Editing Political system

{{Short description|System of politics and government}}
{{Politics| expanded= Systems}}
In [[political science]], a '''political system''' means the form of [[Political organisation|political organization]] that can be observed, recognised or otherwise declared by a [[society]] or [[state (polity)|state]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/political-system | title=Political system &#124; Types, Components, Functions, & Facts &#124; Britannica }}</ref>

It defines the process for making official [[government]] decisions. It usually comprizes the governmental [[legal system|legal]] and [[economic system]], [[social system|social]] and [[cultural system]], and other state and government specific systems. However, this is a very simplified view of a much more complex system of categories involving the questions of who should have authority and what the government influence on its people and economy should be.

Along with a basic sociological and socio-anthropological classification, political systems can be classified on a social-cultural axis relative to the [[liberal values]] prevalent in the [[Western world]], where the spectrum is represented as a continuum between political systems recognized as [[democracies]], 
[[totalitarian regimes]] and, sitting between these two, [[authoritarian regimes]], with a variety of [[hybrid regimes]];<ref name="Dobratz 2015 p. 47">{{cite book | last=Dobratz | first=B.A. | title=Power, Politics, and Society: An Introduction to Political Sociology | publisher=Taylor & Francis | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-317-34529-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RoK9CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA47 | access-date=Apr 30, 2023 | page=47}}</ref><ref name="LinzLinz2000">{{cite book | author1 = [[Juan José Linz]] | date = 2000 | title = Totalitarian and Authoritarian Regimes | publisher =Lynne Rienner Publisher | pages = 143| isbn = 978-1-55587-890-0 | oclc = 1172052725 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8cYk_ABfMJIC&pg=PA143}}</ref> and [[monarchies]] may be also included as a standalone entity or as a hybrid system of the main three.<ref name="Garcia-AlexanderWooCarlson2017">{{cite book | author1 = Ginny Garcia-Alexander | author2 = Hyeyoung Woo | author3 = Matthew J. Carlson | date = 3 November 2017 | title = Social Foundations of Behavior for the Health Sciences | publisher = Springer | pages = 137– | isbn = 978-3-319-64950-4 | oclc = 1013825392 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=y-M8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA137}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://opentextbooks.uregina.ca/sociology/chapter/14-2-types-of-political-systems/#:~:text=The%20major%20types%20of%20political,and%20instead%20rule%20through%20fear | title=14.2 Types of Political Systems | date=8 April 2016 | access-date=19 October 2022 | archive-date=22 October 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221022061920/https://opentextbooks.uregina.ca/sociology/chapter/14-2-types-of-political-systems/#:~:text=The%20major%20types%20of%20political,and%20instead%20rule%20through%20fear | url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Definition ==
According to [[David Easton]], "A political system can be designated as the interactions through which values are authoritatively allocated for a society".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Easton, David.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/470276419|title=The political system: an inquiry into the state of political science|date=1971|publisher=Knopf|oclc=470276419}}</ref> Political system refers broadly to the process by which laws are made and public resources allocated in society, and to the relationships among those involved in making these decisions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/sociology-and-social-reform/sociology-general-terms-and-concepts/political-system|title=Political System &#124; Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref>

== Basic classification ==

Social anthropologists generally recognize several kinds of political systems, often differentiating between ones that they consider uncentralized and ones they consider centralized.<ref>Haviland, W.A. (2003). ''Anthropology: Tenth Edition''. Wadsworth:Belmont, CA.</ref>
* Uncentralized systems
** [[Band society]]
*** Small family group, no larger than an extended family or clan; it has been defined as consisting of no more than 30 to 50 individuals.
*** A band can cease to exist if only a small group walks out.
** [[Tribe]]
*** Generally larger, consisting of many families. Tribes have more social institutions, such as a chief or elders.
*** More permanent than bands. Many tribes are subdivided into bands.
* [[Centralized government]]s
** [[Chiefdom]]
*** More complex than a tribe or a band society, and less complex than a state or a civilization
*** Characterized by pervasive inequality and centralization of authority.
*** A single lineage/family of the elite class becomes the ruling elite of the chiefdom
*** Complex chiefdoms have two or even three tiers of political hierarchy.
*** "An autonomous political unit comprising a number of villages or communities under the permanent control of a paramount chief"<ref>{{cite book |last = Carneiro |first = Robert L. |chapter = The Chiefdom: Precursor of the State |editor1-last = Jones |editor1-first = Grant D. |editor2-last = Kautz |editor2-first = Robert R. |title = The Transition to Statehood in the New World |location = Cambridge, England |publisher = Cambridge University Press |series = New Directions in Archaeology |year = 2011 |isbn = 978-0-521-17269-1 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vOHS-UVTy2oC&pg=PA45 |pages = 37–79 }}</ref>
** [[Sovereign state]]
*** A sovereign state is a state with a permanent population, a defined territory, a government and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states.
* [[Supranational union|Supranational political systems]]
** Supranational political systems are created by independent nations to reach a common goal or gain strength from forming an alliance.
* [[Empire]]s
** Empires are widespread states consisting of people of different ethnicities under a single rule. Empires - such as the Romans, or British - often made considerable progress in ways of political structures, creating and building city infrastructures, and maintaining civility within the diverse communities. Because of the intricate organization of the empires, they were often able to hold a large majority of power on a universal level.
* Leagues
** Leagues are international organizations composed of states coming together for a single common purpose. In this way, leagues are different from empires, as they only seek to fulfil a single goal. Often leagues are formed on the brink of a military or economic downfall. Meetings and hearings are conducted in a neutral location with representatives of all involved nations present.

== Western socio-cultural paradigmatic-centric analysis ==
{{See|List of forms of government}}
The sociological interest in political systems is figuring out who holds power within the relationship between the government and its people and how the government’s power is used. According to [[Yale]] professor [[Juan José Linz]], there are three main types of political systems today: [[democracies]], 
[[totalitarian regimes]] and, sitting between these two, [[authoritarian regimes]] (with [[hybrid regimes]]).<ref name="LinzLinz2000"/><ref name="Michie2014">{{cite book | editor = Jonathan Michie | date = 3 February 2014 | title = Reader's Guide to the Social Sciences | publisher = Routledge | page = 95 | isbn = 978-1-135-93226-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ip_IAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA95}}</ref> Another modern classification system includes [[monarchies]] as a standalone entity or as a hybrid system of the main three.<ref name="Garcia-AlexanderWooCarlson2017"/> Scholars generally refer to a [[dictatorship]] as either a form of authoritarianism or totalitarianism.<ref name="ToddWaller2015">{{cite book | editor1 = Allan Todd | editor2 = Sally Waller | author1 = Allan Todd | author2 = Sally Waller | date = 10 September 2015 | title = History for the IB Diploma Paper 2 Authoritarian States (20th Century) | publisher = Cambridge University Press | pages = 10– | isbn = 978-1-107-55889-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=y_pfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA10}}</ref>{{sfn|Ezrow|Frantz|2011|p=|pp=14–17}}<ref name="LinzLinz2000"/><ref name="Sondrol">{{Cite journal |last1 = Sondrol |first1 = P. C. |s2cid = 144333167 |title = Totalitarian and Authoritarian Dictators: A Comparison of Fidel Castro and Alfredo Stroessner |journal = Journal of Latin American Studies |volume = 23 |issue = 3 |year = 2009 |pages = 599–620 |doi = 10.1017/S0022216X00015868|jstor = 157386 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/157386|url-access = subscription }}</ref>
 
===Democracy===
{{see|Types of democracy}}
{{Excerpt|Democracy|only=paragraph|hat=no}}

===Authoritarianism===
{{Excerpt|Authoritarianism|only=paragraph|hat=no}}

===Totalitarian ===
{{Excerpt|totalitarian |only=paragraph|hat=no}}

===Monarchy===
{{Excerpt|Monarchy|paragraphs=1,2|hat=no|only=paragraphs}}

===Hybrid ===
{{see|Democratization|Democratic backsliding}}
{{Excerpt|Hybrid regime|paragraphs=1,2|hat=no|only=paragraphs}}

== Marxist/Dialectical materialistic analysis ==
{{See also|Dialectical materialism}}
[[19th-century]] German-born philosopher [[Karl Marx]] analysed that the political systems of "all" state societies are the ''dictatorship'' of one [[social class]], vying for ''its'' interests ''against'' that of another one; with ''which'' class oppressing ''which'' other class being, in essence, determined by the [[Human Development Index|developmental level]] of that society, and its repercussions implicated thereof, as the society [[progress]]es through the passage of [[time]]. In [[capitalist]] societies, this characterises as the dictatorship of the [[bourgeoisie]] or ''capitalist class'', in which the economic and political system is designed to work in their interests collectively as a class, over those of the [[proletariat]] or ''[[working class]]''.

Marx devised this theory by adapting his forerunner-contemporary [[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel]]'s [[Hegelian dialectics|notion of dialectics]] into the framework of [[materialism]].

== See also ==
* [[Political structure]]
* [[Polity]]
*[[Systems theory in political science]]
* ''[[Tractatus Politicus]]''
* [[Voting system]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book | author = Douglas V. Verney | date = 15 April 2013 | title = The Analysis of Political Systems | publisher = Routledge | pages = | isbn = 978-1-135-03477-1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=h7SLA2W6PdEC&pg=PP1}}
* Almond, Gabriel A., et al. ''Comparative Politics Today: A World View'' (Seventh Edition). 2000. {{ISBN|0-316-03497-5}}.
* Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. ''The Real World An Introduction to Sociology''. 3rd ed. New York City: W W Norton & Co, 2012. Print.
* "[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/467746/political-system/36699/Confederations-and-federations political system]". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 02 Dec. 2012.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.gsdrc.org/go/topic-guides/political-systems Topic guide on political systems] at Governance and Social Development Resource Centre

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[[Category:Political systems| ]]
[[Category:Political terminology]]