This text explains different types of political regimes, including democracies, republics, dynastic governments, authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, as well as rare or archaic systems and theoretical ones. Representative democracy and constitutional monarchy are common in the modern world.
A political regime is a set of political structures that make up a state. These political systems range from direct democracies to totalitarian regimes, such as military dictatorships. Common systems in the modern world include democratic republics, monarchies and representative democracies. There are also mainly theoretical types of government, such as a strict meritocracy.
Democracies
One of the most discussed political systems is representative democracy. This is a system in which representatives are directly elected by the citizens, and these representatives then make political decisions for the people, on the assumption that their decisions will reflect the general will of the republic. This can be compared to a direct democracy, where citizens vote directly on all important issues.
Republics
The republic is one of the most common systems of government in the world, although it takes many different forms. For example, a republic may be associated with a religion, as is the case with an Islamic republic; an economic system, as in a socialist republic; or a political procedure, such as a parliamentary republic. A number of republics try to show the fact that they actually consist of smaller, semi-autonomous parts. The United States of America, for example, says very clearly that their political regime is that of a group of state entities. Both Nigeria and Germany convey this idea by calling themselves federal republics.
Republics are often referred to by the official name of the state and often include a modifier to convey some kind of philosophical ideal supported by the political regime. For example, Guyana is known as the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Sri Lanka is known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and mainland China is known as the People’s Republic of China. The current system of government in these countries may vary: for example, China is a Marxist-Leninist one-party state, not a republic. This type of government can also go the other way, with several republics forming part of a single state, such as the countries of the former Soviet Union.
Dynastic governments
Dynastic systems of government consist of all the leaders of the country from a single family. Common types of this government include monarchies, emirates, and dynastic empires, such as that of Imperial China. In modern times, the leaders of many monarchies and emirates mostly serve as figureheads. This type of government is called a constitutional monarchy or nominal monarchy and includes countries such as the United Kingdom. The opposite of this is an absolute monarchy, where the ruler has total power to govern the state and is not subject to the control of a constitution or parliament. Examples of modern absolute monarchies include Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Authoritarian and totalitarian regimes
In authoritarian and totalitarian political regimes, one person, entity or party has complete control over the affairs of the state, without the input or consent of the population. Particularly in totalitarian regimes, this leader attempts to control all aspects of a society, including things like personal beliefs and the morals of the population. These are sometimes accompanied by a cult of personality around the leader or leaders, as in the case of Adolf Hitler, the leader of Nazi Germany. Common forms of authoritarian or totalitarian regimes include military juntas, where a small committee of military leaders rule the country or a one-party state, where only one political party is in power and others are not allowed, overtly or tacitly, to challenge that authority. Another form is a dictatorship, where a person rules the country without being answerable to anyone and then passes his/her powers to another person upon death.
Rare or archaic systems
Some systems are leftovers from a bygone era. Luxembourg, for example, is officially known as a grand duchy, dating back to a time when it was part of the Netherlands as a Dutch domain. Another type of archaic system is a kritarchy, or rule of judges; and a timocracy, or country in which only people who own land can be active in government. Other types of government are rare in the modern world, but still exist in pockets. Theocracies, for example, such as the government of Tibet in exile, or of Vatican City, where a religious figure is also granted the secular power of government.
theoretical systems
There are numerous types of political regime that exist more in theory than anywhere else in the world. An example of this is a strict meritocracy, for example, where leaders are chosen based on their ability to lead. Other theoretical systems include a corporatocracy, a popular theme in science fiction, in which corporations govern their own sovereign states; and a geniocracy, where leaders are selected based on their problem-solving skills and creativity.
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