This article lists forms of government and political systems, according to a series of different ways of categorizing them. The systems listed are not mutually exclusive, and often have overlapping definitions.

One method of classifying governments is through which people have the authority to rule. This can either be one person (an autocracy, such as monarchy), a select group of people (an aristocracy), or the people as a whole (a democracy, such as a republic).
Thomas Hobbes stated on their classification:
The difference of Commonwealths consisteth in the difference of the sovereign, or the person re…