We explain what they are and what are the forms of government, the classification criteria and the characteristics of each one.
What are the forms of government?
When speaking of forms of government, usually allusion is made to the model organization of the can politician who adopts a Condition, based on the relationships between their institutions determined. It is a key concept in Political Sciences, which can also be called a system of government, government regime or political model.
The different forms of government that are possible present numerous differences and often change from one era to another and from one state to another, obeying structural, historical or idiosyncratic conditions of the society and the population, if not to conjunctural or accidental conditions, such as wars, catastrophes, economic depressions, etc.
This concept should not be confused with the forms of State, which point to the political-territorial organization of a nation, although it is common to find it referred to in the name of the country: Kingdom of Spain, Democratic Republic of Korea, Russian Federation, etc.
Similarly, there are many classifications and nomenclatures for forms of government, some from ancient times. Thus, it is possible to classify them according to different criteria:
- According to the mechanism chosen to run for head of state. That is, depending on the procedures that define who leads the nation politically. If the head of state is elected, we will be before a Republic; if he inherits power, we are facing a monarchy; if he usurps it without paying attention to any mechanism, before an autocracy.
- According to the degree of Liberty and participation politics. That is, depending on how power is administered with a view to respecting the human rights and fundamentals of the population. Thus, there may be authoritarianism, totalitarianism or democracies.
- According to the type of link between the head of state and parliament. This classification distinguishes between presidential regimes, in which the president is elected and constitutes a separate political power, and parliamentary regimes, in which the parliament elects from among its members a prime minister who exercises the head of state with powers that are very limited by the legislative.
However, all these criteria are not mutually exclusive, but can be combined, thus giving rise to various political and organizational possibilities.
Republics
The republics are a very old political construct, coming from Rome and Greece mainly. Its name comes from Res publica, the "public thing" in Latin, which is the name given to matters related to the State, which concerns everyone.
Republics are characterized by administering power through institutions, which leads to the classic theory of three powers:
- Executive power. It is the head of state.
- Legislative power. It is responsible for the production of laws and comptroller.
- Power of attorney. He is in charge of the interpretation of the laws and administration of the Justice.
Each of them is in different hands to become a mutual counterweight.
In the republics the democracy as a method of access to power, that is, public election as a means of access to the executive and legislative power, while the judicial is accessed impartially, through professional merits and legislative appointment.
But it can also not be done, as is the case in Communist Republics, where there are totalitarian, undemocratic governments.
Examples of republics today are: the Argentine Republic, the French Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the People's Republic of China, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.
Monarchies
Monarchies are ruled by kings, whose access to power is hereditary, that is, defined by bloodline.This method of government was prevalent in the Middle Ages European, when the aristocracy (nobility) was the ruling class of the feudal society.
However, many monarchies still remain, although combined with a democratic political framework, in the form of parliamentary monarchies: the king exercises functions of representation of the state, while the parliament deals with the legislative and executive, and the judiciary exists as independent and autonomous way.
The monarchies were absolute at some point, that is, the authority of the king was total and indisputable. Today the King considers himself only a diplomatic and tutelary figure of the State, and no longer the owner of total power.
They are examples of monarchy today: the Kingdom of Spain, Great Britain, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Theocracies
Theocracies are religious governments, that is, the regimes in which the Church administers the State, and it does so commonly according to some sacred or traditional text, such as the Bible or the Koran.
These types of political models are frankly in disuse in the West, where they are associated with ancient and primitive societies. On the other hand, in certain countries of the Middle East they continue to be a viable alternative.
For example, the religious Caliphate that the Islamic State intended to create in the Middle East was a type of theocratic government, in which the laws of the Koran were applied as a model of justice, and there was no separation between the Church, religion and State.
Federations and confederations
Federations and confederations are unions of small States to build a single one of greater size and power, generally under the figure of a Federative Republic.
In these cases, the State is administered according to a global or federal order, with its respective public powers and laws, whose area of action is the entire country. It coexists with another local, provincial or state order, with its respective public powers but a restricted area of action, which can never contravene the federal order.
Confederations and federations are distinguished in that the latter require the confederate states to renounce their sovereignty, thus conferring it to the single State, while the States of a confederation always remain sovereign.
In addition, confederations are usually born by an unchangeable treaty that politically brings together its members, which is not necessary in a Federation, guided by a federal Constitution.
Examples of federation and confederation are: the United States of America, the United Mexican States, the Russian Federation, the Federal Republic of Germany, or the former Soviet Union of Socialist Republics (USSR).