In the direct democracy of Athens, the electorate did not nominate representatives to vote on legislation and executive bills on their behalf as in the United States Congress , but instead voted on these items in their own right.
Participation was by no means open, but the in-group of participants was constituted with no reference to economic class and they participated on a large scale. The public opinion of voters was remarkably influenced by the political satire performed by the comic poets at the theaters.
Also relevant is the history of Roman republic, beginning circa BCE. Modern-era citizen lawmaking began in the towns of Switzerland in the 13 th century CE. Currently in Switzerland, single majorities are sufficient at the town, city, and canton level, but at the national level, double majorities are required on constitutional matters.
Direct democracy was very much opposed by the framers of the United States Constitution and some signatories of the Declaration of Independence. They saw a danger in majorities forcing their will on minorities. As a result, they advocated a representative democracy in the form of a constitutional republic over a direct democracy.
For example, James Madison, in Federalist No. Representative democracy is a variety of democracy founded on the principle of elected people representing a group of people. For example, three countries which use representative democracy are the United States of America a representative democracy , the United Kingdom a constitutional monarchy and Poland a republic. It is an element of both the parliamentary system and presidential system of government and is typically used in a lower chamber such as the House of Commons UK or Bundestag Germany.
According to Freedom House, in there were electoral democracies — up from 40 in According to World Forum on Democracy, electoral democracies now represent of the existing countries and constitute At the same time, liberal democracies—countries Freedom House regards as free and respectful of basic human rights and the rule of law—are 85 in number and represent 38 percent of the global population. Unlike democracy, authoritarianism and totalitarianism are forms of government where an individual or a single-party concentrates all power.
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority as well as the administration of said authority. In politics, an authoritarian government is characterized by highly concentrated and centralized power maintained by political repression and the exclusion of potential challengers.
It uses political parties and mass organizations to mobilize people around the goals of the regime. Authoritarianism emphasizes arbitrary law rather than the rule of law, including election rigging and political decisions being made by a select group of officials behind closed doors.
An autocracy is a system of government in which a supreme political power is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control. By contrast, a single-party state is a type of party system government in which a single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election. Typically, single-party states hold the suppression of political factions, except as transitory issue oriented currents within the single party or permanent coalition as a self-evident good.
Totalitarianismis an extreme version of authoritarianism. Authoritarianism primarily differs from totalitarianism in that social and economic institutions exist free from governmental control. By contrast, totalitarianism is a political system where the state holds total authority over the society and seeks to control all aspects of public and private life wherever necessary. However, a totalitarian regime attempts to control virtually all aspects of the social life, including economy, education, art, science, private life, and morals of citizens.
The concept became prominent in Western anti-communist political discourse during the Cold War era in order to highlight perceived similarities between Nazi Germany and other fascist regimes on the one hand, and Soviet communism on the other. Zbigniew Brzezinski : A number of thinkers, including Zbigniew Brzezinski, have argued that Nazi and Soviet regimes were equally totalitarian. Political scientists Carl Friedrich and Zbigniew Brzezinski were primarily responsible for expanding the usage of the term in university social science and professional research, reformulating it as a paradigm for the Soviet Union as well as fascist regimes.
For Friedrich and Brzezinski, the defining elements were intended to be taken as a mutually supportive organic entity composed of the following: an elaborating guiding ideology; a single mass party, typically led by a dictator; a system of terror; a monopoly of the means of communication and physical force; and central direction, and control of the economy through state planning.
Such regimes had initial origins in the chaos that followed in the wake of World War I, at which point the sophistication of modern weapons and communications enabled totalitarian movements to consolidate power.
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual: a dictator. In contemporary usage, dictatorship refers to an autocratic form of absolute rule by leadership unrestricted by law, constitutions, or other social and political factors within the state.
For some scholars, a dictatorship is a form of government that has the power to govern without consent of those being governed similar to authoritarianism , while totalitarianism describes a state that regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior of the people. In other words, dictatorship concerns the source of the governing power and totalitarianism concerns the scope of the governing power.
The wave of military dictatorships in Latin America in the second half of the twentieth century left a particular mark on Latin American culture. In Latin American literature, the dictator novel challenging dictatorship is a significant genre. There are also many films depicting Latin American military dictatorships. Some nondemocratic governments can be classified into categories such as monarchies, oligarchies, theocracies and technocracies. Governments tend to fall between traditionally democratic and non-democratic forms.
These forms of government are usually distinguished based on who controls the state, how that authority is justified, and in what ways leaders and governments are structurally organized based on these justifications.
A monarchy is a form of government in which sovereignty is actually or nominally embodied in a single individual, the monarch. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and rules for life or until abdication. Monarchs may be autocrats absolute monarchy or ceremonial heads of state who exercise little or no power or only reserve power, with actual authority vested in a parliament or other body such as a constitutional assembly.
Monarchs have various titles — king or queen, prince or princess, Malik or Malikah, emperor or empress, duke or grand duke, and Shah. Monarchy is associated with political or sociocultural hereditary rule; most monarchs, both historically and in the modern day, have been born and brought up within a royal family and trained for future duties.
However, some monarchies are non-hereditary. In an elective monarchy, the monarch is elected but otherwise serves as any other monarch. Historical examples of elective monarchy include the Holy Roman Emperors and the free election of kings of the Polish—Lithuanian Commonwealth.
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Text Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Interactives Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. Related Resources. Forms of Government. View Collection. View Article. World Map View Map. Constitutional - a government by or operating under an authoritative document constitution that sets forth the system of fundamental laws and principles that determines the nature, functions and limits of that government.
Constitutional democracy - a form of government in which the sovereign power of the people is spelled out in a governing constitution. Democracy - a form of government in which the supreme power is retained by the people, but which is usually exercised indirectly through a system of representation and delegated authority periodically renewed.
Democratic republic - a state in which the supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them. Dictatorship - a form of government in which a ruler or small clique wield absolute power not restricted by a constitution or laws.
Emirate - similar to a monarchy or sultanate, a government in which the supreme power is in the hands of an emir the ruler of a Muslim state ; the emir may be an absolute overlord or a sovereign with constitutionally limited authority. Federal Federation - a form of government in which sovereign power is formally divided -- usually by means of a constitution -- between a central authority and a number of constituent regions states, colonies or provinces so that each region retains some management of its internal affairs; differs from a confederacy in that the central government exerts influence directly upon both individuals as well as upon the regional units.
Federal republic - a state in which the powers of the central government are restricted and in which the component parts states, colonies, or provinces retain a degree of self-government; ultimate sovereign power rests with the voters who chose their governmental representatives. Islamic republic - a particular form of government adopted by some Muslim states; although such a state is, in theory, a theocracy, it remains a republic, but its laws are required to be compatible with the laws of Islam.
Maoism - the theory and practice of Marxism-Leninism developed in China by Mao Zedong Mao Tse-tung , which states that a continuous revolution is necessary if the leaders of a communist state are to keep in touch with the people.
Marxism - the political, economic and social principles espoused by 19th century economist Karl Marx; he viewed the struggle of workers as a progression of historical forces that would proceed from a class struggle of the proletariat workers exploited by capitalists business owners , to a socialist "dictatorship of the proletariat," to, finally, a classless society -- Communism.
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