Political regimes and them. Political regimes

Questions about forms also worried the ancient Greeks. History during this time has accumulated a huge amount of material to highlight different forms and types of political regimes. About their features, classification features and variants and will be discussed in the article.

Form of government

State power is necessary for society to function successfully. The society is not capable of self-organization, therefore it always delegates power and control functions to someone. Even ancient philosophers discovered that forms of government can be: the power of one, the power of a few, or the power of many or the majority. Each form has various options. The form of government, the form of regime - these are the links of one chain. From the form of government follow the features of political and administrative management in the country, which, in turn, can be implemented in a different political regime. The form of government is a way of organizing the system of state power. It determines the nature and characteristics of the course of the political process in the country. The first traditional forms of government are the monarchy and the republic. Moreover, each of them allows you to set various modes board. These are despotic, aristocratic, absolutist, authoritarian, military-bureaucratic, totalitarian, fascist and many others. The state regime depends on the influence of many factors, primarily on who owns the power. The role of the individual in the state system is extremely high.

The concept of a political regime

For the first time, Plato began to think about the existence of a political regime. He, in accordance with his idealistic ideas, assumed that there is an ideal state structure, where the management is carried out by wise philosophers. All other modes differ in the degree of proximity and distance from this model. In the broadest sense, a political or state regime is the distribution of real power and influence in society. It's a way of being and functioning political system which makes the country unique and distinct from other states. Numerous elements of the political system influence the formation of the political regime: norms, relations, culture, institutions. A narrower understanding implies that the regime of government is a specific way of exercising state power.

Forms of government, political regimes are determined by the culture and traditions of the country, the historical conditions for the existence of the state. It is generally accepted that each country has its own form of government, but they have common, universal features that allow them to be classified.

Principles of classification of political regimes

Political regimes are classified according to the following criteria:

• the degree and forms of participation of the people in the management of the country and in the formation political power;
• the place of non-state structures in the government of the country;
• the degree of guarantee of the rights and freedoms of the individual;
• the presence of opposition in the country and the attitude of the authorities towards it;
• the situation with freedom of speech in the country, the state of the media, the degree of transparency of the actions of political structures;
• methods of domination;
• the situation in the country of power structures, their rights and restrictions;
• degree political activity the population of the country.

Types of modes

accumulated in history great experience management of countries, today you can count at least 150 varieties of political regimes. The ancient classification of Aristotle proposes to single out the types of regimes according to two criteria: on the basis of ownership of power and on the basis of the ways in which power is used. These signs allowed him to talk about such types of political regimes as monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, democracy, tyranny.

Such a system of typology of political regimes today has become much more complicated and, according to a variety of criteria, various types of regimes can be distinguished. The simplest classification is the division of all varieties into democratic and non-democratic, and already inside, various varieties are revealed. Trying to take into account large quantity existing regimes led to their division into basic and additional. The former include despotic, totalitarian, authoritarian, liberal and democratic. The second can be attributed tyrannical, fascist. More recent typologies also include such intermediate types as military-bureaucratic, sultanist, anarchist, as well as several types of authoritarianism: corporate, pre-totalitarian, post-colonial.

A more complex classification also suggests adding the following to the already named types: dictatorship, meritocracy, kleptocracy, ochlocracy, plutocracy, feudalism, timocracy, military dictatorship, post-totalitarianism. Certainly, some other types can also be distinguished, since each state adjusts the existing models of regimes to suit its own characteristics and conditions.

State structure and regime of government

Any modes of government in specific states cannot exist in their pure form. Traditionally, there are three types state structure: federation, unitary state and confederation. Most often there are unitary states in which the entire territory of the country is subject to a single system of state administration, one constitution and centralized management of all administrative units. At the same time, unitary states can have a democratic regime of government or an authoritarian one. But it is much easier to establish both authoritarian and even totalitarian models of governance in them. But each time it will be a kind of interpretation of the regime.

For example, Japan and Great Britain are examples of a unitary state ruled by the highest representative of a monarchical family. But each state implements forms of representative democracy to varying degrees. Also, in unitary states, a special regime for the management of individual territories can be established. The federation unites several units with relative independence under a single authority. The confederation, on the other hand, unites sovereign administrative entities that delegate only a part of the functions of state power to the bodies of general government. At the same time, the federation is more prone to democratic regimes, since several people should always unite in its board. In confederations there is no such clear pattern, and the internal regimes in the subjects may be different.

The concept and origins of totalitarianism

Traditionally, researchers single out totalitarian, democratic and as the main varieties of ways to exercise political power in the state. Totalitarianism is an extreme form Historians say that totalitarianism as a hard version of dictatorship arises in the 20th century, although there are points of view that the term was simply coined then, and such political regimes of government existed before.

Researchers say totalitarianism is based on means mass media, which become the main tool for the dissemination of ideology. Under totalitarianism understand the absolute control and regulation by the state of all aspects of life, each individual inhabitant of the country through direct armed violence. Historically, the emergence of this regime is associated with the time of rule in Italy in the 20s of the 20th century; Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Soviet Union. A well-known study by Z. Brzezinski is devoted to the study of totalitarianism, who writes that such regimes can be recognized by the following features:

• the country is dominated by an official ideology, which is shared by the majority of citizens, opponents of the ideology are subjected to severe persecution, up to and including physical destruction;
• the state establishes strict control over the actions and thoughts of citizens, police supervision is designed to seek out "enemies of the people" for subsequent exemplary reprisals against them in order to intimidate the population;
• the main principle in such countries is that only what is recognized by the official authorities is allowed, everything else is prohibited;
• there is a restriction in the freedom to receive information, there is a strict control over the dissemination of information, the media are subject to strict censorship, there can be no freedom of speech and speech;
• bureaucracy in all spheres of managing the life of society;
• one-party system: in countries with such a regime, there can only be a ruling party, all others are persecuted;
• militarization of the country, its military power is constantly increasing, the image of an external enemy is being formed, from which it is necessary to defend;
• terror and repression as instruments of fear-mongering;
• economy.

Surprisingly, totalitarianism can be built on the basis of democracy or on the basis of authoritarianism. The second case is more frequent, an example of total democracy can be the Soviet Union during the late Stalinism, when a large number of the country's inhabitants were involved in the system of total surveillance and repression.

Features of an authoritarian regime

Describing the regimes of government of the state, one should dwell on a more detailed description of their main varieties. Totalitarian, democratic and authoritarian regimes are the three leading options. Authoritarianism occupies an intermediate position between totalitarian and democratic systems of government. Authoritarianism is a non-democratic regime, which refers to the concentration of unlimited power in the hands of one or more people. The main difference from totalitarianism is the absence of strong military pressure on the inhabitants of the country.

• a monopoly on state power is established, which cannot be transferred to other people or groups in any case, except for a coup;
• prohibition or strong restrictions on the existence of the opposition;
• rigid centralization of the power vertical;
• delegation of power on the principles of kinship or co-optation;
• strengthening law enforcement agencies to retain power;
• isolation of the population from the opportunity to participate in the process of governing the country.

military bureaucracy

The group of military regimes is a variant of authoritarian and totalitarian models. The military-bureaucratic regime is a one-party regime with a bright leader, whose power is provided by military forces. Most often it is customary to talk about the communist varieties of such regimes. The main features of the military bureaucracy are:

• the dominant role of the military and law enforcement agencies in ensuring the implementation of government decisions;
• the presence of a special system of control over the life of society;
• violence and terror as the main instruments of subjugation and motivation of the population;
• legislative chaos and arbitrariness;
• officially proclaimed dominant ideology in the complete absence of opposition.

Tyranny and despotism

An ancient variety of totalitarianism is despotic power. Such a regime existed, for example, in ancient Egypt. The power in this case belongs to one person who received it by right of inheritance. The despot has exclusive power and may not correlate his actions in any way with the laws and norms of the country. All outbursts of disagreement with his policies are severely punished, up to the use of cruel demonstrative executions and torture. Tyrannical regimes of government are distinguished by the fact that power comes to one person as a result of a military coup. At the same time, the managerial characteristics of a tyrant are close to the behavior of a despot. The power of tyrants has also been known for a long time, so historians describe several such examples in ancient Greece.

Features of a democratic regime

The most widespread political regimes in the world are various variations of democracy. The form of government of a democratic regime is diverse, but in general it is characterized by the following features:

• people are the main source supreme power, he is the chief sovereign in the state;
• the people have the opportunity to demonstrate their will in free elections, the election of power - the most important feature democracy;
• the rights of a citizen - the absolute priority of power, any person or minority is guaranteed access to power;
• equality of citizens before the law and in government;
• freedom of speech and pluralism of opinions;
• a ban on any form of violence against a person;
• the obligatory presence of opposition to the ruling party;
• separation of powers, each branch has sovereignty and is subject exclusively to the people.

Depending on how the people participate in government, there are two forms of democracy: direct and representative. Forms of representative democracy are the most common today. In this case, the people on decision-making to their representatives in different government bodies.

Liberalism as a political regime

A special kind of democracy is the liberal regime. The ideas of liberalism appear in ancient times, as a political regime, it was first proclaimed at the end of the 18th century in the US Constitution and the Declaration of Human Rights in France. The main sign of liberalism is the absolute value of man. Any liberal regime is based on three pillars: individualism, property and freedom. Signs of a liberal political regime are:

• legislative consolidation of human rights to the protection of his individuality and rights to private property;
• separation of branches of power;
• publicity and freedom of speech;
• the existence of opposition parties;
• instability of the political sphere of the country, the participation of the masses in the political life of society;
• the absence of a monopoly on power, the existence of a legal mechanism for the change of power;
• freedom of the economy from all control and interference by the state.

Now you know the basic information about government modes.

Political regime is a method of exercising political power in society.

Political regime: types and essence

Any political regime is one or another combination of opposing relationships between people: democracy and authoritarianism.

Types of state and totalitarianism

With the similarity of authoritarianism with totalitarianism, in the first case, some polarization and delimitation of interests and forces is allowed. Some elements of struggle, elections and, to some extent, legal opposition and dissent are not excluded here. But at the same time, the rights of public political organizations and citizens are somewhat limited, legal serious opposition is banned, and the political behavior of organizations and individual citizens is strictly regulated by regulations. Destructive, restrained, which creates certain conditions for democratic reforms and harmonization of interests.

Political regime, types: democracy

Democracy primarily means the participation of the masses in government, as well as the fact that all citizens of the country have democratic freedoms and rights officially recognized and enshrined in legislation and the constitution. Democracy in the entire history of its existence as a socio-political phenomenon has developed certain values ​​and principles, which include:

• publicity in the activities of the authorities;

• equal right of citizens of the state in the management of society;

• division of powers into judicial, legislative and executive;

• constitutional design of the state system;

• complex of civil, political, social and economic freedoms and human rights.

These values, of course, describe an ideal system that does not yet exist anywhere. Perhaps it is, in principle, unattainable. However, institutions to uphold the values ​​of democracy exist for all their shortcomings.

Political regime is a system of methods, ways and means of exercising political power. Any changes that occur in the essence of the state of this type, first of all, are reflected in his regime, and he affects the form of government and the form of government.

The concept of a political regime is key to the formation of ideas about the main systems of power. Based on it, they judge the true picture of the principles of organization political structure society. The political regime characterizes a certain political climate that exists in a particular country in a particular period of its historical development.

Signs of a political regime:

The degree of participation of the people in the mechanisms of formation of political power, as well as the very methods of such formation;

The ratio of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen with the rights of the state;

Guaranteed rights and freedoms of the individual;

Characteristics of the real mechanisms for exercising power in society;

The degree to which political power is exercised directly by the people;

The position of the media, the degree of openness in society and the transparency of the state apparatus;

Place and role of non-state structures in the political system of society;

The nature of legal regulation (stimulating, restricting) in relation to citizens and officials;

The nature of political leadership;

Taking into account the interests of the minority in making political decisions;

The dominance of certain methods (persuasion, coercion, etc.) in the exercise of political power;

The degree of rule of law in all spheres of public life;

Political and legal status and role in society of the "power" structures of the state (army, police, state security agencies, etc.);

A measure of political pluralism, including a multi-party system;

The existence of real mechanisms for bringing political and legal responsibility to officials, including the highest ones.

The vast majority of political scientists do not attribute the political regime to the form of the state, but consider it a separate institution. The political regime can completely, fundamentally pervert the form of government, so this is the most important manifestation of the essence of the state. All modes are divided into: democratic and undemocratic.

concept "democracy" means government of the people, power of the people. However, the situation in which the entire people would exercise political power has not yet been realized anywhere. It is rather an ideal, something to strive for. Meanwhile, there are a number of states that have done more than others in this direction (Germany, France, Sweden, the USA, Switzerland, England) and which other states often orient themselves to.

Signs of a democratic regime:

1. The population participates in the exercise of state power through direct (when citizens, for example, directly make decisions on the most important issues of public life in a referendum) and representative democracy (when the people exercise their power through representative bodies chosen by them);

2. Decisions are taken by the majority, taking into account the interests of the minority;

3. Election and turnover of central and local government bodies, their accountability to voters, publicity;

4. Methods of persuasion, agreement, compromise dominate;

5. Law prevails in all spheres of public life;

6. The rights and freedoms of man and citizen are proclaimed and actually ensured;

7. Political pluralism, including multi-party system;

8. Separation of powers.

9. Developed cultural level of people, readiness for cooperation, compromise and agreement.

Democratic regimes subdivided into: bourgeois-democratic, social-democratic, patriarchal-democratic, liberal-democratic regime.

signs bourgeois democratic regimes :

1. The supremacy of the constitution and parliament.

2. Multi-party system (parties must be developed).

3. Variety of forms of ownership (leading - private).

4. The introduction of a system of separation of powers in the entire state mechanism.

5. Presence in the constitution of an extensive system of democratic rights and freedoms.

6. Pluralism of ideology and pluralism of expression.

signs social democratic regime the same as in the bourgeois-democratic, the difference is one, but significant: in such countries, the main emphasis is on social protection personality, for the realization of huge social programs, in its pure form, this regime exists only in Sweden.

Patriarchal Democratic Regime(Kuwait, Brunei, Swaziland, Bhutan) - customs and traditions prevail as sources of law.

Liberal Democratic Regime - slightly progressive. Liberal values ​​are the protection of human rights, the priority of universal values, integration with the world. The head of the state with such a political regime is the intelligentsia and carries out progressive transformations, but there are no material and financial resources for the realization of national interests. Such a political regime exists in Namibia, India.

Non-democratic political regimes:totalitarian, authoritarian, fascism. The main difference between non-democratic and democratic regimes is that there is an absolute dominance of the executive over the legislative.

The concept of " totalitarianism" in the literal sense of the word means "whole", "whole", "complete". In each of the countries where a political totalitarian regime arose and developed, it had its own specifics. However, there is common features inherent in all forms of totalitarianism and reflecting its essence. Totalitarian regime characterized by the absolute control of the state over all areas of public life, the complete subordination of a person to political power and the dominant ideology (a state of a purely fascist type).

Signs:

1. In the process of regime formation, the nature of the law, which is seen as a form of expression of violence, changes. The creation of a huge state apparatus contributed to the expansion of power influence. Power is usurped either by one person or by a small group of people.

2. Unification and ideologization of public life. There are no independent public organizations - children's, youth, adults.

3. State-bureaucratic monopoly in the economy: the absence of private property leads to the fact that the state is the only employer.

4. Declarative and limited rights and freedoms of a citizen. Totalitarianism is based on statism, the source of rights and freedoms is the state, which grants rights and freedoms in accordance with its goals.

5. Violence and terror as a means of control.

6. Isolation from the outside world.

In turn, the totalitarian regime is divided into:

Tyranny- power belongs to one who himself creates laws, but does not obey them. The army and the punitive apparatus play an important role.

Dictatorship- power in the state belongs to a certain estate or class, all other strata of society are declared hostile, legality is replaced by expediency. Examples are the Dictatorship of the Proletariat, the Jacobin Dictatorship, the Paris Commune.

military dictatorship- the highest command ranks are at the head of the state and the entire economy is subordinated to the development of the military complex. Such regimes existed in Japan and Greece.

Junta(Chile) - the military is at the head of the state, but the government is created from the rest of society (liberal government).

Cult of personality- an extreme degree of totalitarianism, the genocide of their own people is carried out, a combination of repressive methods, the persecution of dissidents. Such regimes existed in the USSR (Stalin), China (Mao Zedong), Yugoslavia (Bros Tito), Turkmenistan (Saparmurat Ataevich Niyazov) and others.

Racist political regime- at the head of the state representatives of one race or nation. According to the ideology of racism, there is a struggle between races until the superior race defeats the inferior. Society is divided into certain racial groups.

Theocratic (religious regime)- such a regime poses a huge threat to its own people and other peoples and countries. The head of state is also the head of the church (the king in Saudi Arabia). There is only one state religion in the country, the rest are banned under threat death penalty(Afghanistan, Iran). The sources of constitutional law are sacred scriptures and traditions (Koran, Sunnah, Vedas, Bible, Torah). The role of judicial law (in the broadest sense) is performed by canon law. Special religious courts are being created. Special religious spiritual punitive bodies are being created.

Nomenclature democracy regime- this regime has established itself throughout the post-Soviet space, with the exception of the Baltic countries and Turkmenistan.

Fascism- a regime in which the state ideology is extreme nationalism, manifested in the fact that the state decided to take care of the prosperity of its nation at the expense of the destruction and enslavement of other states. The consequence is genocide against the Gypsies, Jews, Slavs, who were subject to physical destruction. Repressions are directed not inside the country, as in the cult of personality, but against other countries and peoples.

At the head of the state - the leader (the Fuhrer, Duce, etc.), there is a party system (with the exception of Japan during the Second World War). In fascist states, the party and state apparatus is completely merged. The role of representative bodies of power is reduced to nothing. All power is exercised by the leader and his apparatus. A simplified legal procedure is being introduced, i.e. coercion is carried out not by a permanent court, but by emergency organs.

Authoritarian regime- the state-political structure of society, in which political power is exercised by a specific person (class, party, elite group, etc.) with minimal participation of the people.

The main characteristic of this regime is authoritarianism as a method of ruling and governing, as a kind of social relations (for example, Spain during the reign of Franco, Chile during the reign of Pinochet), Azerbaijan, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Cameroon, Kenya , Laos, Malaysia and others - today. An authoritarian regime can be seen as a kind of "compromise" between totalitarian and democratic political regimes.

Signs:

1. In the center and in the localities, there is a concentration of power in the hands of one or several closely interconnected bodies, while the people are alienated from the real levers of state power;

2. The principle of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial is ignored (often the president, executive and administrative bodies subjugate all other bodies, are endowed with legislative and judicial powers);

3. The court acts as an auxiliary body, together with which extrajudicial instances can also be used;

4. Narrowed or nullified the scope of the principles of election of state bodies and officials;

5. Command and administrative methods dominate as methods of state administration, at the same time there is no terror, practically no mass repressions, harsh violent methods of exercising political power are used;

6. Partial censorship remains, there is no complete total control over all spheres of public life, as in a totalitarian political regime;

7. There is no single ideology.

8. There is partial pluralism, opposition is not allowed, there can only be an imitation of a multi-party system;

9. The rights and freedoms of man and citizen are mainly proclaimed, but in reality they are not fully ensured (primarily in the political sphere);

10. A person is deprived of security guarantees in relations with the authorities;

11. Power structures are practically beyond the control of society and are sometimes used for purely political purposes;

12. The role of the leader is high, but unlike totalitarianism, he is not charismatic.

Political regimes

Target: Argumented, for concrete examples reveal the essence and content of the content of modern political regimes.

Plan:

1. The concept of a political regime.

2. The main types of political regimes:

a) The concept and ideological origins of totalitarianism.

c) Signs of a democratic regime

3. Implementation of social policy in Kazakhstan in a democratic regime.

Summary of the lecture:

The regime is management, a set of means and methods for exercising the economic and political power of the ruling class.

Each state has its own political regime. Political regime means a set of techniques, methods, forms, ways of exercising political power in society, characterizes the degree of political freedom, the legal status of an individual in society and a certain type of political system that exists in the country.

In the modern world, we can talk about numerous regimes that differ slightly from each other.

The concept of totalitarianism comes from lat. "TOTALIS" - whole, complete, whole. Usually, totalitarianism is understood as a political regime based on the desire of the country's leadership to establish complete control over the individual and subordinate her way of life to one, undividedly dominant idea.

Totalitarianism arose in Europe, more precisely, on the periphery of European civilization, as a result of a certain synthesis of elements of Asian despotism with radical ideological doctrines. The clash of elements of Eastern and European structures on the periphery of Europe (Russia, Prussia, Spain) under favorable circumstances (social crisis and the growth of radicalism) contributed to the emergence of Asian despotism, which became the mainstay of the bearers of radical theories of the reorganization of the world.

Signs of totalitarianism :

Total state control over society;

General monopolization and centralization of power in the hands of the ruling minority;

A system of strict police terrorist control over all citizens;

Politicization (in terms of propaganda) of all life;

The domination of the only ruling mass party, which is the core of the political system of a totalitarian society. At the same time, such a party can merge with the state.

Ideologization of society and public life on the basis of a single state ideology;

Unification and regulation of political, social and spiritual life;

Bet on the renewal of society based on global ideas;

Bet on your race (maybe in covert, for example, in former USSR the idea of ​​a "single Soviet people").

Depending on the dominant ideology, totalitarianism is usually divided into communism, fascism and national socialism.

Communism(socialism), to a greater extent than other varieties of totalitarianism, expresses the main features of this system, since it implies the absolute power of the state, the complete elimination of private property and, consequently, any autonomy of the individual. Despite the predominantly totalitarian forms of political organization, humane political goals are also inherent in the socialist system. So, for example, in the USSR the level of education of the people increased sharply, the social security of the population was ensured, the economy developed, the space and military industries, etc., the crime rate dropped sharply.

Fascism(Italian fascismo, from fascio - bundle, bundle, association), political movement which arose in the capitalist countries during the period of the general crisis of capitalism and expresses the interests of the most reactionary and aggressive forces of the imperialist bourgeoisie. Fascism in power is a terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary forces of monopoly capital, carried out in order to preserve the capitalist system.

The most important distinguishing features of fascism- the use of extreme forms of violence to suppress the working class and all working people, militant anti-communism, chauvinism, racism, the widespread use of state-monopoly methods of regulating the economy, maximum control over all manifestations of the public and private life of citizens, extensive ties with a fairly significant part of the population that is not related to to the ruling classes, the ability to mobilize and politically activate it through nationalist and social demagoguery in the interests of the exploitative system (the social base is mainly the middle strata capitalist society). Foreign policy is the policy of imperialist conquests.

Fascism was first established in Italy in 1922. Italian fascism gravitated toward the revival of the greatness of the Roman Empire, the establishment of order, and firm state power.

A form of fascism is national socialism . As a real political and social system, it arose in Germany in 1933. The goal: the world domination of the Aryan race. If in communist systems aggressiveness is directed primarily inward - against its own citizens (class enemy), then in National Socialism it is directed outward, against other peoples.

Once in power in Italy and Germany, the fascists placed numerous fascist and pro-fascist organizations abroad under their auspices. In some countries these organizations began to pose a serious danger to bourgeois-democratic regimes. In the period between the two world wars, regimes of the fascist type were established in a number of states of Eastern and Central Europe: in Hungary (the Horthy regime), Austria, Poland ("sanation regime"), Romania, the Baltic states, etc.

Under the influence of Italy and Germany developed fascist movement in Spain, where, after the bloody civil war of 1936-39. The fascist dictatorship of Francis Franco was established (March 1939) with the military and political support of the Italian and German interventionists. Even earlier, the fascist dictatorship of Salazar was established in Portugal.

So totalitarianism is closed society, not adapted to modern qualitative renewal, taking into account the new requirements of a continuously changing world.

Authoritarianism- occupies an intermediate position between totalitarianism and democracy. Significant in determining authoritarianism is the nature of the relationship between the state and the individual - they are built more on coercion than on persuasion. At the same time, the authoritarian regime does not seek to impose a clearly developed ideology on society, allows limited and controlled pluralism in political thinking and actions, and puts up with the existence of the opposition.

Autocracy from Greek. (autokrateia) - autocracy autocracy i.e. the unlimited power of one person does not require a demonstration of loyalty on the part of the population, as in totalitarianism, the absence of open political confrontation is enough for it. However, the regime is merciless to manifestations of real political competition for power, to the actual participation of the population in decision-making on the most important issues of society. Authoritarianism suppresses basic civil rights.

An authoritarian political system has the following features:

1) Autocracy (autocracy) or a small number of power holders. They can be one person (monarch, tyrant) or a group of people (military junta, oligarchic group, etc.).

2) The unlimitedness of power, its not being controlled by citizens, while the government can rule with the help of laws, but it accepts them at its own discretion.

3) reliance (real or potential) on force. An authoritarian regime may not resort to mass repression and be popular among the general population. However, he has sufficient power to, if necessary, at his own discretion, use force and force citizens into obedience.

4) Monopolization of power and politics, avoiding political opposition and competition. Under authoritarianism, the existence of a limited number of parties, trade unions and other organizations is possible, but only if they are controlled by the authorities.

5) Refusal of total control over society, non-interference in non-political spheres and, above all, in the economy. Power deals mainly with issues of ensuring its own security, public order, defense, foreign policy, although it can also influence strategy economic development to pursue a fairly active social policy without destroying the mechanisms of market self-government.

6) Recruitment of the political elite by introducing new members into the elective body without holding by-elections, by appointment from above, and not by competitive electoral struggle.

Based on the above, authoritarianism is a political regime in which unlimited power is concentrated in the hands of one person or group of persons who do not allow political opposition, but preserve the autonomy of the individual and society outside political spheres. Authoritarianism is quite compatible with respect for all other, apart from political, rights of the individual.

Weaknesses of authoritarianism: the complete dependence of politics on the position of the head of state or a group of top leaders, the lack of opportunities for citizens to prevent political adventures or arbitrariness, limited political expression of public interests.

Advantages of an authoritarian regime: high ability to ensure political stability and public order, mobilize public resources for decision certain tasks to overcome the resistance of political opponents.

Authoritarian regimes are very diverse. These are monarchies, dictatorial regimes, military juntas, populist systems of government, etc. Monarchies are already a disappearing category of authoritarian regimes. Not all monarchies are authoritarian. In Europe (Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain), monarchies are in principle parliamentary democracies. But when they talk about monarchism as a subtype of authoritarian states, they mean monarchies in the least developed countries where the monarchs are the actual rulers (Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia). Military Rule: The military take power and rule the country. Political activity either banned altogether or restricted.

V modern conditions In the post-socialist countries, "pure" authoritarianism, not based on active mass support and some democratic institutions, can hardly be an instrument of progressive reform of society and can turn into a criminal dictatorial regime of personal power.

c) Signs of a democratic regime

Democracy- the most complex type of political regime. Demos - people and kratos - power. From gr. - People power. Modern democracies, and they exist in about 40 countries.

Characteristic features of a democratic regime:

1) sovereignty of the people: it is the people who choose their representatives of power and can periodically replace them. Elections must be fair, competitive, and regularly held. By “competitive” is meant the presence of various groups or individuals free to stand as candidates.

2) Periodic election of the main bodies of the state. The government is formed as a result of elections and for a certain, limited period. For the development of democracy, it is not enough to hold regular elections; it is necessary that it be based on an elected government. V Latin America, for example, elections are held frequently, but many Latin American countries are outside of democracy, because. the most common way to remove a president is a military coup, not an election. So, necessary condition democratic state - persons exercising supreme power are elected, and elected for a certain, limited term, the change of government should occur as a result of elections, and not at the request of a certain general.

3) Protecting the rights of individuals and minorities. The opinion of the majority, democratically expressed in elections, is only a necessary condition for democracy, but it is by no means insufficient. Only the combination of majority rule and protection of the rights of the minority is one of the basic principles of a democratic state. If, however, discriminatory measures are applied against the minority, the regime becomes undemocratic, regardless of the frequency and fairness of elections and changes in the legitimately elected government.

4) Equality of citizens' rights to participate in government: freedom to create political parties and other associations to express one's will, freedom of opinion, the right to information and to participate in competition for leadership positions in the state.

Depending on how the people participate in governance, who and how directly performs power functions, democracy is divided into direct, plebiscitary and representative.

Under direct democracy all citizens themselves are directly involved in the preparation, discussion and decision-making. Such a system can only be practical with a relatively small number of people, such as community or tribal councils or local trade union bodies, where all members can meet in one room to discuss issues and decide by consensus or majority vote. The first democracy in the world in ancient Athens carried out direct democracy through meetings in which 5-6 thousand people participated.

An important channel for the participation of citizens in the exercise of power is plebiscite democracy. The difference between it and direct democracy lies in the fact that direct democracy involves the participation of citizens at all the most important stages of the process of ruling (in preparing, making political decisions and monitoring their implementation), while in plebiscitary democracy, the possibilities of political influence of citizens are relatively limited, for example, referenda. Citizens are allowed to vote to approve or reject this or that draft law or other decision, which is usually prepared by the president, government, party or initiative group. Opportunities for the participation of the bulk of the population in the preparation of such projects are very small.

Third, most common in modern society, a form of political participation is representative democracy . Its essence is that citizens elect their representatives to the authorities, who are called upon to express their interests in making political decisions, in adopting laws and implementing social and other programs. Elected persons in a representative democracy hold office on behalf of the people and are accountable to the people for all their actions.

There are various forms of government of democratic regimes. Quite common forms of democratic government are the presidential republic and the parliamentary republic.

hallmark presidential republic is that the president is both the head of state and the head of government. Perhaps the most striking example of presidential democracy is the United States. Executive power is concentrated in the hands of one ruler, i.e. the president of the United States, who is regularly elected every 4 years by all the people. The president appoints cabinet ministers who are accountable only to him and not to parliament. This is the essence of presidential government. This does not mean that the president is a dictator.

The President has no legislative powers. All legislative power belongs to the highest legislative body of the United States - Congress (House of Representatives and Senate). In the exercise of his powers, the President of the United States is limited to a certain extent by the power of Congress. Congress decides on budget issues, has the right to cancel any appointment of the President of the United States (the right of veto) and, finally, Congress has the right to start the process of "impeachment", i.e. early removal of the president from power (for treason, for violating the Constitution and other crimes).

The main distinguishing feature parliamentary republic is the formation of a government on a parliamentary basis (usually by a parliamentary majority) and its formal responsibility to parliament. Parliament performs a number of functions in relation to the government: forms and supports it; publishes laws adopted by the government for execution; approves the state budget and thereby establishes the financial framework for the activities of the government; exercises control over the government and, if necessary, can express a vote of no confidence in it, which entails either the resignation of the government, or the dissolution of parliament and the holding of early elections. There are 3 main types of parliamentary regimes in the modern world.

The first can be described as a one-party majority in parliament, i.e. when one political party is consistently strong enough to form a government. This government is sometimes referred to as the "Westministerial model", referring to the British Parliament, in which political party 50% of the votes are enough to form a government for the entire duration of the election.

The second type is the parliamentary coalition system when the cabinet of ministers is formed on the basis of a coalition (agreement) of various parties, of which none of them has an absolute majority in parliament. Coalitions can be long-term (Germany) and short-term (Italy).

The third type of parliamentary regime often call consensual (consensual). It was proposed by one of the modern political scientists, Leibhart, who proposed the concept of a consensual parliamentary regime in order to designate regimes that exist at the expense of a regional or ethnic majority. For example, in Belgium, where the Flemings (the people of the Germanic language group) make up less than 15% of the Belgian population and where, under parliamentary or presidential rule, the French-speaking population would turn into second-class people, was invented system of preplanned compromises, i.e. the situation in which the rights of both linguistic groups are protected. To resolve any contentious issues, both sides create a commission of an equal number of representatives of these ethnic groups and try to find a compromise.

modern democracy- This is a representation of interests, not estates. All citizens in a democratic state are equal as participants in political life. Equality is of two kinds - equality before the laws and equality of political rights. A modern democratic state is a state of law, in which the separation of three powers has been carried out in practice and real mechanisms have been created to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens.

Personal status.

The political regime is a set of means and methods by which the ruling elites exercise economic, political and ideological power in the country; it is a combination of the party system, voting methods and decision-making principles that form the specific political order of a given country for a certain period. The term "political regime" appeared in Western literature as early as the 19th century, and entered into wide scientific circulation in the second half of the 20th century. Researchers count the existence of 140-160 different political regimes in the modern world, many of which differ very little from each other. This determines a wide variety of approaches to the classification of political regimes.

In European political science, the definition of a political regime given by J.-L. Kermonn, which is often used in the works of Russian authors:

Under the political regime, according to J.-L. Kermonnus, is understood as a set of elements of an ideological, institutional and sociological order that contribute to the formation of the political administration of a given country for a certain period.

In American political science, in contrast to European, preference is given to the concept political system , which is considered more significant than the political regime. Supporters of the systemic approach quite often interpret the concept of "political regime" broadly, practically identifying it with the "political system". Critics of this approach note that the political regime is a more mobile and dynamic phenomenon than the system of power, and several political regimes may change during the evolution of one political system.

In the narrow sense of the word, a political regime is sometimes understood as state regime , which is a set of techniques and methods for exercising state power. Such an identification can be justified only if the political regime is almost completely determined by the state, and not justified if it is largely dependent on the activities of civil society institutions.

Modern approaches to the definition of the concept of political regime

V modern science There are two main traditions of understanding the concept of a political regime, one of which is associated with the political and legal approach that has developed in the legal tradition of constitutional law, and the other with a sociological approach that has become widespread in political science.

institutional approach

This approach is also called political-legal and formal-legal. Within its framework, the main attention is paid to the procedural, formal and legal characteristics of the functioning of the system of political power. When using the institutional approach, the concept of a political regime approaches or even merges with the concepts of a form of government or political system. Thus the term political regime turns out to be part of the categorical apparatus of constitutional law. Within the framework of the institutional approach, there is a difference between the terms political regime and state regime.

The institutional approach has traditionally been characteristic of French state studies. Based on it, the following types of political regimes were distinguished:

• the mode of merger of powers is an absolute monarchy;
• regime of separation of powers - presidential republic;
• the mode of cooperation between the authorities is a parliamentary republic.

Gradually, this typology began to be regarded as an auxiliary one, classifying not so much regimes as types of government structures.

This group also includes the approach of the American political scientist G. Lasswell and his followers, who considered the political regime as a way of legitimizing the political system. In their opinion, regimes are models political forms functioning to minimize the element of coercion in the political process. Thus, the regime is associated with the constitutional form, and unconstitutional forms of government (dictatorship) are denied the right to be considered political regimes.

Sociological approach

Within the framework of this approach, primary attention is paid to the origin of power and the social foundations of its functioning, understanding the ties between society and the state that have developed in reality and do not necessarily correspond to those prescribed by constitutional acts. With this approach, the regime is viewed much more broadly - as a balance in the relationship between the state and society. Each mode is based on a system social connections, therefore, regimes cannot be changed by changing the legal acts fixing them, without transforming the social foundations on which it rests. This approach often leads to the identification of the political regime and the political system.

Characteristic representatives of this trend are the French political scientists M. Duverger (considered the regime as: “the structure of government, type human society, which distinguishes one social community from the other”) and his follower J.-L. Kermonne, whose definition is given above.

A similar point of view in determining the political regime is held by American scientists G. O "Donnell and F. Schmitter:

A set of structures, overt or covert, that determine the forms and channels of access to leading government positions, as well as the characteristics of the actors who are considered suitable or unsuitable for these structures, the resources and strategies they use in order to obtain the desired appointment.

Within the framework of the sociological approach, there is a significant variety of research strategies and options for typology of political regimes, among which the allocation of democratic, authoritarian and totalitarian regimes is considered to be the basic one today.

Types of political regimes

Democratic regime

Authoritarian regime

Totalitarian regime

Totalitarianism (from lat. totalis- whole, whole, complete) is a regime of complete control by the state over all spheres of society and every person through direct armed signing. Power at all levels is formed behind closed doors, as a rule, by one person or a narrow group of persons from the ruling elite. Totalitarianism is a specifically new form of dictatorship that emerged in the 20th century. Totalitarianism is a fundamentally new type of dictatorship due to the special role of the state and ideology.

Signs of totalitarianism:

• total state control over society;
• general monopolization and centralization of power in the hands of the ruling minority;
• a system of strict police terrorist control over all citizens;
• politicization (in terms of propaganda) of all life;
• the domination of a single ruling mass party, which is the core of the political system of a totalitarian society. At the same time, such a party can merge with the state;
• ideologization of society and public life on the basis of a single state ideology;
• unification and regulation of political, social and spiritual life;
• stake on the renewal of society based on global ideas;
• a bet on one's own race (perhaps in a hidden and camouflaged form, for example, in the USSR, the idea of ​​a "single Soviet people").

Depending on the dominant ideology, totalitarianism is usually divided into communism, fascism and national socialism.

Anarchy

Anarchy can be defined as the absence of a political regime, anarchy. Such a state is possible, as a rule, for a short period of time, with the decline of the state and a catastrophic decrease in the role of state power or opposition political forces who claim to implement it, such a state is typical for a period of great upheavals (revolutions, civil wars, occupation). Anarchy is also presented as a form social structure, but not as some kind of intermediate state at the moment of transition from one political regime to another.

Other

Other political regimes are also distinguished:

Typologies

Aristotle

• Correct:
  1. Monarchy.
  2. Aristocracy
  3. Politia.
• Wrong:
  1. Tyranny.
  2. Oligarchy.
  3. Democracy.

Marx

1. Socialist.
2. Capitalist.

Duverger

• overt and authoritarian;
• democratic, autocratic, monocratic (dictatorial);
• directories (collective board).

Kurashvili

1. Tyrannical.
2. Rigidly authoritarian.
3. Authoritarian-democratic.
4. Democratic-authoritarian.
5. Deployed democratic.
6. anarcho-democratic.

Golosova - Blondel

1. Traditional (closed with a monolithic elite).
2. Competitive oligarchy (open, exclusive).
3. Authoritarian-bureaucratic (closed, with a differentiated elite, excluding).
4. Egalitarian-authoritarian (closed, with a monolithic elite, including).
5. Authoritarian-inegalitarian (closed, with a differentiated elite, including).
6. Liberal democracy (open, inclusive).

see also

Notes