Editing One-party state (section)

{{Short description|State in which only one party has the right to form the government}}
{{distinguish|Dominant-party system}}
{{About|one-party political states|telephone call recording laws and notification and requirements|Telephone call recording laws#One-party consent states|the album|One Party State (album)|other uses|One party (disambiguation)}}
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A '''one-party state''', '''single-party state''', '''one-party system''' or '''single-party system''' is a governance structure in which only a single [[political party]] controls the ruling system.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Clark |first1=William Roberts |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2KFvJwi8_jwC&pg=PA611 |title=Principles of Comparative Politics |last2=Golder |first2=Matt |last3=Golder |first3=Sona Nadenichek |date=23 March 2012 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=9781608716791 |pages=611 |language=en}}</ref> In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or enjoy limited and [[Controlled opposition|controlled]] participation in [[election]]s. The term "''de facto'' one-party state" is sometimes used to describe a [[dominant-party system]] that, unlike a one-party state, allows (at least nominally) multiparty elections, but the existing practices or balance of political power effectively prevent the opposition from winning power.<ref>{{Cite web |title=One-Party States {{!}} Encyclopedia.com |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences/applied-and-social-sciences-magazines/one-party-states |access-date=2023-02-21 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

Membership in the ruling party tends to be relatively small compared to the population.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Angiolillo |first=Fabio |date=2023-04-27 |title=Introducing the One-Party Membership Dataset: A dataset on party membership in autocracies |journal=Journal of Peace Research |volume=61 |issue=4 |language=en |pages=694–708 |doi=10.1177/00223433231155278 |issn=0022-3433|doi-access=free }}</ref> Rather, they give out private goods to fellow elites to ensure continued support. One-party, compared to dominant-party dictatorships, structure themselves unlike democracies. They also turn into multi-party democracies at a lower rate than dominant-party dictatorships.<ref name="Political Order and One-Party Rule">{{Cite journal |last1=Magaloni |first1=Beatriz |last2=Kricheli |first2=Ruth |date=2010-05-01 |title=Political Order and One-Party Rule |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=123–143 |doi=10.1146/annurev.polisci.031908.220529 |issn=1094-2939|doi-access=free }}</ref> While one-party states prohibit opposition parties, some allow for independent candidates to stand for election in competition with party candidates. Therefore, they place elites and sympathetic candidates in key administrative races.<ref name="dx.doi.org">{{Cite journal |last1=Creak |first1=Simon |last2=Barney |first2=Keith |date=2018-08-10 |title=Conceptualising Party-State Governance and Rule in Laos |journal=Journal of Contemporary Asia |volume=48 |issue=5 |pages=693–716 |doi=10.1080/00472336.2018.1494849 |s2cid=158403649 |issn=0047-2336|doi-access=free |s2cid-access=free }}</ref> For example, the Chinese Communist Party exercises political control by infiltrating village administrations.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hassan |first1=Mai |last2=Mattingly |first2=Daniel |last3=Nugent |first3=Elizabeth R. |date=2022-05-12 |title=Political Control |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=155–174 |doi=10.1146/annurev-polisci-051120-013321 |s2cid=241393914 |issn=1094-2939|doi-access=free |s2cid-access=free }}</ref> They view these positions as crucial for gathering information on the population and maintaining a presence in the far reaches of their borders.<ref name="The Single-Party Dictator's Dilemma 2011">{{Cite journal |author1-link=Edmund Malesky |last1=Malesky |first1=Edmund |last2=Schuler |first2=Paul |date=2011-10-26 |title=The Single-Party Dictator's Dilemma: Information in Elections without Opposition |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-9162.2011.00025.x |journal=Legislative Studies Quarterly |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=491–530 |doi=10.1111/j.1939-9162.2011.00025.x |issn=0362-9805|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

One-party states recognize the trade-off between election victory and gathering valuable data.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Frantz | first=Erica |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1202872902 |title=Authoritarianism : what everyone needs to know |isbn=978-0-19-756964-1 |oclc=1202872902}}</ref> To account for this, the regimes have been observed placing local nobility in easy-to-win races.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Frantz, Erica |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1202872902 |title=Authoritarianism : what everyone needs to know |isbn=978-0-19-756964-1 |oclc=1202872902}}</ref> One-party states have also been observed using elections to ensure that only the most popular elites get chosen to office.<ref name="Elections Under Authoritarianism">{{Cite journal |last1=Gandhi |first1=Jennifer |last2=Lust-Okar |first2=Ellen |date=2009-06-01 |title=Elections Under Authoritarianism |journal=Annual Review of Political Science |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=403–422 |doi=10.1146/annurev.polisci.11.060106.095434 |issn=1094-2939|doi-access=free }}</ref> They also gather data from elections to indicate if a local official is performing poorly in the eyes of the residents.<ref name="Elections Under Authoritarianism" /> This gives locals the opportunity to monitor local officials and communicate satisfaction with the local government.<ref name="Elections Under Authoritarianism" /> Throughout the country, members of the one party hold key political positions.<ref name="Political Order and One-Party Rule" /> In doing so, the party avoids committing outright fraud and rather sustains their power at the local level with strategic appointment of elites.<ref name="The Single-Party Dictator's Dilemma 2011" /> Data on one-party regimes can be difficult to gather given their lack of transparency.<ref name="dx.doi.org" />