Political Systems: Edwin S. Martin, Ph.D. UST, Graduate School
Political Systems: Edwin S. Martin, Ph.D. UST, Graduate School
Political Systems: Edwin S. Martin, Ph.D. UST, Graduate School
• Authoritarian attributes
• Democratic Attributes
• Oligarchic Attributes
• Others
B. By elements of who elects the empowered
• Authoritarian attributes
🡪 Authoritarian - is a form of government characterized by strong
central power and limited political freedoms
🡪 Totalitarian - a political system where the state recognizes no limits to
its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life
wherever feasible
B. By elements of who elects the empowered
•Democratic - a government chosen by election where most of the populace are
enfranchised
• Variations of Democratic attributes:
🡪 Demarchy - government in which the state is governed by randomly selected decision makers who have been selected by lot from
a broadly inclusive pool of eligible citizens
🡪 Direct Democracy - government in which the people represent themselves and vote directly for new laws and public policy
🡪 Representative Democracy - people or citizens of a country elect representatives to create and implement public policy in place of
active participation by the people
🡪 Liberal Democracy - is a political ideology and a form of government in which representative democracy operates under the
principles of freedom and equality
🡪 Social Democracy - argues that all citizens should be legally entitled to certain social rights
🡪 Totalitarian Democracy – citizens, while granted the right to vote, have little or no participation in the decision-making process of
the government.
B. By elements of who elects the empowered
• Oligarchic - a system of governance with small group of individuals, the oligarchs, who share
similar interests or family relations
• Variations of Oligarchic Attributes:
🡪 Kritarchy - a system of governance composed of law enforcement institutions in which the state and the legal systems are
traditionally and/or constitutionally the same entity
🡪 Ergatocracy - Rule by the proletariat, the workers, or the working class
🡪 Nepotocracy - Rule by social connections; a term invented by the editorial board of the American technology magazine
Wired in the early 1990s
🡪 Plutocracy - Rule by the rich; a system of governance composed of the wealthy class
🡪 Stratocracy - a system of governance composed of military government in which the state and the military are
traditionally and/or constitutionally the same entity
🡪 Theocracy - Rule by a religious elite
B. By elements of who elects the empowered
• Other Attributes:
🡪 Anarchy - a situation where there is no government. This can happen
during a civil war in a country
🡪 Banana Republic - a country dependent upon limited primary-sector
productions, which is ruled by a plutocracy (governed by the wealthy) who
exploit the national economy
🡪 Maoism/ Leninism - a continuous revolution is necessary if the leaders of
a communist state are to keep in touch with the people
C. By elements of how power distribution is
structured
• Unitary – a form of government where power is concentrated on a central government
• Variations of Unitary governments:
🡪 Republican – characterized by representative democracy
-- Presidential – where power is concentrated on the executive branch of government
represented by a President who is usually directly elected by the people
-- Parliamentary – the head of state and head of government are kept separate with the
head of government retaining most executive powers
🡪 Islamic – governed in accordance with Islamic law.
🡪 Socialist/ Communist – Normally governed by one-party system
C. By elements of how power distribution is
structured
• Federalism – a system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally
divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units
• Variations of Federal governments:
🡪 Federal Monarchy
🡪 Federal Republic
-- Presidential
-- Parliamentary
C. By Socioeconomic System attributes
🡪 Capitalism
🡪 Communism
🡪 Feudalism
🡪 Socialism
• Blue – Presidential republics with a full presidential system
• Yellow – Presidential republics with a semi-presidential system
• Green – Parliamentary republics with an executive presidency
States by their systems of responsible to the legislature
government (wikipedia) • Orange – Parliamentary republics with a ceremonial/non-executive
president, where a separate head of government leads the executive
• Red – Constitutional monarchy with a ceremonial/non-executive
monarch, where a separate head of government leads the executive
• Magenta – Constitutional monarchy which have with a separate
head of government, but where royalty still hold significant
executive and/or legislative power
• Purple – Absolute monarchy
• Brown – Countries where the dominant role of one political party or
coalition is codified in the constitution
• Dark green – Countries in which constitutional provisions for
government have been suspended (e.g. military dictatorship)
• Grey – Countries which do not fit any of the above systems (e.g.
transitional government or unclear political situations)
• Light grey – No government
Countries highlighted in blue are designated “electoral democracies" in Freedom
House's 2016 survey "Freedom in the World", covering the year 2015.
A world map distinguishing countries of the world as federations (green)
from unitary states (blue). (wikipedia)
27 Federal Countries
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Comoros,
Ethiopia, Germany, India, Iraq, Malaysia, Mexico, Micronesia, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Russia, St Kitts and Nevis, Spain, South Africa, Sudan, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates,
United States of America, Venezuela