5.

POLITICAL
REGIME
Political science

Yerkebulan Akberdiyev
Senior lecturer
Multidisciplinary Education

POLITICAL REGIME IS
A FORM OF A STATE
GOVERNMENT
Table of content
 Tasks and questions
 Introduction
 Iceland Referendum 2010
 Political regime – form of government
 Typologies of Republics
 Summary
 Reference
POLITICAL REGIME

TASKS AND QUESTIONS:

1) What are the political regimes? Name them
2) What are the (two) factors that political scientists use to
define “political regimes”?
3)Why are authoritarian and totalitarian governments more
unstable politically, compared to democracies and
monarchies?
Introduction
 This world is comprehensive. There are hundreds of countries which are
following different kind of regimes in their policies. A political regime refers
to the form and underlying principles of governance within a political system.
It encompasses the rules, norms, and institutions that determine how power
is distributed and exercised, how decisions are made, and how leaders are
selected and held accountable.
A sample of Democratic Regime:
Iceland Referendum 2010
In 2008, at the beginning of the financial crisis, Iceland
(population 320 thousand, without an army), one of the
richest countries in the world.
literally went bankrupt.

President O. Grimsson refused to ratify a law that would

make Icelandic citizens responsible for the debts of Icelandic
bankers and agreed to call a referendum.

But the Icelanders did not stop there: they decided to adopt a
new constitution that would free the country from the power
of international finance / To write a new constitution, the
people of Iceland elected 25 citizens from among 522 adults
who did not belong to any political party, who were
recommended by at least 30 citizens.

This document was not the work of a handful of politicians

but was written on the Internet. The constituent meetings
were held online, and citizens could write their comments
and make suggestions, watching with their own eyes as their
constitution gradually took shape.
POLITICAL REGIME

A political regime is a set of rules, procedures, and

understandings which govern relations between
the state and society in a particular country.
Main types of modern world political regimes are
commonly referred to:
democratic, totalitarian, authoritarian,
monarchical, oligarchic, hybrid and, etc.
The type of government under which people live
has fundamental implications for their freedom,
their welfare, and even their lives.
 POLITICAL REGIME – FORM
OF GOVERNMENT
 Governments are organisations of individuals
who are legally empowered to make binding
decisions on behalf of a particular community.
 In politics, a regime is the form of
government that regulate the operation of a
government or institution and its interactions
with society.
 First of all, we need to define two types of
governments – monarchy and republic
Modern Governments
Typologies of Republics
 Relationship between state and society (regimes)
 Democratic
 Totalitarian
 Authoritarian
 Monarchical

 Relationship between the executive and legislative powers of

government
 Parliamentary
 Presidential

 Degree of centralisation or decentralisation

 Unitary state
 Federalism
 Confederation
POLITICAL REGIME

Political scientists refer to regimes using many different

terms. Which term political scientists use often depends on
two factors:
- the number of people with political power and
- the amount of power the government itself exerts.
For example, some scholars offer seven typologies of
authoritarian regimes: dominant party regimes, military
regime, personalist regimes, monarchies, oligarchic
regimes, indirect military regimes, or hybrids of the first
three
 Personalist dictatorships are regimes in
which all of the power lies in the hands of a
single individual. They differ from other forms
of dictatorships in that the dictator has
greater access to key political positions and
the government's treasury, and they are more
commonly subject to the discretion of the
dictator.
POLITICAL REGIME
POLITICAL REGIME
 A wide variety of regime types exist.
 For example, the United Kingdom has a constitutional
monarchy, in which Queen Elizabeth holds a limited
amount of power.
 Theoretically, the queen is the English head of state, but
over time the English monarchy has become largely
ceremonial.
 Real governmental power now rests with the
Parliament, the legislative, lawmaking body.
 Great Britain is a democratic regime
POLITICAL REGIME
 In contrast, the Third Reich of World War II was
a totalitarian dictatorship.
 Though Adolf Hitler came to the power from a
political party, he controlled the government and
the citizens of Nazi Germany.
 It was a fascist political regime or dictatorship.
 In North Korea currently is also the dictatorship,
though Kim Jong Un is supposing a Chairman of
Communist party
POLITICAL REGIME
 The power in an oligarchy is held by a small, elite
group. Unlike in a monarchy, members of an oligarchy
do not necessarily achieve their statuses based on ties
to noble ancestry.
 Rather, they may ascend to positions of power because
of military might, economic power, or similar
circumstances.
 The concept of oligarchy is somewhat elusive; rarely
does a society openly define itself as an oligarchy.
 Many modern nations that claim to be democracies
are really oligarchies.
POLITICAL REGIME
 Authoritarianism and totalitarianism are general
terms for nondemocratic political systems ruled by an
individual or a group of individuals who are not freely
elected by their populations and who often exercise
arbitrary power.
 To be more specific, authoritarianism refers to political
systems in which an individual or a group of individuals
holds power, restricts or prohibits popular
participation in governance, and represses dissent.
POLITICAL REGIME
 Totalitarianism refers to political systems that include
all the features of authoritarianism but are even
more repressive as they try to regulate and control all
aspects of citizens’ lives and fortunes.
 People can be imprisoned for deviating from acceptable
practices or may even be killed if they dissent in the
mildest of ways.
 Compared to democracies and monarchies, authoritarian
and totalitarian governments are more unstable
politically. The major reason for this is that these
governments enjoy no legitimate authority.
POLITICAL REGIME
 In fact, some prominent journalists, such
as Paul Krugman, who won a Nobele
laureate prize in economics, have
labeled the United States an oligarchy,
pointing to the influence of large
corporations and Wall Street executives
on U.S. policy.
 Other political analysts assert that all
democracies are really just “elected
oligarchies,” or systems in which citizens
must vote for an individual who is part of
a pool of candidates who come from the
society’s elite ruling class
POLITICAL REGIME
 Representative democracy is more practical than direct
democracy in a society of any significant size (see a sample of
direct democracy in Iceland) .
 At least in theory, it ensures that the individuals who govern a
society are the individuals who have the appropriate talents, skills,
and knowledge to do so.
 Representative democracy thus allows for “the cream to rise to
the top” so that the people who actually govern a society are the
most qualified to perform this essential task.
 But elected officials may also be unduly influenced by campaign
contributions from corporations and other special-interest groups
Summary
 Understanding political regimes is crucial for analyzing how different
societies organize their governance, distribute power, and address public
issues. By studying the characteristics and functions of various regimes, we
gain insight into the diversity of political life and the factors that influence
stability, development, and citizen well-being. This knowledge is
fundamental for evaluating governance practices and promoting effective
and just political systems.
POLITICAL REGIME
 SOURCES:
 https://pressbooks.howardcc.edu/soci101/chapter/
14-2-types-of-political-systems/
Thank you!