Much admired in most parts of the world, the system of government devised by Americans over nearly four centuries is integral to the American experience. Like all societies, Americans have wrestled with timeless questions: What is the proper source of political authority? Who has the power to make and enforce rules by which all must live? Over the course of human history, people around the globe have invented many forms of government to answer these questions: monarchy, aristocracy, fascism, communism, democracy, and even anarchism. The American government is based on democracy—a word that is easier to use than to implement effectively.