Political Power and Governance Systems
Power is at the heart of any political system. It is defined as the ability to exercise one's will over others. According to Spencer political power is the result of cooperation between individuals in a society. The cooperation between individuals leads to a political structure that organizes the efforts and gives direction to the group as a whole. The political structure derived from this cooperation has the power to restrain individual behaviors in order to keep the society together for the same common goals. The political structure gets this power from the idea that everyone in a society wants to feel that they are part of something larger than themselves. In turn this idea of community leads to a moral high ground for social action and identity.
Each society establishes a political system by which it is governed. In modern industrial societies there are five basic types of government: monarchy, oligarchy, dictatorship, totalitarianism and democracy.
As for monarchy, it is a form of government headed by a single member of a royal family, usually a king, or a queen. At present, monarchs hold true governmental power in only a few nations, such as Monaco. Most monarchs have little practical power and primarily serve ceremonial purposes.
Taking oligarchy into account, one can view it as a form of government in which a few individuals rule. Today, it usually takes the form either of military rules, like in the developing nations of Africa, Asia and Latin America, or of a ruling group as is the case with the Communist Parties of some countries in Europe and Asia.
To define dictatorship one should consider a government in which one person has nearly total power to make and enforce laws. Typically, dictators seize power by force and are usually bitterly hated by the population over whom they rule with an iron hand.
Frequently, dictatorships develop such overwhelming control over people's lives that they are called totalitarian. Totalitarianism involves complete governmental control over all aspects of social and political life in a society. Both Nazi Germany under Hitler and the Soviet Union after the October Revolution are classified as totalitarian states.
It is worth mentioning that political scientists have identified six basic characteristics of a totalitarian state: 1) large-scale use of ideology; 2) one-party system; 3) control of weapons; 4) terror; 5) control of the media; 6) control of the economy. Through such methods totalitarian governments have complete control over people's destinies.
In a literal sense, democracy means government by the people. The word «democracy» is originated in two Greek roots — «demos», meaning «the common people», and «kratia», meaning «rule». Of course, it would be impossible for all the people of a country to vote on every important issuethat comesabout. Consequently, democracies are generally maintained through a mode of participation known as representative democracy, in which certain individuals are selected to speak for the people.
Each society has its own ways of governing itself and making decisions, and each generation must be encouraged to accept a society's basic political values and its particular methods of decision making.
COMPREHENSION
Understanding the reading
Give extensive answers to the questions. Use the following expressions to present your answers.
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- How can you define the concept of power?
- What does cooperation between individuals in a society lead to?
- What is government? What basic types of government do you know?
- What is typical for monarchy?
- How do you differentiate between oligarchy and dictatorship?
- What are the main features of totalitarian states?
- How does democracy differ from the other forms of government?
- Why from your point of view each generation must be encouraged to accept a society's basic political values and its particular methods of decision making?
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