SSE- 115 UNIT

1
Political Systems,
Regimes, and
Governments
Group 4 Members

BSED SOCIAL STUDIES 3-

BARBA, CAREN ALEXA
.
EIMAN, BOY ANDREW
EIMAN, MARY KRIS
ENABE, ANN MARGARET
MERTO, LOREN JADE
NABU-AB, YORA DAWN
NONO, SHEILA MAE
SANTACERA, SHANEN KATE
B
 LESSON OVERVIEW
This topic provides a fundamental
understanding of political systems,
regimes, and forms of government. It
examines different types of political
structures, their characteristics, and their
impact on society.
CONTENT
A. INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL SYSTEM

B. DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS

C. AUTHORITARIAN AND TOTALITARIAN REGIMES

D. FORMS OF GOVERNMENT AND POLITICAL

CHANGE
A. INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
SYSTEMS
• Definition and Importance of
Political Systems
• The Role of Politics in Society
• Key Concepts: State, Government,
and Nation
• Types of Political Systems: An
Overview
DEFINITION AND
IMPORTANCE OF
POLITICAL
SYSTEMS
 DEFINITION OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS

What is Political System?

• a set of different institutions established politically, to
ensure the free and fair distribution of resources within
a given society.

• one of the social institutions that originate, enforces

and practice laws distribute power, sets a society’s
agenda, and make decisions
 IMPORTANCE OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS

POLITICAL SYSTEMS are critical within the

society, as they play significant roles in
implementing policies, like health and education
policies. Ensuring the society lives in harmony
and peacefully, and protecting the country from
external threats, like terrorists.
 IMPORTANCE OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS

In 1960, Almond and Coleman

gathered three core functions of a
political system which include:
IMPORTANCE OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS

• To maintain integration of society by determining

norms
• To adapt and change elements of social,
economic, religious systems necessary for
achieving collective (political) goals
• To protect the integrity of the political system

from outside threats

ROLE OF POLITICS
 ROLE OF POLITICS

Politics
• Derived from the Greek word ‘polis’, which means a
city-state
• The activities of the government or people who try
to influence the way a country is governed
• The art or science of the government
ROLE OF POLITICS

POLITICS has a significant impact on our everyday lives

because it directly influences what kind of world we live in.
Political decisions made by government officials,
lawmakers, and leaders impact everything from education
to healthcare to criminal justice and more.

We can see the influence of politics in our daily lives in

many different ways.
ROLE OF POLITICS

• Ensures that everyone in society is treated fairly and

equally
• Ensures that people can live their lives in safety and
security
• Provides for the common good
• Politics is a powerful tool to bring about change
• Politics helps create laws and policies
KEY CONCEPTS:
STATE,
GOVERNMENT,
AND NATION
 KEY CONCEPTS: STATE, GOVERNMENT, AND NATION

1. STATE
• (According to Max Weber, a German Sociologist) A
compulsory political organization with a centralized
government that maintains a monopoly of the legitimate
use of force within a certain territory
KEY CONCEPTS: STATE, GOVERNMENT, AND NATION

CHARACTERISTICS OF A STATE
• Population
• Territory
• Government
• Sovereignty
 KEY CONCEPTS: STATE, GOVERNMENT, AND NATION

CHARACTERISTICS OF A STATE

• Population- may or may not share

general political beliefs but the ones that
do are the most stable
 KEY CONCEPTS: STATE, GOVERNMENT, AND NATION

CHARACTERISTICS OF A STATE

• Territory – the size of the territory may

change due to the acquisition or secession of
land through political negotiations, purchase
agreements or by being overtaken by force
during a war
 KEY CONCEPTS: STATE, GOVERNMENT, AND NATION

CHARACTERISTICS OF A STATE

• Government – allows the state to establish a

social order provide public services and to
make decisions that affect, the living
conditions of all people living within the
boundaries of such state
 KEY CONCEPTS: STATE, GOVERNMENT, AND NATION

CHARACTERISTICS OF A STATE

• Sovereignty – A state has a full and absolute

power within its territorial boundaries
KEY CONCEPTS: STATE, GOVERNMENT, AND NATION

BRANCHES OF STATE

• Executive
• Legislative
• Judiciary
 KEY CONCEPTS: STATE, GOVERNMENT, AND NATION

BRANCHES OF STATE

• Executive – Comprises the President; who is the

head of state and head of National Executive

• Legislative – Comprises of the Parliament, which in

South Africa is constituted by the National Assembly
and National Council of Provinces
 KEY CONCEPTS: STATE, GOVERNMENT, AND NATION

BRANCHES OF STATE

• Judiciary – made up of the court of Law such as:

The constitutional court, the Supreme Court of
Appeal, High Courts, Magistrates’ Courts established
or recognized through an Act of Parliament
 KEY CONCEPTS: STATE, GOVERNMENT, AND NATION

2. NATION
• A large group of people who share common
characteristics such as language, traditions, and
ethnicity, and share a story and culture
 KEY CONCEPTS: STATE, GOVERNMENT, AND NATION

3. GOVERNMENT
• A particular group of people, responsible for the
administrative bureaucracy that controls the state
apparatus at any given time. Also, it is temporary and
may depend on a change of Guard
TYPES OF POLITICAL
SYSTEMS:
AN OVERVIEW
 TYPES OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS: AN OVERVIEW

1. ANARCHY- a society without government or law

2. DICTATORSHIP- a form of government in which one
person or a small group has absolute power, without
limitation
3. MAJORITY TYRANNY- a system in which the majority
(most) rule without respect for the rights of minority
(smaller) groups
 TYPES OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS: AN OVERVIEW

4. MONARCHY- a government in which power is vested in

a king or emperor who can pass power on to his or her
heirs

5. OLIGARCHY- a government in which a few people such

as a dominant clan or clique have power
 TYPES OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS: AN OVERVIEW

6. REPUBLIC – a type of democracy in which the citizens

are represented and governed by people elected in fair
and competitive elections

7. DEMOCRACY- this is a way of running a country where

people have the right to choose
 B. DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS

• Democracy as a Political Ideal

• Principles of Democracy:
Majority Rule, Rule of Law,
Accountability
• Types of Democracies: Direct,
Representative, and Hybrid
 DEMOCRACY

DEMOCRACY
the phrase “democracy” comes from the two Greek
words “demos” (people) and “kratos” (ruling by or
government). Democracy literally means “people’s
government”.
 DEMOCRACY
AS A
POLITICAL IDEAL
 DEMOCRACY AS A POLITICAL IDEAL

• Democracy has repeatedly demonstrated that it is the

finest form of government, despite its flaws
• Democracy is the bedrock of human liberty and
economic success in many Western countries. Most
thriving nations in the globe, such as the United States
of America, United Kingdom, and Germany, use this
form of governance
 DEMOCRACY AS A POLITICAL IDEAL

• Apart from its success in many countries,

the failures of its adversarial systems,
particularly autocracy and tyranny, in
various parts of the world further the
desire for democracy
 DEMOCRACY AS A POLITICAL IDEAL

Below are some reasons why democracy is an

ideal political form

1. Power Decentralization
2. It Promotes Equality
3. The Rights and Interests of the People are Protected
4. It Establishes Legitimacy
5. It Fosters a Sound Decision- Making Process
 DEMOCRACY AS A POLITICAL IDEAL

Below are some reasons why democracy is an

ideal political form

6. It Reduces Conflicts and Wars

7. High Level of Freedom
8. It Increases Civic Engagement
9. It Ensures Smooth Transition of Power
10.It is a Flexible System of Government
PRINCIPLES
OF
DEMOCRACY
 PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY

1. MAJORITY RULE
WE OFTEN DESCRIBE OUR DEMOCRACY AS A
SYSTEM OF “MAJORITY RULE”. When we hold elections to
decide who will represent us in government, the choice of
the largest number of voters is the winner. When those
representatives debate issues in the student council or the
state legislature or the national Congress, a similar vote
determines the will of the majority.
 PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY

2. RULE OF LAW
A first step away from such tyranny
was the notion of rule by law, including the
notion that even a ruler is under the law and
should be rule by virtue of legal means.
Democracies went further by establishing the
rule of law.
 PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY

3. ACCOUNTABILITY
Describes the relation between state
institutions and people, private sector affected by their
decisions. It is about the obligation of state institutions,
or any other authority with assigned public duties to
inform the public, to explain, justify their decisions and
actions.
 TYPES
OF
DEMOCRACY
 TYPES OF DEMOCRACY

1. DIRECT DEMOCRACY
- sometimes called as “pure democracy”, is a
form of democracy in which all laws and policies
imposed by governments are determined by the
people themselves, rather than by representatives who
are elected by the people
PROS AND CONS OF DIRECT DEMOCRACY

PROS
 Full government transparency
 More government accountability
 Greater citizen cooperation

CONS
 We might never decide
 Public involvement would drop
 TYPES OF DEMOCRACY

2. REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY

- In a representative democracy, the people

elect officials to create and vote on laws, policies, and

other matters of government on their behalf

PROS AND CONS OF REPRESENTATIVE
DEMOCRACY
PROS
 It’s efficient
 It’s empowering
 It encourages participation

CONS
 It’s not always reliable
 It can become inefficient
 It can invite corruption
 TYPES OF DEMOCRACY

3. HYBRID DEMOCRACY

- a hybrid regime is a mixed type of political regime

that is often created as a result of an incomplete transition from
an authoritarian regime to a democratic one. Hybrid regimes
combine autocratic features with democratic ones and can
simultaneously hold political repressions and regular elections.
The term hybrid regime arises from polymorphic view of political
regimes that opposes the dichotomy of autocracy or democracy.
 C. AUTHORITARIAN AND
TOTALITARIAN REGIMES

• Characteristics of

Authoritarianism

• Totalitarianism: A Deeper Dive

• Autocracy vs. Oligarchy

AUTHORITARIANISM

Authoritarianism

- In politics and government, the blind

submission to authority and the repression

of individual freedom of thought and action

 CHARACTERISTICS
OF
AUTHORITARIANISM
 IMPORTANT FEATURES OF AUTHORITARIANISM

1. Limitations on Political Process

2. Rulers determine all decisions

3. Dependence on Coercion and Force

4. Less Importance to Rights and Liberties

5. Authoritarianism can involve Family Rule or Military

Rule
TOTALITARIANISM:
A DEEPER DIVE
 TOTALITARIANISM: A DEEPER DIVE

Totalitarianism

- form of government that theoretically permits no

individual freedom and that seeks to subordinate all

aspects of individual life to the authority of the state

TOTALITARIANISM: A DEEPER DIVE

BENITO MUSSOLONI • An Italian Dictator

• Coined the term totalitario in
the early 1920s to characterize
the new fascist state of Italy,
which he further described as
“all within the state, none
outside the state, none against
the state
 TOTALITARIANISM: A DEEPER DIVE

By the beginning of World War II, totalitarian had become synonymous

with absolute and oppressive single- party government

Modern Examples of Totalitarian States include:

• Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin

• Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler

• People’s Republic of China under Mao Zedong

• North Korea under the Kim Dynasty

 TOTALITARIANISM: A DEEPER DIVE

It is a form of authoritarianism in which the state has total

cover control all aspects of public and private life, and there
few or no limit on state power

Totalitarianism is often distinguished from dictatorship,

despotism, or tyranny by its supplanting of all political
institutions with new ones and its sweeping away of all
legal, social, and political traditions
 BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF TOTALITARIANISM

 Individual freedom or ownership of personal property is

restricted or no permitted in any way

 Personal beliefs and faith religion other that the ideals of

the state, is met with severe consequences

 Information or any form of media from outside is not

permitted
 BASIC CHARACTERISTICS OF TOTALITARIANISM

 All legal traditions are discarded as the role of lawmaker

is taken by the ruler

 Opposition to the state is punishable and considered evil

 Limiting or withholding the supply of food to its citizens

 Social gatherings and traditions are banned

AUTOCRACY
VS.
OLIGARCHY
 AUTOCRACY VS. OLIGARCHY

Autocracy
- a form of government in which one ruler has absolute control
and decision- making power

Autocratic Ruler
 Accountable to no one
 There is no system of checks and balances
 No constitutional limit on the ruler’s power
 The ruler is not held accountable by a cabinet of advisors, a
system of courts, the people, or the press
 AUTOCRACY

Autocracies have existed since ancient times, when kings and

emperors ruled over great countries and tribal lands, and they
exist today in the form of absolute monarchies and dictatorships.

In autocratic governments, the power of the ruler is absolute;

dissent is not tolerated. For this reason, scholars have often linked
autocracy with Totalitarian Regimes, such as that of Adolf Hitler in
Germany and Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union
 AUTOCRACY VS. OLIGARCHY

Oligarchy

 A form of government characterized by the rule of a few persons or

families

 Aristotle used the term oligarchia to designate the rule of the few in

which power is vested in the best individuals

 A debased form of autocracy, which denotes government by the few in

which power is vested in the best individuals

 AUTOCRACY VS. OLIGARCHY

 Most classic oligarchies have resulted when governing elites

were recruited exclusively from a ruling caste- a hereditary

social grouping that is set apart from the rest of society by

religion, kinship, economic status, prestige, or even language.

 Such elites tend to exercise power in the interests of their own

class
 AUTOCRACY VS. OLIGARCHY

Oligarchies

- members of the ruling group are wealthy or

exercise their power through their wealth are

known as plutocracies
 D. FORMS OF GOVERNMENT AND
POLITICAL CHANGE

• Monarchies: Absolute and Constitutional

• Republics: Presidential and Parliamentary

Systems

• Regime Change: Democratization,

Revolutions, and Coups

• Contemporary Challenges in Governance

 MONARCHIES:
ABSOLUTE AND
CONSTITUTIONAL
 MONARCHY

Monarchy
- a form of government in which total sovereignty is
invested in one person, a head of state called monarch ,
who holds the position until death or abdication

TWO TYPES OF MONARCHIES:

Absolute Monarchy and Constitutional
Monarchy
 MONARCHY

ABSOLUTE MONARCHY
 a system of government where a single ruler rules by some
inherent right and has complete centralized authority or
sovereignty over the state and government
 The king or dictator within an absolute monarchy system has
complete centralized authority over foreign and domestic
policies
 Meant that the ultimate authority to run a state was in the hands
of a king who ruled by divine right
 MONARCHY

CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

 A system of government in which a monarch shares power with

a constitutionally organized government

 The monarch may be the de facto head of state or a purely

ceremonial leader

 The constitution allocates the rest of the government’s power to

the legislature and judiciary

 REPUBLICS:
PRESIDENTIAL AND
PARLIAMENTARY
SYSTEMS
 REPUBLICS

Republics

- a country where people is held by the

people or the representatives that they

elect
 REPUBLICS

PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM
 There is a separation of power between executive and
legislative branches which are elected separately
 The head of government is normally also head of state
symbolizing the unity of the country and representing the
state abroad
 The term office for the chief executive (President) in a
presidential system is fixed
 REPUBLICS

PARLIAMENTARY SYSTEM
 There is a fusion of power between executive and
legislative branches
 The chief executive (Prime Minister) is a member of
the legislature, normally leading the party with most
seats
 The head of state may be elected (directly by the
people or else by legislatures) or may be a monarch
 REGIME CHANGE:
DEMOCRATIZATION,
REVOLUTIONS, AND
COUPS
REGIME CHANGE: DEMOCRATIZATION, REVOLUTIONS, AND COUPS

REGIME
 It is usually defined as a set of rules and norms
determining how politics works in a country

 A particular government or a system or method

of government
REGIME CHANGE: DEMOCRATIZATION, REVOLUTIONS, AND COUPS

REGIME CHANGE
 A complete change of government, especially one
brought about by force
 The transition from one political regime to
another
 In politics, “regime change” denotes the
replacement of one governmental structure with
REGIME CHANGE: DEMOCRATIZATION, REVOLUTIONS, AND COUPS

DEMOCRATIZATION
 The process of making countries or
organizations use democratic ways of
making decisions
 The process of making a country or an
institution more democratic
REGIME CHANGE: DEMOCRATIZATION, REVOLUTIONS, AND COUPS

WHAT IMPACTS DEMOCRATIZATION?

 Democratization can be influenced by

various factors, including economic

development, historical legacies, civil

society, and international processes

REGIME CHANGE: DEMOCRATIZATION, REVOLUTIONS, AND COUPS

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF

DEMOCRATIZATION?

Democratization includes:

 Reform of the electoral system

 Increased suffrage
REGIME CHANGE: DEMOCRATIZATION, REVOLUTIONS, AND COUPS

REVOLUTION
 An instrument of change and often an attempt to promote
equality and combat oppression
 Revolutions take the form of organized movements aimed at
affecting change- economic change, technological change,
political change, or social change. The people who start
revolutions have determined the institutions currently in place
in society have failed or no longer serve their intended
purpose
REGIME CHANGE: DEMOCRATIZATION, REVOLUTIONS, AND COUPS

THE GREATEST EFFECT OF THE REVOLUTION

WAS:

 To spread the idea of liberty

 Equality and rights, leading to changes in voting

rights, slavery, and women’s status

REGIME CHANGE: DEMOCRATIZATION, REVOLUTIONS, AND COUPS

COUP
 Short for coup d’état, is a sudden and often violent
overthrow of a government or a change in the
leadership of a country, typically carried out by a
faction within the government, the military, or other
powerful entities. Coups can occur for various
reasons, including political, economic, or ideological
motivations.
REGIME CHANGE: DEMOCRATIZATION, REVOLUTIONS, AND COUPS

HERE ARE SOME KEY POINTS TO UNDERSTAND

ABOUT COUPS:
 Motivations
 Methods
 Violence
 Legitimacy
 Consequences
 Countermeasures
REGIME CHANGE: DEMOCRATIZATION, REVOLUTIONS, AND COUPS

It’s important to note that the success and

impact of coup can vary widely depending on a
range of factors, including the level of support
within the military, public sentiment, and
international reactions. Coups are complex
political events that can have profound effects on
the affected country.
CONTEMPORARY
CHALLENGES
IN GOVERNANCE
CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES IN GOVERNANCE

1. Economic Inequality
2. Social Conflict
3. Religious Sectarianism
4. Territorial Dispute
CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES IN GOVERNANCE

5. Ethnic Conflicts
6. Infectious Diseases
7. Climate Change
8. Food Insecurity
THANK YOU
FOR
LISTENING!