Forms and Theories of Government

Countries across the world use different administration theories. The forms of government are usually derived from the political systems of the respective countries. The differences arise in terms of leadership philosophies and the way the governments are structured to address the needs of the subjects. Among the major forms of government we have monarchies, anarchies, democracies, communism, Marxist, socialism, tyranny, totalitarianism and dictatorships. There is some form of extremism about every form and theory, but the impact on the people determines the public opinion about it.

Many governments work in the extremes of each other. There are totalitarian governments that hold contention that every aspect of people’s lives should be under a strong central government. On the other hand of this is anarchy. The philosophy is that public government is unwanted and unnecessary as individuals should control political activities. This is the kind of sharp split differences of these two theories in formation of government. However, there is a middle ground for the two, where some governments are formed in a somewhat mix of the two. This philosophy is referred to as pluralism.

The best example of totalitarianism was the Nazi Germany under Adolf Hitler. At this time when United States was still a democracy under Roosevelt. The leader is known to have been one of the most fierce that the world has ever had. His drive to consolidate power led to world war breakouts. In current days, totalitarianism is not as pronounced as it was in the days of the world wars. There were other totalitarians like Benito Mussolini of Italy and USSR’s Stalin (Kerner, 2008).

Monarchies are hereditary governments led by royal families. In many cases, the monarch heads the state and there is a different office to head the government. For instance, the Buckingham Palace is the residence of the United Kingdom royal family (Bbc.co.uk, 2010). Many other countries have monarchies such as Swaziland and Sweden. This form of government is considered non-democratic and non-inclusive. It is a reservation of a certain cluster in society that is not accessible to all.

Marxism, communism and socialism all hold on to the economic ideology of the political clout of the country (Kerner, 2008). The existing government or successive regimes lay down the economic path of the nation at all times. These economic systems and philosophies may define the government in different quarters. All these philosophies have opposing views, depending on what is deemed fit for the nation.

Marxists believe social transformation is based on historical development of individuals interpreted class relations and social conflicts in communities. It originated from German philosopher Karl Marx and Friedrich as a tool for socioeconomic analysis. The other philosophical government formation on an economic basis is communism. Communists hold the view that common ownership should be the order of things. The government owns all means of production, rather than having it in private ownership. Communism would work hand in hand with totalitarianism as the political system.

In socialism, it is the almost exact opposite of communism. The means of production are democratically owned. It is essentially a radical idea of sharing. It augurs well in a democratic government that recognizes the rule of law and the will of the people. The paramount factor to be considered in setups like this one is the majority rule, and people’s power to decide the kind of a system they need. This is why United States looks more of a capitalist-socialist mix.

Communism is very much pronounced in the East Asian countries like China. The best way to view communism is as an extreme form of socialism (Kerner, 2008). The most pronounced economic philosophy of western governments like USA is capitalism. In this, individuals have the absolute advantage of accumulating as much property as their determination can allow. The biggest challenge about capitalism is that it creates so many loopholes for exploitation and expands the wealth gap. It creates a clout of a few super rich people and a multitude of poor people.

Dictatorial governments are the exact opposite of our democratic United States government. In many cases, the leaders of autocratic systems are installed by military power by overthrowing a civilian regime. The system has no backing from the people and thus exercises power forcefully. Democratic governments are elected by a majority, with favor and following of the masses. The rise in democracy across the world after the world wars has been phenomenal, spearheaded and vigorously advocated for by the United States, and dictatorship is coming down. The continent most affected by dictatorial leaders now is Africa.

In many cases, republics are an indication of sovereignty. Power resides within the elected individuals who play a representational role for the masses (Bach, 2007). This is a system present in many countries across the world including the US. Leaders are elected to the Congress and Senate and state governments to represent the will of the people. They follow the rule of law to govern their subjects.

In conclusion, the United States is a capitalist nation. The government is democratically elected, with the control being on the hands of the people who elect leaders to power. It is a country free of dictatorship and oppressive tyrant rules, it is everything that most nations desire in terms of leadership and governance.

 

 

Works Cited

Bach, Jonathan. Keep Sovereignty Sovereign!. International Studies Review 9.4 (2007): 714-717.

Bbc.co.uk. BBC – History – British History in depth: Kings and Queens Through Time. 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2015, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/launch_tl_kings_queens.shtml

Kerner, L. Introduction to the special section: Populism in former Soviet Socialist states. Communist And Post-Communist Studies 41.2 (2007): 189.

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