Undemocratic Governments

There have been governments which are between democracy and despotism. The article starts with a discussion of governments where voting is used, but not everyone can vote. This runs from the United States before 1960 to Venice. Undemocratic governments are sometimes simple despotisms, but in other cases have quite elaborate structures. Perhaps the best example is China under the Empire where the bulk of the officials were elected by a very difficult examination while the Emperor inherited the throne, and the villages were largely self governing