A political system is the set of formal legal institutions that constitute a “state.” There are seven types of political systems namely as follows:
1) Democracy – Democracy is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament. Democracy is sometimes referred to as rule of the majority. India, the US, the UK, France, Australia, Brazil, South Africa, Japan etc. are the democratic countries.
2) Dictatorship – Dictatorship is a form of government where a country is ruled by one person or political entity, and exercised through various mechanisms to ensure that the entity’s power remains strong. Nazi Germany, Soviet Union under Stalin’s rule, Napoleonic France, Pol Pot regime in Cambodia, North Korea under Kim Jong-Il & Kim Il Sung, Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe, Uganda under Idi Amin etc. are examples of the dictatorship.
3) Monarchy – A monarchy is a form of government in which a group, usually a family called the dynasty, embodies the country’s national identity and one of its members, called the monarch, exercises a role of sovereignty. Saudi Arabia, Brunei, Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Morocco etc. have Monarchical form of political system.
4) Theocracy – It is a form of government in which God or a deity is recognized as the king or immediate ruler, and his laws are taken as the statute-book of the kingdom, these laws being usually administered by a priestly order as his ministers and agents. Hence, it is a system of government by a sacerdotal order, claiming a divine commission; also, a state so governed. The Holy See (Vatican City), Iran, Saudi Arabia, Central Tibetan Administration etc. are the examples of theocracies.
5) Totalitarian – Totalitarianism is a political system in which the state recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible, without any respect for human rights. In an authoritarian regime a single power holder an individual dictator, a committee or a small group of political elite monopolizes political power. The authoritarian state is only concerned with political power and as long as that is not contested it gives society a certain degree of liberty. In contrast, a totalitarian regime attempts to control virtually all aspects of the social life, including the economy, education, art, science, private life, and morals of citizens. The totalitarian government seeks to completely control the thoughts and actions of its citizens. It also mobilizes the whole population in pursuit of its goals. The Nazi Germany, USSR under Joseph Stalin, China under Mao, North Korea are examples of the totalitarian states.
6) Republic – A republic is a sovereign state or country which is organized with a form of government in which power resides in elected individuals representing the citizen body and government leaders exercise power according to the rule of law. In modern sense, the term republic is commonly referred to a government which excludes a monarch. The term ‘republic’ in our Constitution indicates that India has an elected head called the President. He is elected indirectly for a fixed period of five years. Ancient Athens, Sparta, Roman Republic, Mahajanpadas in Ancient India, the US, France, Islamic Republic of Iran are some of the examples of the republic states.
7) Anarchism – Anarchism advocates self-governed societies based on voluntary institutions. These are often described as stateless societies. It can be taken as institutions based on non-hierarchical free associations. Anarchism holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful.
