1. Confucianism2. Traditional systems of classification of political systems3. Defining governments and regimes4. Regimes of the modern world5. Political ideologies 6. Defining democracy7. Liberalism8. Conservatism9. The end of ideology? (comment on Francis Fukuyama’s article ”The End of

History”) 10.Party politics 11.Party systems12.Defining political party, interest group, political movement

Government

A government is the system by which a state or community is governed. In Commonwealth English, a government more narrowly refers to the particular executive in control of a state at a given time—known in American English as anadministration. In American English, government refers to the larger system by which any state is organised Furthermore,government is occasionally used in English as a synonym for governance.In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislators, administrators, and arbitrators. Government is the means by which state policy is enforced, as well as the mechanism for determining the policy of the state. A form of government, or form of state governance, refers to the set of political systems and institutions that make up the organisation of a specific government.Government of any kind currently affects every human activity in many important ways. For this reason, political scientistsgenerally argue that government should not be studied by itself; but should be studied along with anthropology, economics,history, philosophy, science, and sociology.

Political scienceEtymologyFrom Middle English government,[citation needed] from Old French government[citation

needed] (French gouvernement), from Latin gubernatio ("management, government"). Government is a compound formed from the Ancient Greek κυβερνάω (kubernaō, "I steer, drive, guide, pilot") and the Latin -mente, ablative singular of mēns (“mind”).

arch- , prefix derived from the Greek archon, 'rulership', which means "higher in hierarchy".[4] The Greek word κράτος krátos, 'power', which means "right to

lead" is the suffix root in words like aristocrat and democracy. Its mythological personification was the god Kratos, a son of Styx.

Classifying governmentIn political science, it has long been a goal to create a typology or taxonomy of polities, as typologies of political systems are not obvious.[5] It is especially important in the political science fields of comparative politics and international relations.On the surface, identifying a form of government appears to be easy, as all governments have an official form. The United States is a federal republic, while the former Soviet Union was a socialist republic. However self-identification is not objective, and as Kopstein and Lichbach argue, defining regimes can be tricky.[6] For example, elections are a defining characteristic of a democracy,[citation

needed] but in practice elections in the former Soviet Union were not "free and fair" and took place in a single party state. Thus in many practical classifications it would not be considered democratic.Identifying a form of government is also complicated because a large number of political systems originate as socio-economic movements and are then carried into governments by specific parties naming themselves after those movements; all with competing political-ideologies. Experience with those movements in power, and the strong ties they may have to particular forms of government, can cause them to be considered as forms of government in themselves.Other complications include general non-consensus or deliberate "distortion or bias" of reasonable technical definitions to political ideologies and associated forms of governing, due to the nature of politics in the modern era. For example: The meaning of "conservatism" in the United States has little in common with the way the word's definition is used elsewhere. As Ribuffo (2011) notes, "what Americans now call conservatism much of the world calls liberalism or neoliberalism".[7] Since the 1950s conservatism in the United States has been chiefly associated with the Republican Party. However, during the era of segregation many Southern Democrats were conservatives, and they played a key role in the Conservative Coalition that controlled Congress from 1937 to 1963.Every country in the world is ruled by a system of governance that combines at least 2 (or more) of the following attributes (for example, the United States is not a true capitalist society, since the government actually provides social services for its citizens). Additionally, one person's opinion of the type of government may differ from another's (for example, some may argue that the United States is a plutocracy rather than a democracy since they may believe it is ruled by the wealthy). There are always shades of gray in any government. Even the most liberal democracies limit rival political activity to one extent or another, and even the most tyrannical dictatorships must organise a broad base of support, so it is

very difficult "pigeonholing" every government into narrow categories.[clarification

needed]

The dialectical forms of governmentMain article: Plato's five regimes

The Classical Greek philosopher Plato discusses five types of regimes. They are aristocracy, timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny. Plato also assigns a man to each of these regimes to illustrate what they stand for. The tyrannical man would represent tyranny for example. These five regimes progressively degenerate starting with aristocracy at the top and tyranny at the bottom.In Republic, while Plato spends much time having Socrates narrate a conversation about the city he founds with Glaucon and Adeimantus "in speech", the discussion eventually turns to considering four regimes that exist in reality and tend to degrade successively into each other: timocracy, oligarchy (also called plutocracy), democracy and tyranny (also called despotism).

Forms of government by associated attributes

Descriptions of governments can be based on the following attributes:By elements of where decision-making power is heldAristarchic attributesGovernments with aristarchy attributes are traditionally controlled and organised by a small group of the most-qualified people, with no intervention from the most part of society; this small group usually shares some common trait. The opposite of an aristarchic government is kakistocracy.

4. Political regimeA 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 primarily theoretical types of governments, like a strictmeritocracy.

Democracies

One of the most often-talked about political system is a 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, with the assumption that their decisions will reflect the general will of the republic. This can be compared to a direct democracy, in which the citizens directly vote on all issues of importance.

Republics

The republic is one of the most common systems of government in the world, although it takes many different forms. For instance, a republic can be associated with a religion, as in the case of an Islamic republic; an economic system, as in a socialist republic; or a political procedure, like a parliamentary republic. A number of republics try to show the fact that they are actually made up of smaller, semi-autonomous parts. The United States of America, for example, says very clearly that its political regime is that of a group of united state entities. Both Nigeria and Germany also convey this idea by calling themselves federal republics.Republics are often denoted in the official name of the state, and often include a modifier to convey some sort of philosophical ideal the political regime holds. For example, Guyana is known as a the Co-Operative Republic of Guyana, Sri Lanka is known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and mainland China is known as a People’s Republic of China. The actual governmental system in these countries can vary: for instance, China is a Marxist-Leninist single party state, not a republic. This type of government can also go the other way, with several republics being part of one state, like countries in the former Soviet Union.

Dynastic Governments

Dynastic systems of government consist of all the leaders of the country coming from one family. Common types of this government include monarchies, emirates, and dynastic empires, like that of Imperial China. In modern times, the leaders of many monarchies and emirates serve primarily as figureheads. This type of government is called a constitutional monarchy or nominal monarchy, and includes countries like the United Kingdom. The opposite of this is an absolute monarchy, in which the ruler has total power to govern the state, and is not subject to control from 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. In totalitarian regimes specifically, this leader attempts to control all aspects of a society, including things like the personal beliefs and 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, in which a small committee of military leaders rules the country or a single-party state, in which only one political party is in power and others are either outrightly or tacitly not allowed to challenge that authority. Another form is a dictatorship, in which one person rules the country without being accountable to anyone and then passes his or her powers on to another person upon death.

Rare or Archaic Systems

Some systems are leftovers from a bygone age. Luxembourg, for example, is officially known as a grand duchy, dating back to a time when it was a part of the Netherlands as a Dutch dominion. Another type of archaic system is a kritarchy, or a rule by judges; and a democracy, or country in which only people who own land can be active in governing. Other types of governments 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 secular power of the government.

Theoretical Systems

There are a number of types of political regime that exist more in theory than anywhere in the world. One 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 rule their own sovereign states; and a geniocracy, in which leaders are selected based on their problem-solving abilities and creativity.

Regime

Politics[edit]

In politics, a regime is the form of government: the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of government and its interactions with society. It's basically the time or period a person rules.Modern usageWhile the word regime originates as a synonym for any form of government, modern usage often gives the term a negative connotation, implying an authoritariangovernment or dictatorship. Webster's definition states that the word regime refers simply to a form of government,[1] while Oxford English Dictionary definesregime as "a government, especially an authoritarian one".[2] Nowadays the political use of the word regime is most commonly[citation

needed] applied to any government that is most of the time not democratically elected and imposes strict and often arbitrary rules and laws on the people that are, because of the undemocratic nature of the government, non-negotiable.[citation needed] English language press journalists deploy it selectively to cue their news audiences to view particular foreign governments negatively. For example, in a September 1, 2013 news story, Huffington Post reporter Christina Wilkie refers to the Syrian government as the "regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad"[3]

International regimeInternational political use of regime concerns international regulatory agencies (see International regime), which lie outside of the control of national

governments. These have more power over a greater range than postal or telecommunications agreements, for example, and constrain national governments.[citation needed]

Science[edit]See also: Fire regime and River regimeIn scientific discussions, a regime is a class of physical conditions, usually parameterised by some specific measures, where a particular physical phenomenon or boundary condition is significant. Very often a regime corresponds to a limiting condition. The region of measurable parameter space that corresponds to a regime is very often loosely defined. Examples include "the superfluid regime",[4] "the steady state regime"[5] or "the femtosecond regime".[6]

In geography and hydrography, "regime" refers to the changing conditions of river beds and other features, such as systems of sandbars.

. List of political ideologies

This is a list of political ideologies. Many political parties base their political action and election program on anideology. In social studies, a political ideology is a certain ethical set of ideals, principles, doctrines, myths or symbols of a social movement, institution, class, and or large group that explains how society should work, and offers some political and cultural blueprint for a certain social order. A political ideology largely concerns itself with how to allocate power and to what ends it should be used. Some parties follow a certain ideology very closely, while others may take broad inspiration from a group of related ideologies without specifically embracing any one of them. The popularity of an ideology is in part due to the influence of moral entrepreneurs, who sometimes act in their own interests. Political ideology and political action committee are in a form relatedPolitical ideologies have two dimensions:

1. Goals: How society should be organized.2. Methods: The most appropriate way to achieve this goal.

An ideology is a collection of ideas. Typically, each ideology contains certain ideas on what it considers to be the bestform of government (e.g. democracy, autocracy, etc.), and the best economic system (e.g. capitalism, socialism, etc.). Sometimes the same word is used to identify both an ideology and one of its main ideas. For instance, "socialism" may refer to an economic system, or it may refer to an ideology which supports that economic system.Ideologies also identify themselves by their position on the political spectrum (such as the left, the centre or the right), though this is very often controversial. Finally, ideologies can be distinguished from political strategies

(e.g. populism) and from single issues that a party may be built around (e.g. opposition to European integration or the legalization of marijuana).The following list attempts to divide the ideologies found in practical political life into a number of groups; each group contains ideologies that are related to each other. The headers refer to names of the best-known ideologies in each group. The names of the headers do not necessarily imply some hierarchical order or that one ideology evolved out of the other. They are merely noting the fact that the ideologies in question are practically, historically and ideologically related to each other. Note that one ideology can belong to several groups, and there is sometimes considerable overlap between related ideologies. Also, keep in mind that the meaning of a political label can differ between countries and that parties often subscribe to a combination of ideologies.The list is strictly alphabetical. Thus, placing one ideology before another does not imply that the first is more important or popular than the second.

DemocracyTomáš Garrigue Masaryk, main Czech representative of democracy. He uttered the famous phrase: "Democracy has its faults, because people have their faults. Like owner, like store." — in Czech: "Demokracie má své chyby, protože občané mají své chyby. Jaký pán, takový krám." He very often said that democracy is a discussion.

Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens participate equally—either directly or indirectly through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, religious, cultural, ethnic and racial equality, justice, liberty and fraternity. The term originates from the Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía) "rule of the people",[1] which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and κράτος (kratos) "power" or "rule" in the 5th century BCE to denote the political systems then existing in Greek city-states, notably Athens; the term is an antonym toἀριστοκρατία (aristokratia) "rule of an elite". While theoretically these definitions are in opposition, in practice the distinction has been blurred historically.[2] The political system of Classical Athens, for example, granted democratic citizenship to an elite class of free men and excluded slaves and women from political participation. In virtually all democratic governments throughout ancient and modern history, democratic citizenship consisted of an elite class until full enfranchisement was won for all adult citizens in most modern democracies through the suffrage movements of the 19th and 20th centuries. The English word dates to the 16th century, from the older Middle French and Middle Latin equivalents.Democracy contrasts with forms of government where power is either held by one person, as in a monarchy, or where power is held by a small number of individuals, as in an oligarchy. Nevertheless, these oppositions, inherited from Greek philosophy,[3] are now ambiguous because contemporary governments have mixed

democratic, oligarchic, and monarchic elements. Karl Popper defined democracy in contrast to dictatorship or tyranny, thus focusing on opportunities for the people to control their leaders and to oust them without the need for a revolution.[4]

Several variants of democracy exist, but there are two basic forms, both of which concern how the whole body of all eligible citizens executes its will. One form of democracy is direct democracy, in which all eligible citizens have direct and active participation in the decision making of the government. In most modern democracies, the whole body of all eligible citizens remain the sovereign power but political power is exercised indirectly through elected representatives; this is called representative democracy. The concept of representative democracy arose largely from ideas and institutions that developed during the European Middle Ages, the Reformation, the Age of Enlightenment, and the American and French Revolutions.[5]

Liberalism

Liberalismul (din franceză: libéralisme) este un curent ideologic și social-politic care promovează libertatea și egalitatea în drepturi.[1] Liberali îmbrățișează o gamă largă de opinii, în funcție de modul de înțelegere a acestor principii, majoritatea liberalilor susțin următoarele idei fundamentale: constitu ț ionalismul ,democra ț ia liberală, alegeri libere ș i corecte , drepturile omului, comer ț ul liber , precum și libertatea religioasă.[2][3][4][5][6] Liberalismul cuprinde mai multe tendin ț e intelectuale ș i tradi ț ii , dar curentele dominante sunt liberalismul clasic, care a devenit popular în secolul al XVIII-lea, și liberalismul social, care a devenit popular în secolul al XX-lea.Într-un sens strict, liberalismul, numit "clasic", este un curent filosofic născut în Europa secolelor al XVII-lea și al XVIII-lea, care pleacă de la ideea că fiecare ființă umană are, prin naștere, drepturi naturale pe care nici o putere nu le poate impieta și anume: dreptul la viață, la libertate și la proprietate. Ca urmare, liberalii vor să limiteze prerogativele statului și ale altor forme de putere, oricare ar fi forma și modul lor de manifestare.

În sens larg, liberalismul proslăvește construirea unei societăți caracterizate prin: libertatea de gândire a indivizilor, domnia dreptului natural, liberul schimb de idei, economia de piață pe baza inițiativei private și un sistem transparent de guvernare, în care drepturile minorităților sunt garantate. Există mai multe curente de gândire liberală care se diferențiază într-un mod mai precis prin fundamentele lor filosofice, prin limitele asignate statului și prin domeniul asupra căruia ele aplică principiul libertății.Liberalism politic este doctrina care vizează reducerea puterilor Statului la protecția drepturilor și libertăților individuale, opunându-se ideii de "Stat providențial". Indivizii sunt liberi să își urmărească propriile interese atât timp cât nu afectează drepturile și libertățile celorlalți.

Liberalism economic este doctrina care proclamă libera concurență pe piață, neintervenția Statului în economie și are ca principiu fundamental proprietatea individuală.. Conservatism

Conservatism as a political and social philosophy promotes retaining traditional social institutions. A person who follows the philosophies of conservatism is referred to as a traditionalist or conservative.Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others, calle dreactionaries, oppose modernism and seek a return to "the way things were".[1][2] The first established use of the term in a political context originated with François-René de Chateaubriand in 1818,[3] during the period of Bourbon restoration that sought to roll back the policies of the French Revolution. The term, historically associated with right-wing politics, has since been used to describe a wide range of views. There is no single set of policies that are universally regarded as conservative, because the meaning of conservatism depends on what is considered traditional in a given place and time. Thus conservatives from different parts of the world—each upholding their respective traditions—may disagree on a wide range of issues.Edmund Burke, an 18th-century politician who opposed the French Revolution but supported the American Revolution, is credited as one of the main theorists of conservatism in Great Britain in the 1790s.[4] According to Quintin Hogg, the chairman of the British Conservative Party in 1959, "Conservatism is not so much a philosophy as an attitude, a constant force, performing a timeless function in the development of a free society, and corresponding to a deep and permanent requirement of human nature itself."[5]

12. Political movement

The nineteenth century Skandinavist political movement led to the modern use of the term Scandinavia.

In the social sciences, a political movement is a social group which operate together to obtain a political goal, on a local, regional, national, or international scope. Political movements develop, coordinate,[2]promulgate,[3] revise,[4] amend,[5] interpret,[6] and produce materials that are intended to address the goals of the base of the movement. A social movement in the area of politics can be organized around a single issue or set of issues, or around a set of shared concerns of a social group. In a political party, a political organization seeks to influence, or control, government policy, usually by nominating their candidates and seating

candidates in political and government offices.[7] Additionally, parties participate in electoral campaigns and educational outreach or protest actions aiming to convince citizens or governments to take action on the issues and concerns which are the focus of the movement. Parties often espouse an ideology, expressed in a party program, bolstered by a written platform with specific goals, forming a coalition among disparate interests.

Examples[edit]

Some political movements have aimed to change government policy, such as the anti-war movement, theEcology movement, and the Anti-globalization movement. Many have aimed to establish or broaden the rights of subordinate groups, such as abolitionism, the women's suffrage movement, the Civil rights movement, feminism,men's rights movement, gay rights movement, the Disability rights movement, or the inclusive human rightsmovement. Some have represented class interests, such as the Labour movement, Socialism, and Communism, others have expressed national aspirations, such as anticolonialist movements, Ratana, Zionism, and Sinn Féin. Political movements can also involve struggles to decentralize or centralize state control, as in Anarchism, Fascism, and Nazism.With globalization, global citizens movements may have emerged.[8]

Movements may be named by outsiders, as with the levellers political movement in 17th century England was so named as a term of disparagement. Yet admirers of the movement and its aims later came to use the term, and it is the term by which they are known to history.