(1) Civilian. Any government controlled by a nonmilitary component of the nation's population.

(2) Military-Civilian. Outwardly civilian government effectively controlled by a military elite. Civilians hold only those posts (up to and including that of Chief of State) for which their services are deemed necessary for successful conduct of government operations. An example would be retention of the Emperor and selected civilian cabinet members during the period of Japanese military hegemony between 1932 and 1945.

(3) Military. Direct rule by the military, usually (but not necessarily) following a military coup d'état. The governing structure may vary from utilization of the military chain of command under conditions of martial law to the institution of an ad hoc administrative hierarchy with at least an upper echelon staffed by military personnel.

(4) Other. All regimes not falling into one or another of the foregoing categories, including instances in which a country, save for reasons of exogenous influence, lacks an effective national government. An example of the latter would be Switzerland between 1815 and 1848.