countries having well established democratic governments and a high level of economic development.

(eg. Great Britain)

• A small group of elites exercising power over the state
• citizens with little or no input into selection of leaders and government decisions
• no constitutional responsibility of leaders to the public
• restriction of civil rights and civil liberties
• often bureaucratic in nature

two houses in legislature (upper and lower)

Britain: House of Lords and House of Commons

Britain and Russia: upper house has very little power

• consist of agencies that generally implement government policy
• usually part of the executive branch of the government
• their size has generally increased over the course of the 20th and early 21st centuries

• in parlimentary systems, the cabinet is the most important collective decision-making body
• its ministers head all the major departments into which the executive branch is devided
• led by the prime minister, or "first among equals"

(in reference to the cabinet in Britain)