The political regime as such is a special set of relationships between government bodies. And, depending on how such ties are made, the types of political regimes are formed. The specified division is not only legal, but also political. Its main value is that, having designated the name of the type, one can easily imagine what a country is.
Types of Political Regimes - General Provisions
Speaking of them, scientists in the field of social sciences always carry out the division into democratic and undemocratic political regimes. The first type, the democratic one, is most widely disclosed in the relevant literature. This situation is due to the fact that democracy as a political regime is indicated in almost all the basic laws of the countries of the world. But how does this formal fixation correspond to reality? According to generally accepted postulates, a democratic form of government is a special relationship in a state in which the center is a person, his freedoms and rights.
In contrast to the above, undemocratic forms of political regime focuses on the state as the starting point for the existence of society within a particular country. At the same time, scientists distinguish several types of such regimes: totalitarian, anarchist, authoritarian.
Democracy as a Political Regime
This species is the most studied and disclosed in the relevant scientific literature. This fact is due, as noted earlier, to the fact that most countries of the world choose the construction of democracy as a priority state goal. This mode is based on a number of signs:
- the source of power is the individual and its association (people);
- power is exercised both directly (participation in referenda) and indirectly (with the help of state bodies);
- the freedoms and rights of the individual, regardless of their age, gender or other characteristics, become priority;
- the presence of legitimate and legal legislation;
- the effective functioning of the principle of separation of powers;
- and the last thing on which democracy is based, the existence of a two- and multi-party political system.
To date, there is not a single state in the world in which all the mandatory features presented are fully implemented in practice. But there are countries that are as close as possible to their actual implementation.
Non-democratic forms of political regime
In contrast to democracy, these species are represented by a wider range. These include authoritarianism, anarchy and totalitarianism.
The main characteristics that distinguish authoritarianism from a number of undemocratic forms are the following: the dictatorship of one person and the presence of a strong coercive apparatus. Moreover, as a rule, people act only as a formal guarantee of the legality of state power.
Totalitarianism incorporates the main characteristics of authoritarianism, but at the same time establishes a monopoly on the realization by a person of his freedoms and rights. In particular, the latter provision relates to freedom of choice of opinion and judgment. The state establishes a single ideology for the whole society.
Anarchy only conditionally stands out as a type of political regime. As a rule, in this case there is a situation in which indirect power does not actually exist. In its place, there is a direct function that results in the right of everyone to act without any restrictions. Such a system, as a rule, does not exist for long and is replaced by one of the above.
Non-democratic types of political regimes are characterized by almost complete non-compliance with individual rights and their freedoms. And if in the first two cases such actions are carried out by the state, then in the latter the personality itself grossly violates the legal personality of another person.
To summarize, it should be noted that the types of political regimes are formed only partly by legal norms in force in the country. To a greater extent, they are an actual reflection of the activities of the state and the individual within the framework of one state.