Types of Government: Autocracy, Democracy & Oligarchy

Every country requires a government to make choices and get things done, such as where to build roads and schools, how to lower the price of onions when they become too expensive, and how to improve the supply of power. They also take steps to address societal issues.

 

Other crucial tasks include maintaining mail and railway systems. In the interim, the government is working on a solution. Also in charge of defending the country's borders and keeping peaceful relations with foreign countries. It is also in charge of organizing help and support in the event of a disaster. persons who have been affected

 

In its broadest sense, government is made up of three parts: legislature, executive branch, and judiciary. Government is both a tool of enforcing organizational policies and a system for defining policy. Every government has a constitution in the form of a document outlining its governing ideas and ideology.

 

The word government is derived from the Greek verb v [kubernáo], which means to steer with a gubernaculum (rudder), a metaphorical interpretation of which is recorded in Plato's Ship of State.

 

While all organizations have governance, the term "government" is frequently used to refer to the approximately 200 independent national governments and their auxiliary organizations on the planet.

 

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Types of Government

 

There are 3 types of government which are as follows:- 

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Types of Government

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1. Democracy

 

A democracy is a type of government in which the people have political power, the power of the head of state is limited, the separation of powers between governmental entities is ensured, and natural rights and civil freedoms are protected. 

 

Democracy can take many different shapes in practice. Along with the two most popular types of democracies, direct and representative, today's democracies also include participatory, liberal, parliamentary, pluralist, constitutional, and socialist democracies.

 

Democracy, which literally means "rule of the people," is a form of government that not only permits but also requires citizens to participate in the political process in order for it to work efficiently. In his famous 1863 Gettysburg Address, US President Abraham Lincoln defined democracy as "government of the people, by the people, for the people..."

 

The term democracy is derived from the Greek words for "people" (dmos) and "rule" (karatos). However, achieving and sustaining a government of the people—a "popular" government—is far more difficult than the concept's semantic simplicity suggests. 

 

Several critical political and practical questions must be addressed when developing the legal framework under which democracy will function, typically a constitution.

 

Democratic Values

 

While their views differ, political scientists generally agree that most democracies are built on six pillars:

 

• Popular Sovereignty: The principle that the government is created and maintained by the consent of the people through their elected representatives is known as popular sovereignty.

 

• An Electoral System: Because the people are the source of all political power under the principle of popular sovereignty, a clearly defined system for conducting free and fair elections is essential.

 

• Public Participation: Democracies rarely survive in the absence of active citizen participation. People in health democracies are able and encouraged to participate in their political and civic processes.

 

• Separation of Powers: To avoid power being concentrated in a single individual—such as a king—or group, most democracies' constitutions require that political powers be separated and shared among the various governmental entities.

 

• Human Rights: Democracies protect all citizens' human rights in addition to their constitutionally enumerated rights freedoms. Human rights are those considered inherent to all human beings, regardless of nationality, gender, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or other considerations.

 

• A Rule of Law: Also known as due process of law, the rule of law is the principle that all citizens are accountable to laws that are created publicly and equitably enforced in accordance with human rights by an independent judicial system.

 

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2. Autocracy

 

Autocracy is a form of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are not subject to external legal restraints or regularized mechanisms of popular control (with the possible exception of the implicit threat of a coup d'état or other forms of rebellion)

 

Previously, the term autocrat was used to describe a favorable ruler, with some link to the concept of "absence of conflicts of interests" as well as an indicator of grandeur and authority. 

 

This usage of the title persisted until modern times, with the Russian Emperor being referred to as "Autocrat of all Russias" as late as the early twentieth century. Eastern and Central Europe were autocratic monarchs in the nineteenth century, with diverse peoples living within their borders.

 

While a dictatorship is an autocracy by definition, it may also be ruled by an elite group of people, such as a military or religious institution. Autocracy can also be compared to oligarchy, which is government by a small number of persons characterized by their wealth, education, or religion, and democracy, which is rule by a majority of the people. 

 

Most autocracies today are absolute monarchy, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Morocco, or dictatorships, such as North Korea, Cuba, and Zimbabwe.

 

Structure of Autocratic Power

 

In comparison to complicated representational systems of government, such as the federalism system of the United States, the framework of an autocracy is rather simple: there is the autocrat and little else. 

 

Autocrats, however, require some type of power structure to retain and apply their authority, regardless of how personally forceful or charming they are. Autocrats have historically relied on aristocrats, economic moguls, military, or vicious priesthoods to retain their control. 

 

Because they are frequently the same groups that may rise up against autocrats and oust them through a coup or mass insurgency, they are frequently forced to prioritize the demands of the elite minority over the needs of the broader public. 

 

Social assistance programmes, for example, are unusual to non-existent, yet measures aimed at increasing the riches of friendly business oligarchs or the might of the loyal military are prevalent.

 

Modern autocracies may attempt to portray themselves as less totalitarian regimes by claiming to support values similar to those found in democracies' or restricted monarchy' constitutions and charters. They may establish parliaments, citizen assemblies, political parties, and tribunals that serve only as a front for the autocracy's unilateral exercise of power. 

 

In effect, all but the most insignificant activities of the ostensibly representative citizen bodies necessitate the consent of the ruling tyrant. The People's Republic of China's single-party rule by the Communist party of china is a noteworthy modern example.

 

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3. Oligarchy 

 

An oligarchy is a form of governance characterized by the rule of a few individuals or families. More specifically, the phrase was coined by Greek philosopher Aristotle to contrast with aristocracy, another term for ruling by a select few. 

 

Aristotle, on the other hand, defined an aristocracy as ruling by the best members of society, whereas an oligarchy was defined by the dominance of the few for corrupt and unjust causes.

 

Although the phrase has fallen out of favor, it is sometimes used to describe a government or society in which rulers are chosen from a small group of elites. These elites wield power for the benefit of their class rather than the greater good. 

 

Robert Michels, a German-born Italian sociologist, popularized the expression "iron rule of oligarchy," which states that organizations have an unavoidable tendency to grow less democratic and more oligarchic over time.

 

In current times, the term "oligarchy" is commonly attributed to China and Iran. China proclaims itself as a communist "people's republic," yet the country's leadership has been held by a small group of people for decades. 

 

Members of the oligarchy included members of the Communist Party during the 1949 revolution, as well as people who have risen to wealth and influence following China's openness to the global market in the 1980s (often descendants of the early revolutionaries). 

 

This structure has allowed the wealthy and powerful to maintain control while giving most residents little authority or independence.

 

 

Examples of Oligarchy

 

Some of the examples in the modern world are Russia, China, Iran. 

 

• Russia

 

Though Russian President Vladimir Putin denies it, he is a member of a wealth-based ruling aristocracy that dates back to the 1400s. Accumulating personal wealth in Russia, as in many other inherently anti-capitalist governments, necessitates contacts within the government. 

 

As a result, the Russian government implicitly permits billionaire oligarchs to invest in democratic countries where the rule of law safeguards their property.

 

The US Treasury Department revealed a list of around 200 Russian oligarchs, companies, and senior Russian government figures, including Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev, in January 2018.

 

• China

 

Following Mao Tse-death Tung's death in 1976, the religion-based Chinese aristocracy regained control. Members of the so-called "Shanghai gang" oligarchs control most state-owned enterprises, advice on and profit from business transactions, and intermarry in order to maintain their ties with the Immortals.

 

• Iran

 

Despite having a publicly elected president, Iran is ruled by a religious oligarchy composed of Islamic clerics and their families and friends. According to the Iranian constitution, "the One God (Allah)" has "exclusive sovereignty" over the country. 

 

Following the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989, Islamic oligarchs seized power. His replacement, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has elevated his family and cronies to positions of power in the government and controls the elected president.

 

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According to the Columbia Encyclopedia, government is "a system of social control in which a certain group in society has the power to make and enforce laws." Hopefully this blog has been able to shed light on the 3 main types of government that can exist in a nation.