Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes
THE THREE WORLD TYPOLOGY
 Is the belief that politicfal World divided
three blocs
1. A capilatist “first World”
2. A communist “ second World”
3. A developing “third World”
 Third World regimes were typically
authoritarian and govern by traditional
monarchs
 new pattern of economic development
have brought material affluence to parts
of third World like oil-rich states like
middle east and newly industrialized
states of east asia
L IBERAL D EMOCRACY
 Is an political regime in which a “liberal”
commitment to limited government is
blended with a “democtatic” belief.
Key peatures are;
1. The right to rule gained through
success in regular and competitive
elections, based o universal adult
suffrage
2. Constrains on government imposed by
a constitution, instutional checks and
balances and protections for
individual and minority rights.
3. vigorous civil society including a private
enterprise economy, independent trade
unions and a free press. The terms liberal
democracy and and pluralist.
REGIMES OF THE MODERN WORLD
 Who rules? Is political participation
confined to an elite body or privileged
group, or does it encompass the entire
population?
 How is compliance achieved? Is government
obeyed as a result of the exercise or threat of
force, or through bargaining and
compromise?
 Is government power centralized or
fragmented? What kinds of check and
balance operate in the political system?
 How is government power acquired and
transferred? Is a regime open and
competitive, or is it monolithic?
 What is the balance between the state and
the individual? What is the distribution of
rights and responsibilities between
government and citizens?
 What is the level of material development?
How materially affluent is the society, and
how equally is wealth distributed?
 How is economic life organized? Is the
economy geared to the market or to
planning, and what economic role does
government play?
 How stable is a regime? Has the regime
survived over time, and does it have the
capacity to respond to new demands and
challenges?
Democratization
 Democratization is transition from
authoritarianism to liberal democracy.
This has a 3 processes
1. The breakdown of the old
regime; this usually involves a
loss of legitimacy and the
faltering loyalty of the police and
military.
2. ‘Democratic transition’ witnesses
the construction of new liberal-
democratic structures and
processes
3. ‘Democratic consolidation’ sees
these new structures and
processes becoming so
embedded in the minds of elites
and the masses that democracy
becomes ‘the only game in town’
FIVE REGIME TYPES CAN BE
IDENTIFIED IN THE MODERN WORLD:
1. Western polyarchies
2. New democracies
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes
3. East Asian regimes
4. Islamic regimes
5. Military regimes
Polyarchy
 Polyarchy can be understood as a rough or
crude approximation of democracy, in that it
operates through institutions that force rulers
to take account of the public’s wishes
Central features are;
1. government is based on election;
2. elections are free and fair;
3. practically all adults have the right to
vote;
4. the right to run for office is
unrestricted;
5. there is free expression and a right to
criticize and protest;
6. citizens have access to alternative
sources of information; and
7. groups and associations enjoy at
least relative independence from
government.
WESTERN POLYARCHIES
 Western polyarchies are broadly equivalent
to regimes categorized as ‘liberal
democracies’, or even simply ‘democracies’
 the term ‘polyarchy’ is preferable to ‘liberal
democracy’ for two reasons.
1. Liberal democracy is sometimes
treated as a political ideal, and is
thus invested with broader
normative implications.
2. The use of ‘polyarchy’
acknowledges that these regimes
fall short, in important ways, of
the goal of democracy.
New democracies
 this process has been characterized by the
adoption of multiparty elections and market-
based economic reform.
Transition countries: Former Soviet Bloc
countries that are in the process of
transition from central planning to market
capitalism.
Authoritarianism
 Authoritarianism is a belief in, or practice
of, government ‘from above’, in which
authority is exercised regardless of popular
consent.
 authoritarianism is usually distinguished
from totalitarianism.
Confucianism
 Confucianism is a system of ethics formulated
by Confucius (551–479 BCE) and his disciples
that was primarily outlined in The Analects.
 Confucian thought has concerned itself with the
twin themes of human relations and the
cultivation of the self.
 The emphasis on ren (humanity or love) has
usually been interpreted as implying support for
traditional ideas and values; notably, filial piety,
respect, loyalty and benevolence.
 The stress on junzi (the virtuous person)
suggests a capacity for human development and
potential for perfection realized, in particular,
through education.
East Asian Regimes
1. First, they are orientated more around
economic goals than around political ones.
Their overriding priority is to boost growth
and deliver prosperity, rather than to enlarge
individual freedom in the western sense of
civil liberty.
2. Second, there is broad support for ‘strong’
government. Powerful ‘ruling’ parties tend
to be tolerated, and there is general respect
for the state.
3. third, by a general disposition to respect
leaders because of the Confucian stress on
loyalty, discipline and duty.
4. Finally, great emphasis is placed on com -
munity and social cohesion, embodied in the
central role accorded to the family.
Islamic Regimes
 Political Islam thus aims at the construction
of a theocracy in which political and other
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes

affairs are structured according to ‘higher’

religious principles. Nevertheless, political
Islam has assumed clearly contrasting forms,
ranging from fundamentalist to pluralist
extremes.
Military regimes
1. In some military regimes, the armed forces
assume direct control of government.
2. The second form of military regime is a
military-backed personalized dictatorship. In
these cases, a single individual gains pre-
eminence within the junta or regime, often
being bolstered by a cult of personality
designed to manufacture charismatic
authority.
3. In the final form of military regime, the
loyalty of the armed forces is the decisive
factor that upholds the regime, but the
military leaders content themselves with
‘pulling the strings’ behind the scenes
In what circumstances does the military seize
power?
1. In the first place, there is a clear link between
the incidence of military coups and economic
underdevelopment
2. Second, the military is likely to intervene in
politics only when it senses that the legitimacy
of the existing institutions and the ruling elite is
challenged, and when it calculates that its
intervention is going to be successful.
3. Third, military intervention is associated with
the degree to which the values, goals and
interests of the armed forces differ from those of
the broader regime.
4. Finally, the military’s decision to seize power
may also be affected by international
considerarion.

Political Executives and Leadership

 either by forcing them to operate within a
constitutional framework
 by making them accountable to a popular
assembly or democratic electorate.
ROLE OF THE EXECUTIVE
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes
Who’s who in the executive?
 The division of government into executive,
legislative and judicial institutions has been
sustained by the doctrine of the separation of
powers, and has been the traditional basis on
which to analyse government since the time
of Montesquieu.
 From this point of view, three distinct
branches of government can be identified:
 Legislatures make law; they enact
legislation.
 Executives implement law; they execute
law
 Judiciaries interpret law; they adjudicate
on the meaning of law.
1. First, a distinction is often drawn
between the ‘political’ executive and the
‘bureaucratic’ executive. This highlights
the differences between politicians and
civil servants, and, more broadly,
between politics and administration.
2. Second, various levels of status and
responsibility have been identified
within executives. Whereas assemblies
tend to respect at least the formal
equality of their members, executive
branches are typically pyramidal,
organized according to a clear leadership
structure
 The distinction between political and
bureaucratic, or official, posts is most clear-cut
in the case of parliamentary executives, where
differences in recruitment, responsibility, status
and political orientation can be identified.
 The overlap is usually even greater in
presidential executives. In the USA, for
example, the president is the only elected
politician in the executive.
 On the one hand, there is the head of state, an
office of formal authority and largely symbolic
importance. On the other, there is the head of
government, or the chief executive, a post that
carries policy-making and political
responsibilities.
 Whereas executive presidents, as in the USA,
Russia and France, ‘wear two hats’, the posts in
parliamentary systems are usually separate.
Functions of political executives
 ceremonial duties
 control of policy-making
 popular political leadership
 bureaucratic management
 crisis response.
Ceremonial leadership
1. First, it provides a focus for unity and
political loyalty, and so helps to build
legitimacy.
2. Second, it allows those at the top of the
executive to portray themselves as ‘national
leaders’, which is vital to the maintenance of
public support and electoral credibility.
Policy-making leadership
 the executive is expected to ‘govern’.
 The political executive is looked to, in
particular, to develop coherent economic
and social programmes that meet the needs
of more complex and politic ally
sophisticated societies, and to control the
state’s various external relationships in an
increasingly interdependent world.
Popular leadership
 The popularity of the political executive,
more than any other part of the political
system, is crucial to the character and
stability of the regime as a whole
 Quite simply, without support from the
public, or from key groups in society, policy
implementation becomes difficult, perhaps
impossible
Bureaucratic leadership
1. First, as political executives are staffed by
politicians, they often lack the competence,
managerial experience and administrative
knowledge to control a sprawling
bureaucratic machine effectively.
2. Second, particular government departments
can develop their own interests, especially
when they forge alliances with powerful
client groups.
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes
3. Third, the bureaucracy as a whole can
develop interests that are separate from
those of the political executive, encouraging
it to resist the control of its notional political
masters.
Crisis leadership
 A crucial advantage that the political
executive has over the assembly is its ability
to take swift and decisive action.
 When crises break out, in either domestic or
international politics, it is invariably the
executive that responds, by virtue of its
hierarchical structure and the scope it
provides for personal leadership.
WHO LEADS?
Presidents
 A president is a formal head of state, a title
that is held in other states by a monarch or
emperor. An important distinction, however,
must be made between constitutional
presidents and executive presidents.
Constitutional or nonexecutive presidents,
found in India, Israel and Germany, for
example, are a feature of parliamentary
systems and have responsibilities confined
largely to ceremonial duties.
 The best-known example of limited
presidentialism is found in the USA, but
semi-presidential systems like those in
France and Finland also conform to this
model.
 The ability of US presidents to get their way
depends on four crucial relationships,
specifically those with:
o Congress
o the federal bureaucracy
o the Supreme Court
o the media.
Prime ministers
 Most of the political executives in the
modern world can be classified as
parliamentary executives. The structure and
form of executive power found in
parliamentary systems differs significantly
from that in presidential ones. Parliamentary
executives have three essential features.
 The unusual level of power wielded by
prime ministers stems from various sources,
including the following:
o the level and range of their patronage
o their control of the cabinet system,
especially their ability to set up and staff
cabinet committees
o their ability to dominate the assembly as
leaders of the largest party, especially
when that party has majority control of
the lower chamber
o their position as head of the civil
service, and the control this gives them
over the bureaucratic machine
o their direct access to the media, which
enables them to make personalized
appeals to the voters.
Cabinets
 Virtually all political executives feature a
cabinet of some sort. In France, the cabinet is
known as the ‘Council of Ministers’ and, in
China, it is called the ‘Politburo’. A cabinet is a
committee of senior ministers who represent the
various government departments or ministries.
 This term is not to be confused with ‘cabinet’, as
used in France and the EU to denote small
groups of policy advisers who support individual
ministers.
THE POLITICS OF LEADERSHIP
 In some respects, the subject of political
leadership appears to be outdated. The
division of society into leaders and followers
is rooted in a predemocratic culture of
deference and respect in which leaders
‘knew best’ and the public needed to be led,
mobilized or guided.
Theories of leadership
 Four contrasting theories of leadership can be
identified. Leadership can be understood as;
o a natural gift
o a sociological phenomenon
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes

o an organizational necessity Greenstein (2009), is the key to establishing a

o a political skill successfull leadership style.

A natural gift
Styles of leadership
 The traditional view of leadership sees it as a  laissez-faire leadership
rare but natural gift. As Aristotle put it, ‘men are  transactional leadership
marked out from the moment of birth to rule or  transformational leadership
be ruled’. From this perspective, leadership is
strictly an individual quality, manifest in the
personalities of what were traditionally thought
of as ‘men of destiny’.
 He therefore identified four character types:
o active-positive
o active-negative
o passive-positive
o passive-negative.
A sociological phenomenon
 An alternative view of leadership sees it as a
sociological, rather than psycho - logical,
phenomenon. From this perspective, in other
words, leaders are ‘created’ by particular socio-
historical forces.
An organizational necessity
 The third theory of leadership sees it in largely
technical terms as a rational, or bureaucratic,
device. In this view, leadership is essentially an
organizational necessity that arises from the
need for coherence, unity and direction within
any complex institution.

A political skill
The final theory of leadership portrays it very
much as an artefact; that is, as a political skill
that can be learned and practised. Political
leadership, in this sense, is akin to the art of
manipulation, a perhaps inevitable feature of
democratic politics in an age of mass
communications.
1. Obama was able to convey professionalism and
gravitas whilst also, as appropriate, using
humour and self-deprecation.
2. Second, he demonstrated strong emotional
intelligence, the capacity that, according to
Assemblies
 Assemblies (sometimes called ‘parliaments’ or
‘legislatures’) occupy a key position in the
machinery of government.
ROLE OF ASSEMBLIES
 In practice, a bewildering variety of terms are
used to describe political bodies with very
similar functions:
o Congress (USA), national assembly
(France), house of representatives
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes
(Japan), parliament (Singapore),
congress of deputies (Spain) and so on.
 An assembly, in its simplest sense, is a
collection or gathering of people; as in, for
example, a school assembly. As a political term,
‘assembly’ has come to be associated with
representation and popular government, an
assembly, certainly in the French tradition, being
viewed as a surrogate for the people.
 To see these bodies as legislatures is to classify
them according to their primary function as law-
making bodies.
 The term ‘parliament’ (from the French parler,
meaning ‘to speak’) is sometimes preferred
because it avoids the limitations of the term
‘assembly’ and the confusion
 It implies that their defining feature is that they
are consultative or deliberative bodies.
Parliamentary, presidential and semi-
presidential systems
 One of the key features of any political system is
the relationship between the assembly and the
government and, therefore, the relationship
between legislative and executive authority.
 In exceptional cases, a form of ‘assembly
government’ may develop in which executive
and legislative power is vested in the assembly,
there being no separate executive body
 Such a system, for example, emerged briefly
under Robespierre and the Jacobins during the
French Revolution, influenced by the radical
democracy of Rousseau
 In other cases, notably in orthodox communist
regimes, both the legislative and the executive
bodies have been subordinate to the
unchallengeable authority of a ‘ruling’ party.
 However, assembly–executive relations more
commonly conform to one of two institutional
arrangements: parliamentary and presidential
government
Parliamentary system of government
 During the fourteenth century, separate
chambers (the House of Commons and the
House of Lords) were created to represent the
knights and burgesses on the one hand, and the
barons and churchmen on the other
 Parliament’s supremacy over the king was,
nevertheless, not established until the Glorious
Revolution of 1688, and its capacity to call
government to account not recognized until the
gradual emergence of a democratic franchise
during the nineteenth century.
 Similar parliamentary systems came into
existence in states such as Germany, Sweden,
India, Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
 Government is effective, In short, parliamentary
executives can get things done.
 However, responsible government is maintained
because the executive can govern only as long as
it retains the confidence of the assembly
Responsible government: A government that is
answerable or accountable to an elected assembly
and, through it, to the people.
Elective dictatorship: An imbalance between the
executive and the assembly that means that, once
elected, the government is only constrained by the
need to win subsequent elections
Lobby fodder: A pejorative term denoting
assembly members who vote consistently and
unquestioningly as their parties dictate.
Immobilism: Political paralysis stemming from the
absence of a strong executive, caused by multiple
divisions in the assembly and (probably) society.
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes
Checks and balances: Internal tensions within the
governmental system that result from institutional
fragmentation
 Parliamentary systems have also been linked
with weak government and political instability.
This usually occurs when the party system is
fractured, and it is often associated with highly
proportional electoral systems.
 The principal alternative to parliamentary
government is a presidential government .
Presidential systems are based on the strict
application of the doctrine of the separation of
powers, associated with Montesquieu.
 Outside the USA, US-style presidential systems
have been confined largely to Latin America.
However, a ‘hybrid’, or semi-presidential,
system was established in France during the
Fifth Republic.
 In this system, there is a ‘dual executive’ in
which a separately elected president works in
conjunction with a prime minister and cabinet
drawn from, and responsible to, the National
Assembly.
 The principal virtue of presidential systems is
that, by separating legislative power from
executive power, they create internal tensions
that help to protect individual rights and
liberties. As Hobbes (see p. 61) put it, ‘liberty is
power cut into pieces’.
 Turkey has also adopted a presential system
since 2018
Superpresidentialism: A president-heavy
constitutional order in which the presidency is
invested with great power and the assembly or
parliament operates as a mere ‘rubber stamp’
Seperations of power
Functions of assemblies
 assemblies provide a link between government
and the people, a channel of communication that
can both support government and help to uphold
the regime, and force government to respond to
public demands and anxieties. The principal
functions of assemblies are:
o legislation
o representation
o scrutiny
o political recruitment
o legitimacy
Legislation
 Assemblies or parliaments are typically vested
with legislative power in the hope that the laws
thus made will be seen to be authoritative and
binding.
 More significantly, assemblies exercise little
positive legislative power.
o Legislative proposals and programmes
emanate, in the main, from the
executive, which has the organizational
coherence and access to specialist
advice and information necessary for
policy formulation.,
o The negative legislative power of
assemblies – that is, their ability to
reject or amend proposed laws – is also
limited. In cases such as the Dutch
States-General, up to half of all
 However, in the UK, government defeats in the
House of Commons are usually rare events. All
too often, legislation is passed through
assemblies, rather than by assemblies
Representation
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes
 Assemblies play an important representative role
in providing a link between government and the
people.
 In the eighteenth century, this was expressed by
the slogan adopted by the 13 American colonies
that rebelled against British rule: ‘no taxation
without representation’
 The extension of the franchise and the eventual
achievement of universal adult suffrage turned
assemblies into popular forums, bodies that
‘stood for’ the people themselves.
 For this reason, the power of an assembly within
the political system is usually seen as an
important index of democratic government.
However, it is less clear how this representative
function is carried out in practice.
Scrutiny and oversight
 While the legislative and representative roles of
assemblies have declined in significance, greater
emphasis has been placed on the ability of
assemblies to constrain or check executive
power.
 Assemblies have increasingly become
scrutinizing bodies, the principal role of which is
to deliver responsibility or accountability.
 Most assemblies have developed institutional
mechanisms designed to facilitate this role.
 However, assemblies are not always effective in
calling executives to account.
 In the National People’s Congress in China, for
example, control by a monopolistic party has
turned the assembly into a mere propaganda
weapon, with government policy nearly always
being approved by unanimous votes. Party
discipline also con strains parliamentary scrutiny
elsewhere.
Recruitment and training
 Assemblies often act as major channels of
recruitment, providing a pool of talent from
which leading decision-makers emerge.
 In parliamentary systems, however, service in
the assembly is a required career path for
ministers and prime ministers, who then
continue to hold their assembly seats alongside
their executive offices.
 In many developed and developing states,
assemblies recruit and train the next generation
of political leaders, thus giving them experience
of political debate and policy analysis.
Legitimacy
 The final function of assemblies is to promote
the legitimacy of a regime by encouraging the
public to see the system of rule as ‘rightful’
 This is why most authoritarian and, even,
totalitarian states tolerate assemblies; though, of
course, those that have no legislative
independence or policy-making power.
 In addition to having propaganda value,
assemblies may also perform more creditable
educational functions.
 Parliamentary debates can help to inform and
instruct citizens about the affairs of government
and the major issues of the day.
STRUCTURE OF ASSEMBLIES
1. For example, their members may be elected or
appointed, or they may contain both elected and
appointed members.
2. The franchise may be restricted or universal, and
various electoral systems may be used. The sizes
of assembly also vary considerably.
3. The tiny republic of Nauru, in the West Central
Pacific, has an assembly of 18 members, each of
whom represents approximately 518 people. At
the other extreme, there is the almost 3,000-
member National People’s Congress in China, in
which one member represents over 433,000
people.
Unicameralism: The principle or practice of having
an assembly composed of a single legislative
chamber
Bicameralism: The principle or practice of
fragmenting legislative power through the
establishment of two (in theory, co-equal) chambers
in the assembly.
Do assemblies make policy?
 The key issue here is the nature of assembly–
executive relations and the distribution of power
between the two major branches of government.
On this basis, the assemblies of the world can be
classified into three broad categories:
1. policy-making assemblies, which enjoy
significant autonomy and have an active
impact on policy
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes

2. policy-influencing assemblies, which  Unicameralism ; the principle or

can transform policy but only by practice of having an assembly
reacting to executive initiatives composed of a single legislative
3. executive-dominated assemblies, chamber
which exert marginal influence or  Bicameralism; the principle or
merely rubber-stamp executive practice of fragmenting legislative
decisions power through the establishment of
Why are assemblies in decline? two (in theory, co-equal) chambers
in the assembly.
 There is, nevertheless, general agreement that, 5. What kind of role do committees
during the twentieth century, the power and play in assemblies?
status of assemblies changed, and usually for the
worse. Whether this amounts to a general
decline of assemblies, or, rather, a shift in their
purpose or function, is another matter. The
principal factors that have brought about
these changes are the following:
 the emergence of disciplined political parties
 the growth of ‘big’ government
 the organizational weaknesses of assemblies
 the rise of interest-group and media power.

 How do assemblies differ?

1. Are their members elected or
appointed?
For example, their members may be
elected or appointed, or they may
contain both elected and appointed
members.
2. What kind of electoral system is
used? Is the franchise or
universal?
The franchise may be restricted or
universal, and varius electoral system
may be used.
3. What is the size of the assembly?
 The tiny republic of Nauru, in the
West Central Pasific, has an
assembly of 19 members, each of
whom represents approximately 592
people.
 At the other extreme, there is the
almost 3,000-member National Constitutions, Law and Judges
People’s Congress in China, in
which one member represents over KEY ISSUES
482,000 people.
4. Does unicameralism or  What is a constitution, and what forms can it
take?
bicameralism prevail?
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes
 What is the purpose of a constitution?
 To what extent do constitutions shape political
practice?
 What is the relationship between law and
politics?
 What is the political significance of the courts?
 Can judges keep out of politics? Should judges
keep out of politics?
Constitution
A constitution is, broadly, a set of rules, written and
unwritten, that seek to establish the duties
1. powers and functions of the various institutions
of government
2. regulate the relationships between them
3. define the relationship between the state and the
individual
 The balance between written (legal) and
unwritten (customary or conventional) rules
varies from system to system
 The term ‘constitution’ is also used more
narrowly to refer to a single, authoritative
document (a ‘written’ constitution), the aim of
which is to codify major constitutional
provisions; it constitutes the highest law in the
land.
Convention
 A convention, in everyday language, is either a
formal political meeting, or an agreement
reached through debate and negotiation.
 A constitutional convention, however, is a rule
of conduct or behaviour that is based not on law,
but on custom and precedent.
 These non-legal rules are upheld either by a
sense of constitutional propriety (what is
‘correct’), or by practical circumstances (what is
‘workable’)
 Conventions of this sort exist in all
constitutional systems, usually providing
guidance where formal rules are unclear or
incomplete, but they are particularly signify
 cant in ‘unwritten’ constitutions.
Constitutionalism
 Constitutionalism, in a narrow sense, is the
practice of limited government ensured by the
existence of a constitution.
 More broadly, constitutionalism is a set of
political values and devices that fragment power,
thereby creating a network of checks and
balances.
 Examples of such devices include codified
constitutions, bills of rights, the separation of
powers, bicameralism, and federalism.
CONSTITUTIONS
Constitutions: their nature and origins
 The idea of a code of rules providing guidance
for the conduct of government has an ancient
lineage.
 These codes traditionally drew on the idea of a
higher moral power, usually religious in
character, to which worldly affairs were
supposed to conform.
o Egyptian pharaohs acknowledged the
authority of Ma’at or ‘justice’
o Chinese emperors were subject to Ti’en
or ‘heaven’
o Jewish kings conformed to the Mosaic
Law
o Islamic caliphs paid respect to Shari’a
law.
 Not uncommonly, ‘higher’ principles were also
enacted in ordinary law, as seen, for example, in
the distinction in the Athenian constitution
between the nomos (laws that could be changed
only by a special procedure) and the
psephismata (decrees that could be passed by a
resolution of the assembly).
 However, such ancient codes did not amount to
constitutions in the modern sense, in that they
generally failed to lay down specific provisions
relating to the authority and responsibilities of
the various institutions, and rarely established
authoritative mechanisms through which
provisions could be enforced and breaches of the
fundamental law punished.
 Constitutions are thus best thought of as a
relatively recent development. Although the
evolution of the British constitution is
sometimes traced back to the Bill of Rights of
1689 and the Act of Settlement of 1701, or even
to the Magna Carta (1215)
 The ‘age of constitutions’ was initiated by the
enactment of the first ‘written’ constitutions: the
US constitution in 1787 and the French
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen
in 1789.
 The enactment of a constitution marks a major
breach in political continuity, usually resulting
from an upheaval such as a war, revolution or
national independence.
Classifying constitutions
Constitutions can be classified in many different
ways. These include the following.
 the form of the constitution and status of its
rules (whether the constitution is written or
unwritten, or codified or uncodified)
 the ease with which the constitution can be
changed (whether it is rigid or flexible)
 the degree to which the constitution is observed
in practice (whether it is an effective, nominal or
façade constitution)
 the content of the constitution and the
institutional structure that it establishes (whether
it is, for example, monarchical or republican,
federal or unitary, or presidential or
parliamentary)
Written and unwritten constitutions
 Written constitutions are, in theory, con -
stitutions that are enshrined in laws, while
unwritten constitutions are supposedly embodied
in custom and tradition
o Only three liberal democracies (Israel,
New Zealand and the UK) continue to
have unwritten constitutions, together
with a handful of non-democratic states
such as Bhutan, Saudi Arabia and
Oman.
 Every constitution, then, is a blend of written
and unwritten rules, although the balance
between these varies significantly
o In countries such as France and
Germany, in which constitutional
documents act as state codes, specifying
in considerable detail the powers and
responsibilities of political institutions,
the emphasis is clearly on written rules.
o The US constitution (the world’s first
written constitution) is, however, a
document of only 7,000 words that
confines itself, in the main, to broad
principles, and so lays down only a
loose framework for government.
 Codified constitution: A constitution in which
key constitutional provisions are collected
together in a single legal document, popularly
known as a ‘written constitution’ or ‘the
constitution’.
 Statute law: Law that is enacted by the
legislature.
 Uncodified constitution: A constitution that is
made up of rules drawn from a variety of
sources, in the absence of a single authoritative
document.
 Common law: Law based on custom and
precedent; law that is supposedly ‘common’ to
all.
Parliamentary sovereignty
 Parliamentary sovereignty refers to the absolute
and unlimited authority of a parliament or
legislature, reflected in its ability to make,
amend or repeal any law it wishes.
 Parliamentary sovereignty is usually seen as the
central principle of the UK constitution, and
results from
1. the absence of a codified constitution,
2. the supremacy of statute law over other
forms of law,
3. the absence of rival legislatures
4. the convention that no parliament can
bind its successors.
 Popular sovereignty: The principle that there is
no higher authority than the will of the people,
directly expressed
The purpose of a constitution
 Not only do the vast majority of states have
constitutions, but also most institutions and
organized groups have rules that have some kind
of constitutional effect.
 This applies in the case of international bodies
such as the United Nations and the European
Union, and is also true of regional and
provincial government, political parties, interest
groups, corporations, churches, clubs and so on.
 The popularity of these constitutional rules
draws attention to the fact that constitutions
somehow play a vital role in the running of
organizations.
they have a number of functions and are used in a
variety of ways. The most important of these are to:
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes
 empower states
 establish unifying values and goals
 provide government stability
 protect freedom
 legitimize regimes.
Bill of rights
 A bill of rights is a constitutional document that
specifies the rights and freedoms of the
individual, and so defines the legal extent of
civil liberty
 Entrenched bills of rights can be distinguished
from statutory ones.
 An entrenched bill of rights is enshrined in
‘higher’ law and, thus, provides the basis for
constitutional judicial review
 A statutory bill of rights, or statute of rights, can
be amended or repealed through the same
processes as other statute laws. Unlike an
entrenched bill of rights, it does not breach
parliamentary sovereignty.
Negative rights: Rights that mark out a realm of
unconstrained action, and thus check the
responsibilities of government.
Positive rights: Rights that make demands of
government in terms of the provision of resources
and support, and thus extend its responsibilities.
Human rights
 Human rights are rights to which people are
entitled by virtue of being human
 they are a modern and secular version of ‘natural
rights’. Human rights are
1. universal (in the sense that they belong
to human beings everywhere, regardless
of race, religion, gender and other
differences)
2. fundamental (in that a human being’s
entitlement to them cannot be removed)
3. indivisible (in that civic and political
rights, and economic, social and cultural
rights are interrelated and co-equal in
importance)
4. absolute (in that, as the basic grounds
for living a genuinely human life, they
cannot be qualified).
Rule of law
 The rule of law is the principle that the
law should ‘rule’, in the sense that it
establishes a framework to which all
conduct and behaviour must conform.
 This requirement applies equally to all
the members of society, be they private
citizens or government officials.
THE JUDICIARY
 The judiciary is the branch of
government that is empowered to decide
legal disputes. The central function of
judges is therefore to adjudicate on the
meaning of law, in the sense that they
interpret or ‘construct’ law.
Judicial independence: The constitutional
principle that there should be a strict
separation between the judiciary and other
branches of government; an application of
the separation of powers
Judicial review
 The power of judicial review is the
power of the judiciary to ‘review’, and
possibly invalidate, the laws, decrees
and the actions of other branches of
government
 In its classical sense, the principle stems
from the existence of a codified
constitution and allows the courts to
strike down as ‘unconstitutional’ actions
that are deemed to be incompatible with
the constitution.
 A more modest form of judicial review,
found in uncodified systems, is
restricted to the review of executive
actions in the light of ordinary law using
the principle of ultra vires (beyond the
powers) to determine whether a body
has acted outside its powers.
Judicial activism: The willingness of judges to
arbitrate in political disputes, as opposed to merely
saying what the law means
PARTY SYSTEMS
Chapter 10 yarısı,12,13,14,15 government system regimes

 Party system: A relatively stable network of

relationships between parties that is structured
by
 The most familiar way of distinguishing
between different types of party system is by
reference to the number of parties competing for
power. their number, size and ideological
orientation.
o ‘one-party’,
o ‘two-party’
o ‘multiparty’
Dominant-party systems
 Dominant-party systems should not be confused
with one-party systems, although they may at
times exhibit similar characteristics. A
dominant-party system is competitive in the
sense that a number of parties compete for
power in regular and popular elections, but is
dominated by a single major party that
consequently enjoys prolonged periods in
power.
Coalition
 A coalition is a grouping of rival political actors
brought together either through the perception of
a common threat, or through a recognition that
their goals cannot be achieved by working
separately. Electoral coalitions are alliances
through which parties agree not to compete
against one another, with a view to maximizing
their representation. Legislative coalitions are
agreements between two or more parties to
support a particular bill or programme.
Governing coalitions are formal agreements
between two or more parties that involve a
cross-party distribution of ministerial portfolios.
A ‘grand coalition’ or ‘national government’
comprises all major parties

DECLINE OF PARTIES?
 Evidence of a ‘crisis of party politics’ can be
found in a decline of both party membership and
partisanship, reflected in partisan dealignment.