Politics is the social structure and methods used to manage a government or state. Just as varying types of economic theories and systems exist, many varying political theories and systems exist as well. The political system in use depends upon the nation‐state. A nation is a people with common customs, origin, history, or language. A state, on the other hand, is a political entity with legitimate claim to monopolize use of force through police, military, and so forth. The term nation‐state refers to a political entity with the legitimate claim to monopolize use of force over a people with common customs, origin, history, or language. Sociologists and political scientists prefer the term nation‐state to “country” because it is more precise.
While many different political structures have existed throughout history, three major forms exist in modern nation‐states: totalitarianism, authoritarianism, and democracy.
Totalitarianism is a political system that exercises near complete control over its citizens' lives and tolerates no opposition. Information is restricted or denied by complete control of mass media, close monitoring of citizens and visitors, and forbidding the gathering of groups for political purposes opposed to the state. Constant political propaganda, such as signs, posters, and media that focus the populace on the virtues of the government, characterizes these nation states. Obviously, some totalitarian governments maintain more extreme laws than others do. Totalitarian nation‐states include North Korea, Chile, many African and Middle Eastern nations, Vietnam, and others.Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a political system less controlling than totalitarianism, but still denying citizens the right to participate in government. A dictatorship, in which the primary authority rests in one individual, represents one type of authoritarian government. Dictators rule China, Cuba, Ethiopia, Haiti, and many African nations. In these systems, strong militaries and political parties support the dictators. Another form of authoritarianism is a monarchy, in which the primary authority rests in a family and is passed down through generations. In the past, most monarchies exerted near absolute power—in Saudi Arabia the ruling family still does. Most remaining monarchies today, however, such as those in the Scandinavian nations, Great Britain, Denmark, and the Netherlands, are constitutional monarchies where the royal families serve only as symbolic heads of state. Parliament or some form of democratic electoral process truly governs these nation states.Democracy is a political system where the government is ruled either directly by the people or through elected officials who represent them. Most democracies today rely upon a system of representatives to make decisions. The most common examples of democracies are the United States, Canada, Germany, and many other European nations.
FAQs
In a general sense, it refers to institutions or even groups and their relations to each other, their patterns of interaction within political systems and to political regulations, laws and the norms present in political systems in such a way that they constitute the political landscape and the political entity.
What is the study of political structures? ›
Political Science is the study of political ideas, processes, institutions and behaviour, and how they influence public decisions within and among communities.
What is the most major definition of politics? ›
Politics (from Ancient Greek πολιτικά (politiká) 'affairs of the cities') is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status.
What is the political structure of the Constitution? ›
The Constitution of the United States divides the federal government into three branches: legislative, executive, and judicial. This ensures that no individual or group will have too much power.
What is the power structure in politics? ›
Power may also take structural forms, as it orders actors in relation to one another (such as distinguishing between a master and an enslaved person, a householder and their relatives, an employer and their employees, a parent and a child, a political representative and their voters, etc.), and discursive forms, as ...
What is it called when you study politics? ›
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and laws.
What is the study of government and politics called? ›
What is political science? Put most simply, political science is the study of politics, government, and public policy, both in the U.S. and around the world.
What is political economic structure? ›
Political economy most commonly refers to interdisciplinary studies drawing upon economics, sociology and political science in explaining how political institutions, the political environment, and the economic system—capitalist, socialist, communist, or mixed—influence each other.
Why do people major in politics? ›
Many students choose it as preparation for law school, government service, or a political career. Some of its courses, such as budgeting practices and personnel management, are useful preparation for jobs in public and in the private sectors.
What are the three types of politics? ›
The main types of political systems recognized are democracies, totalitarian regimes and, sitting between these two, authoritarian regimes with a variety of hybrid regimes. Modern classification system also include monarchies as a standalone entity or as a hybrid system of the main three.
The most widely known and used definition of politics was provided by Easton in his identification of the political system with the "authoritative allocation of values for a society." This provided many political scientists with a useful guideline for delimiting the content of political science.
What is the basic structure of government? ›
The Federal Government is composed of three distinct branches: legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U.S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the Federal courts, respectively.
What is the political structure of a state? ›
All State governments are modeled after the Federal Government and consist of three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The U.S. Constitution mandates that all States uphold a “republican form” of government, although the three-branch structure is not required.
What are the three most common types of government? ›
Modern basic political systems
According to Yale professor Juan José Linz, there a three main types of political systems today: democracies, totalitarian regimes and, sitting between these two, authoritarian regimes with hybrid regimes.
Is democracy a political structure? ›
Democracy (from Ancient Greek: δημοκρατία, romanized: dēmokratía, dēmos 'people' and kratos 'rule') is a system of government in which state power is vested in the people or the general population of a state.
What does social structure mean in politics? ›
In the most general way, social structure is identified by those features of a social entity (a society or a group within a society) that persist over time, are interrelated, and influence both the functioning of the entity as a whole and the activities of its individual members.
What is the best definition of a political organization? ›
Political organizations are those engaged in political activities (e.g., lobbying, community organizing, campaign advertising, etc.) aimed at achieving clearly-defined political goals, which typically benefit the interests of their members.
