Several rich educated people can rule {aristocracy}|. Rule depends on status.
Political rule can depend on achievement and intelligence {meritocracy}|.
Wealthy can rule {plutocracy}|.
Pluralism {pluralistic political system} {pluralistic system} allows many autonomous political subsystems. Societies can have more than few groups {pluralism, society} {diversity, society}. Pluralism can divide loyalties.
Natural law, tradition, treaty, and convention {legalism} can regulate or control power relations, as in peaceful international relations.
People or institutions can control others' behavior without their consent, supposedly for their good, as for children and incapacitated people {paternalism}|.
Communities {communism}| can control all life aspects for individual good and have no social or economic classes.
Government {tribal government} can depend on extended families. Tribalism conflicts with nationalism.
Government {centralized government} can try to control all political subsystems.
Governments {federalism} {confederation}| can coordinate autonomous states.
The people can rule {democracy}|. Democracy claims to allow government participation by more people, to increase people's autonomy, to increase equality, and to have the best procedure for reasoning and deciding. Democracy does not necessarily translate people's combined wills into expected decisions, because choices can have poor definition and people's self-interest is typically against public interest.
State districts can elect representatives to legislative bodies {parliamentary democracy}|. Legislature selects government leaders from its ranks, to form executive branch, which controls top government levels. Civil servants manage government bureaucracy.
The people can elect president to lead nation and propose and enforce laws {presidential democracy}|. Legislature, elected separately, makes laws.
Dictators or several people can rule {autocracy}|, but political institutions are free and power does not centralize.
One person can have non-hereditary rule {despotism}|.
One person can gain authority through force and hold all authority {dictatorship}|.
Governments {fascism}| can control all life aspects, supposedly for public good. Fascism often has ethnocentrism and class society.
Police power can be for political purposes {police state}|.
Government can be by religious leaders {theocracy}|.
Governments {totalitarianism}| can try to eliminate all political subsystems or their freedoms. Identification with strong leader, vicarious sense of power through aggression against other groups, and feeling of belonging to a strong political party contribute to totalitarianism.
Rulers can have all power {tyranny}|.
King and queens assume power by heredity or through election by nobles {monarchy}|. Monarchs have absolute power.
Constitution and separate legislature, executive, and judicial systems can control ruler power {constitutional monarchy}|. King or queen can be head of state, with only ceremonial power.
6-Political Science-Government
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Date Modified: 2022.0225