imperials=empire or monarchy.what about the other races

First off, everyone is ran by the empire, with the exception of MW and Black Marsh when it comes to governmental bodies. But, in each area, there is a king of sorts ruling them. This is what it is, but I'm not completely 100%

Summerset: They're ran, from what I can gander, to be city states. There isn't a high king, but many different monarchs that rule different cities

High Rock: There's a monarch, with different lords underneath. Used to be heavily fragmented, with many different kingdoms and lords until the events of DF. Now the kingdoms of Wayrest, Daggerfall, and Orsinium rule it, and they live peacefully. As for the orcs of Orsinium, not much is known, but they most likely follow a king of sorts. Was Gortwag during Daggerfall through OB. Since orcs live short lives, he's most likely dead some time after OB

Daggerfall: Sentinel takes all of Hammerfell, rules probably similarly like the kingdoms of Wayrest and Daggerfall

Skyrim: City State rulers. Think the Greeks

Cyrodiil. Heart of the empire, ruled by the emperor and the council. The different major cities are ruled by the lords there.

Valenwood: They really don't have much of a centralized government, or much of one that I know of.

Elswyer: They're ruled by "The Mane" and Clan Mothers.

Black Marsh: Very tribal, but all argonians have a common bond that keeps them together, and that's the bond with the Hist.

Morrowind: A bit of a controlled anarchy of sorts. It is ruled by the 5 great houses, with a figurehead king, and (used to be) three living gods and the Temple. In times past, the houses would rule, while the Temple would keep somewhat of an eye on them, and the king pretty much did nothing. When Helseth came into power, he reestablished the Grand Council of Morrowind, and made a lot of political moves. Currently, the king holds more power, due to Helseth (who may or may not be alive in the next game). The temple has pretty much collapsed, Redoran is completely under seige, Indoril is practically gone, and the other three houses, Hlaalu, Dres, and Telvanni are gaining power.

Well, with the books everything seems to have changed very dramatically. Note, many spoilers.

Damn stupid book. Need to read it! Must resist looking at the spoilers! Need to get updated with lore!

I won't say I told you so!

It was only dormant.

Does the book explain what's going on in Skyrim, by any chance?

Nope.. I was a bit disappointed in that regard But still a good read

It seems they're saving Skyrim for the next book, and TESV. It's strongly hinted at. For one, apparently the sword Umbra is currently there, and that plays hugely into the new lore.

Well, unless I'm mistaken, Umbra is in Solstheim, which is technically still part of Morrowind, correct?

On Shadowscale by Teinaava:

A mistake by the dialouge writers? Or is it just a label, while it is not a monarchy in practice?

:shrug: I was going by what it seemed in the Argonian Account. And like I said earlier, I'm not 100% sure on everything I wrote.

Im not sure either to be honest. I just remembered the dialouge from Oblivion when Argonia was mentioned. And Im not trying to make it look like youre wrong, Im just curious. Although Ive also found this:
Teinaava when giving the quest:

And Scar-Tail says this when you confront him:


The whole quest-dialouge hints toward Argonia being a kingdom, although I dont recall any other sources then the Oblivion quest portraying it as one. And I suppose 1 single quest is not enough to consider it 100% waterproof.

It could also be a part-kingdom, with a court trying to control all of Argonia while native tribesmen live life as they always have.

Well, I have been reading the new book out, and I am going to be changing what I said earlier, but not until I finished. The book gave a lot more insight into the nature of the Hist and Argonians, so there's some gaps to fill, which will also include a more recent government structure.