Political systems

The political system is a system of government and politics and is generally referred to as ranging in degrees from left to right. The left side of a political system generally consists of parties with liberal viewpoints while the right side consists of parties that take conservative stances on the issues. There are many different types of political systems that exist around the globe. These political systems include, anarchism, theocracy, republics, and Islamic democracy. Perhaps the most successful and most popular political system is democracy. The term democracy refers to a political system in which governing is carried out by elected representatives of the people, or by the people themselves. In a Democracy the supreme power is invested in the people. Less popular and less successful political systems include monarchies and communism. The political system known as a monarchy is the exact opposite of a democracy. Whereas a democracy places power in the hands of the people a monarchy places supreme power in the hands of one individual. Though monarchies were most common in ancient times they do still exist today. King Abdulah II of Jordan and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark are both examples of constitutional monarchs, While Sultan Qabus ibn Sa’id of Oman is one of the only absolute monarchs that remain in power. A constitutional monarch acts as head of state but is required to work within a written or unwritten constitution. whereas an absolute monarch isn’t required to follow any rules but his own. The political system known as communism seeks to destroy the class structure and private property and keep all goods controlled in a common to be redistributed to individuals as needed. Perhaps one of the most feared political systems is fascism. Fascism is a form of authoritarianism that seeks to create a single party state. Any opposition or viewpoints different from that of the party in power is often met with violence. Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini are two of the most notorious historical fascist leaders.

Democracy has become one of the most popular of the political systems because it allows citizens to have a say in their government. In America every United States citizen over the age of 18 is given the opportunity to cast their vote in elections, thereby supporting the candidate that they wish to see in office. By doing this they are supporting political viewpoints and ideas that they find important and wish to see made a priority in campaigns. Democracy was first developed in Athens around 500 B.C. Only Athenian male adults who completed their military training had the right to vote in elections. The political system in Athens was very complex and consisted of three political bodies. These bodies were the assembly, consisting of 6,000 citizens, the boule, consisting of 500 individuals, and the courts. The members of the assembly were not elected but attended because they has the right to should they choose. Though the Athenian model of democracy is very complicated (much like our own government) and requires some extensive study, the fundamental idea of putting the power in the people’s hands has been passed on to today’s democratic political systems.