democratic principles. The country will have sufficient processes and controls to ensure that the government has oversight, that an independent judiciary is in place, and that decisions are upheld and respected
• Flawed or Defective Democracy – a flawed democracy is typically used to describe a country that follows democratic principles, where elections are freely held and fair but where there are known issues such as suppression of political opposition, low levels of voter participation and issues in the functioning of the government. Flawed democracies will typically fall within one of the four definitions:
  • Exclusive democracies – though the country is democratic for many citizens, it is not universal, excluding and not guaranteeing the rights of all that live within that country. An example would be the period of apartheid in South Africa
  • Domain democracies – typically democratically elected officials have their powers and decision-making abilities taken away in certain areas or situations by unelected officials, such as when guerrilla forces take control of cities or regions within a country
  • Illiberal democracies – typically occur when a country’s constitution is weak, incomplete or damaged. Where the government’s legitimacy or the rule of law is undermined or not enforced
  • Delegative democracies – occur where one branch of government becomes powerful enough to control the entire government
• Hybrid Regime – hybrid regimes will typically be countries in which electoral fraud occurs, interfering and preventing democratic processes from taking place. The government of a hybrid regime will likely
  • apply pressure and limit anyone in political opposition
  • be subject to widespread corruption at all levels of government
  • Suppress stories and harass members of the media
  • Put in place non-independent oversight within its judiciary (legal system)
  • Failure of the rule of law to be upheld and respected by the ruling government
• Authoritarian – authoritarian, dictatorships, and autocracies are regimes in which power is centralised and held by a specific group of individuals within the population and where there are suppressed or no political challengers. The citizens within that country will likely experience political repression, and people typically have no choice or rights regarding who governs the country. The regime often expects and enforces unquestioning obedience to authority to maintain social order within its population
• Unknown – a county that is determined as unknown will typically be defined by one of the following groups:
  • Insufficient public information available to assess the form of government
  • A de facto or non-UN member state that is not internationally recognised
  • A country that is experiencing a shift in its political structure, such as a result of a coup or forced takeover
  • A small nation with a limited population size to provide sufficient oversight of its political system