Kinds of government are differentiated by their power structures, by their ideological approaches, by the categories of people who hold power in that system. Governments are characterized by these qualities, and in turn, the lives and rights of the citizens inhabiting those states are profoundly impacted by those methods and structures of power.
Though governments can be divided into categories a few ways, there are significant individual variations. There are, however, core characteristics that make up some of the most important broad distinctions among them.