David Easton wrote “A political system can be designated as the interactions through which values are authoritatively allocated for a society”. Chances are, this doesn’t help you, and doesn’t make much sense to you, so let’s first look at what a political system really is. Political systems are the processes politicians take, both formal and informal, to make decisions for the society. Today, we are going to look at the four major types of political systems – democracy, monarchy, authoritarian, and totalitarian. We’ll look at characteristics and examples, both past and present.
DEMOCRACY
So, a democracy is a government in which the people of the country choose their politicians. Major characteristics include freedom of assembly (the right to express and defend collective or shared ideas – this is recognised as a human right, a political right, and civil liberty), freedom of speech, inclusiveness (the process of improving the ability, opportunity, and worthiness of people), equality, consent, voting, right to life, and minority rights. The most common form of democracy today is a representative democracy, where the people elect government officials to govern on their behalf.
After World War II, Germany was divided into four sectors, and the American, British, and French sectors of occupied Germany were democratised. This contrasted with most of Eastern Europe, including the Soviet sector of Germany fell into the non-democratic Soviet bloc.
MONARCHY
A monarchy is based upon the undivided sovereignty or rule of a single person. The individual ruler functions as the head of state and achieves their position through heredity. Most monarchies allow only male succession. There is a definite range in the political system of a monarchy. The authority of a monarch may vary from largely symbolic and restricted (a constitutional monarchy) to a complete leader (absolute monarchy). This may sound scarily like a dictatorship, but there are a few key differences. A dictatorship is achieved through force, whereas a reign is passed down. A monarchy is the rule of the king, queen, or emperor, whereas a government ruled by one person or commander is a dictatorship.
For example, the United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy. Queen Elizabeth II has served as reigning monarch. As of 2021, the Prime Minister is Boris Johnson, whose role is to make and pass legislation, and he does so with the elected Parliament.
Today it is considered that only five truly absolute monarchies remain: Saudi Arabia, Oman, Brunei, Eswatini, and the Vatican City.
An example of this is King Salman of Saudi Arabia. He rules as an autocrat, so he has power over the state and the government. There are of course advantages and disadvantages to this. It undeniably allows for quicker decisions to be made, which results in easier law making, and long-term foals can be planned and met, since a monarch rules for life. On the other hand, it doesn’t involve a democratic process: once a monarch decides, that is it- to have one person in charge of a whole country seems risky. It creates an excess of fame, and it involves a leader not chosen by the people.
AUTHORITARIAN + TOTALITARIANISM
Authoritarianism is a form of government characterised by the rejection of political plurality (the view that politics and decision making should be done with a government framework). It uses a strong central power to preserve the political status quo. Authoritarianism disables access to information, usually through censorship, and is similar to illiberal practices through the violation of freedom of expression.
Two examples of authoritarian leaders are Juan Peron from Argentina, and Nasser from Egypt.
Totalitarianism is a political system that prohibits opposition parties, restricts individual opposition to the state and its claims, and has an extremely high degree of control over public and private life. It is regarded as the most extreme and complete form of authoritarianism.
As examples of Totalitarian regimes, we have Stalin, Hitler, and Mao from the 20th century. From 1924 to 1953, Stalin was ‘General Secretary’ of the USSR. Hitler was Führer and 'Chancellor of the Greater German Reich'. Mao was ‘Chairman of the People’s Republic of China’. These examples all include people backed by a government party.
The differences between authoritarianism and totalitarianism are very discreet. Totalitarianism attempts to assert total control over the lives of its citizens, whereas authoritarianism prefers the blind submission of its citizens to authority. Totalitarianism states tend to have a strict ideology, whereas authoritarian states do not.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT TO ME?
Understanding political systems is important because it is another step towards understanding politics in more depth. The political decisions people make will affect many lives. By understanding the steps behind taking these political decisions, the rationale and the process, perhaps we can further our conception of politics. If this interests you, or you want to know more about politics check out Lois’ blog, 'All About Politics'.