What Is Political System?
What Is Political System?
What Is Political System?
6. Parliamentary Democracy
- is a form of representative democracy in which political power is vested in an elected
legislature, but the executive and legislative branches are not separate. The elected
legislature (parliament) chooses the chief executive (prime minister). The legislature
may remove the prime minister at any time by a vote of no confidence and often
approves the prime minister's cabinet members. The fusion of the legislative and
executive branches in the parliamentary system leads to party members voting along
party lines.
FEDERALISM
- mode of political organization that unites separate states or other polities within an
overarching political system in a way that allows each to maintain its own integrity.
Federal systems do this by requiring that basic policies be made and implemented
through negotiation in some form, so that all the members can share in making and
executing decisions.
ARISTOCRACY
- An aristocracy is a form of government where a small group of elites rule. Aristocrats,
or the ruling elites, tend to enjoy both social and economic prestige as well as political
power. They usually have a specific honorary title, such as Duke, Duchess, Baron,
Baroness, etc. In addition, children usually inherit aristocratic status from their
parents. In some cases, one can be promoted into the aristocracy through service to
a monarch.
MONARCHY
- political system based upon the undivided sovereignty or rule of a single person. The
term applies to states in which supreme authority is vested in the monarch, an
individual ruler who functions as the head of state and who achieves his or her
position through heredity. Most monarchies allow only male succession, usually from
father to son.
TYPES OF MONARCHY
However, as with other political systems, there are different types of monarchies. The
type that many of us think of as common is the absolute monarchy, in which the monarch truly
has the ultimate say in matters of government. However, most monarchies in political systems
today do not follow this method. Many of them, especially in the developed world, have limits.
Constitutional monarchies fall into this category (and are sometimes considered republics as
well). In this type of monarchy, the ruler is the head of state, but a constitution limits the power,
and others make laws. The U.K., Denmark, Kuwait, Spain, Sweden, Tuvalu, and many more are
examples of constitutional monarchies.
Other types of monarchies include duchies, grand duchies, elective monarchy (where the
monarch is actually elected), and non-sovereign monarchy.
AUTOCRACY
- Autocracy is “rule by one.” In an autocratic government, one person -- the autocrat -
- has all the power and makes all the decisions. There are no laws or constitution that
restrain the authority of the autocrat. The people who are governed have no
processes, such as elections, through which they can express their desires for how
their government operates. The advantages of an autocratic government are that
decisions can be made and implemented quickly. However, individual rights are
usually ignored and power is often maintained by force. Some autocracies are
theocratic governments, in which the ruler claims to have been put in power by a
deity.
DICTATORSHIP
- form of government in which one person or a small group possesses absolute power
without effective constitutional limitations.
THEOCRACY
- government by divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided. In
many theocracies, government leaders are members of the clergy, and the state’s
legal system is based on religious law. Theocratic rule was typical of early civilizations.
AUTORITARIANISM
- principle of blind submission to authority, as opposed to individual freedom of
thought and action. In government, authoritarianism denotes any political system
that concentrates power in the hands of a leader or a small elite that is not
constitutionally responsible to the body of the people. Authoritarian leaders often
exercise power arbitrarily and without regard to existing bodies of law, and they
usually cannot be replaced by citizens choosing freely among various competitors in
elections. The freedom to create opposition political parties or other alternative
political groupings with which to compete for power with the ruling group is either
limited or nonexistent in authoritarian regimes.
TOTALITARIANISM
- Totalitarianism refers to an authoritarian political system or state that regulates and
controls nearly every aspect of the public and private sectors. Totalitarian regimes
establish complete political, social, and cultural control over their subjects, and are
usually headed by a charismatic leader. In general, Totalitarianism involves a single
mass party, typically led by a dictator; an attempt to mobilize the entire population in
support of the official state ideology; and an intolerance of activities which are not
directed towards the goals of the state, usually entailing repression and state control
of business, labor unions, churches and political parties. A totalitarian regime is
essentially a modern form of authoritarian state, requiring as it does an advanced
technology of social control.