The political systems result from the interplay of political forces within the institutional framework defined by the constitution or custom. In addition, other factors, such as history, ideologies and culture, influence the nature of political regimes.
All political regimes are not democratic. Democracies are distinguished by the existence of a plurality of political parties, the freedom of choice given to citizens and the separation of legislative, administrative and judicial powers.
In addition, the various types of democratic regimes can be classified according to whether they favor the collaboration of the different powers (assembly regime, parliamentary regime) or the strict separation of these powers (presidential regime). Some systems are also mixed, being both parliamentary and presidential.
This article will introduce 9 major political systems and forms of government. These notions refer to the configuration of a state to how a country is governed. We will not take an in-depth look into each of the systems presented. Still, this article aims to give the reader some elements of understanding to make him want to deepen his knowledge.
What is Dictatorship? Dictatorship comes from the Latin word dictatura. The dictatorship was a magistracy in the cities of ancient Italy. One man had extraordinary powers to carry out a mission. The dictatorship was exercised for a specific purpose. This term came down to us from ancient Rome. The term dictatorship is remembered for two reasons: Sylla (138 – 78) and Caesar (100 – 44).
The notion of dictatorship has now lost its ancient meaning, except for certain specific contexts. Nineteenth-century socialism developed the notion of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the period of the absolute power of the working class that should allow the passage to socialism. Writers such as Carl Schmitt (1888-1985) have developed a modern theory of constitutional dictatorship to deal with periods of crisis.
Outside of these singular uses, the concept of dictatorship has become synonymous with despotism. A dictatorship is an authoritarian regime in which citizens have little or no legal protection.
For example, the leaders of totalitarian states in the 20th century, like Adolf Hitler (1889-1945), Joseph Stalin (1878-1954), Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) or Mao Zedong (1893-1976), are referred to as dictators. Nevertheless, all dictatorships are not totalitarian (South American dictatorships of the 20th century, African dictatorships, etc.).