People's Democratic Republic of Algeria

University of Blida 2- Lounici Ali-

Political systems
Research submitted by :
- Abdiche kaouther

2024-2025
 Table of Contents :
Introduction .
1-Definition of political system .
2-Types of Political Systems .
3- Characteristics of political system .

4-The goals and functions of the political system .

Conclusion .
 introduction :

Various states and governments obviously exist around the

world. In this context, state means the political unit within which
power and authority reside. This unit can be a whole nation or a
subdivision within a nation. Thus the nations of the world are
sometimes referred to as states (or nation-states), Government
means the group of persons who direct the political affairs of a
state, but it can also mean the type of rule by which a state is run.
Another term for this second meaning of government is political
system, which we will use here along with government. The type of
government under which people live has fundamental implications
for their freedom, their welfare, and even their lives. Accordingly we
briefly review the major political systems in the world .
1- Definition of political system :
The term 'political system' has become increasingly common in the
titles of texts and monographs in the field of comparative politics.
The older texts used such terms as 'government', 'nation', or 'state'
to describe what we call a political system. Something more is
involved here than mere style of nomenclature. This new
terminology reflects a new way of looking at political phenomena. It
includes some new names for old things, and some new terms to
refer to activities and processes which were not formerly recognized
as being parts or aspects of politics.1

2- Types of Political Systems :

2-1 - Democracy :
The type of government with which we are most familiar is
democracy, or a political system in which citizens govern
themselves either directly or indirectly. The term democracy comes
from Greek and means “rule of the people.” In Lincoln’s stirring
words from the Gettysburg Address, democracy is “government of
the people, by the people, for the people.” In direct (or pure)
democracies, people make their own decisions about the policies
and distribution of resources that affect them [Link], such
direct democracies are impractical when the number of people gets
beyond a few hundred. Representative democracies are thus much
more common. In these types of democracies, people elect officials
to represent them in legislative votes on matters affecting the
population.
Representative democracy is more practical than direct democracy
in a society of any significant size, but political scientists cite
1
From Comparative Politics: A Developmental Approach, by Gabriel A. Almond and G: Bingham Powell, Jr.,
pp. 16-18 Copyright © 1966 by Little, Brown & Co., Inc. and reprinted with their permission.
another advantage of representative democracy. At least in theory,
it ensures that the individuals who govern a society and in other
ways help a society function are the individuals who have the
appropriate talents, skills, and knowledge to do so. In this way of
thinking, the masses of people are, overall, too uninformed, too
uneducated, and too uninterested to run a society themselves.
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. Although this argument has
much merit, it is also true that many of the individuals who do get
elected to office turn out to be ineffective and/or corrupt.

2-2- Monarchy :
Monarchy is a political system in which power resides in a single
family that rules from one generation to the next generation. The
power the family enjoys is traditional authority, and many monarchs
command respect because their subjects bestow this type of
authority on them. Other monarchs, however, have ensured respect
through arbitrary power and even terror. Royal families still rule
today, but their power has declined from centuries ago. Today the
Queen of England holds a largely ceremonial position, but her
predecessors on the throne wielded much more power .2
There has been a historical change in the types of monarchies
from absolute monarchies to constitutional monarchies. In absolute
monarchies, the royal family claims the divine right to rule and
exercises significant power over its realm. Absolute monarchies
were common in both ancient times (such as Egypt) and the Middle

2
D. Alan Heslop . The structure of government , From the Website :

[Link]
Ages. In fact, the power of many absolute monarchs was not
entirely absolute, as kings and queens had to take into account the
needs and desires of other powerful parties, including the clergy
and the nobility. Over time, absolute monarchies gave way to
constitutional monarchies. In these monarchies, the royal family
plays a symbolic and ceremonial role and has little, if any, real
power. Instead, the executive and legislative branches of
government—the prime minister and parliament in many
countries—run the government, even if the royal family continues to
command admiration and respect. Constitutional monarchies exist
today in many countries, including Denmark, Great Britain, Norway,
Spain, and Sweden.

2-3- Authoritarianism and totalitarianism 3:

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. 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

Types of Political Systems , From the Website : 3

[Link]
reason for this is that these governments enjoy no legitimate
authority. Instead their power rests on fear and repression. The
populations of these governments do not willingly lend their
obedience to their leaders and realize that their leaders are treating
them very poorly; for both these reasons, they are more likely than
populations in democratic states to want to rebel. Sometimes they
do rebel, and if the rebellion becomes sufficiently massive and
widespread, a revolution occurs. In contrast, populations in
democratic states usually perceive that they are treated more or
less fairly and, further, that they can change things they do not like
through the electoral process. Seeing no need for revolution, they
do not revolt .
Since World War II, which helped make the United States an
international power, the United States has opposed some
authoritarian and totalitarian regimes while supporting others. The
Cold War pitted the United States and its allies against Communist
nations, primarily the Soviet Union, China, Cuba, and North Korea.
But at the same time the United States opposed these authoritarian
governments, it supported many others, including those in Chile,
Guatemala, and South Vietnam, that repressed and even murdered
their own citizens who dared to engage in the kind of dissent
constitutionally protected in the United States . Earlier in U.S.
history, the federal and state governments repressed dissent by
passing legislation that prohibited criticism of World War I and then
by imprisoning citizens who criticized that war . During the 1960s
and 1970s, the FBI, the CIA, and other federal agencies spied on
tens of thousands of citizens who engaged in dissent protected by
the First Amendment . While the United States remains a beacon of
freedom and hope to much of the world’s peoples, its own support
for repression in the recent and more distant past suggests that
eternal vigilance is needed to ensure that “liberty and justice for all”
is not just an empty slogan.4
2- 4- Oligarchy :
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. Generally, the word carries
negative connotations and conjures notions of a corrupt group
whose members make unfair policy decisions in order to maintain
their privileged positions. Many modern nations that claim to be
democracies are really oligarchies. 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 .
Oligarchies have existed throughout history, and today many
consider Russia an example of oligarchic political structure. After
the fall of communism, groups of business owners captured control
of this nation’s natural resources and have used the opportunity to
expand their wealth and political influence. Once an oligarchic
4
Types of Political Systems , From the Website :

[Link]
power structure has been established, it can be very difficult for
middle- and lower-class citizens to advance their socioeconomic
status.

3- Characteristics of political system :

There are four basic characteristics found in all systems,
whether we are talking about an airplane engine system or a
political system:

1) A system consists of a set of different parts or elements that work

together regularly to achieve a common goal.
2) These parts and elements interact and overlap in a regular
mechanism.
3) There are certain boundaries that separate the system from the
environment in which it operates.
4) That the work of some elements of the system is more important
than the work of other elements with regard to the functioning of the
system, for example (TV).
.

4- The goals and functions of the political system :

The most important functions of the contemporary political

system can be defined as follows:

1) Identifying society's goals and requirements, and this is

achieved through what is known as planning.
2) mobilizing and employing society's material and non-material
energies, especially human energies and wealth.
3) Achieving harmony and coexistence between the members of
the same society, regardless of their different affiliations,
orientations and beliefs, leading to the achievement of national
unity .
4) Constitutionalism:It is achieved through the application of
constitutional and legal rules to the political reality, which leads
to the legitimization of political life.
5) providing protection and security for society, which means
working to lay the foundations of peace by removing internal
and external dangers.
6) working to achieve development and progress in various
aspects of life.
7) working to obtain the elevation, dignity and greatness of
society and the state
Conclusion :
Finally, the political system in political science is the process of
official government decision-making. It is usually compared to the
legal system, the economic system, the cultural system, and other
social systems. However, this is a very simplified view of a system
that is considered more complex in academic studies linked to
questions such as who should have power and what should be the
government's impact on its people and economy.
References :
Books :
1- From Comparative Politics: A Developmental Approach, by
Gabriel A. Almond and G: Bingham Powell, Jr. Copyright ©
1966 by Little, Brown & Co., Inc. and reprinted with their
permission.

Websites :
1- Types of Political Systems , From the Website :
[Link]
2-Types of Political Systems , From the Website :
[Link]
2- D. Alan Heslop . The structure of government , From the
Website :
[Link]