Basic Types of Political Systems

I use the words socialism and fascism in describing particular political systems and actions. People react to these words. Frankly, since for me they have specific meanings, I don't get upset by the words.

Political systems break down into two primary categories. One places the individual as primary and the government's purpose is to protect the individual's inalienable rights. The other places the society as primary and subjugates the individual to the needs/purposes of the society as a whole. Who determines what those needs or purposes are? Those in power. I hope you didn't think that your one vote among millions and millions determined that.

Since man is a real being who must produce the requirements of his life in order to keep his life in existence, property is a primary concern. Who controls the property is the primary way to understand the system that one is in.

The first system is called capitalism. In capitalism, all property is privately owned. Ownership means the right to use and dispose of one's property.

The second system is called statism. Here the property is controlled by the state, hence the state has the right to the use and disposal of the property. This takes several forms:

If the property is owned by the state, the system is communism. If the title of the property is in the name of the individuals and yet it is regulated by the state, the system is fascism. The use and disposal of the property. i.e. the ownership, is according to the state's laws. In these two categories, the society is the good by which all laws are justified, so they are both forms of socialism.

Statist systems divide in other ways too: If the state is a kingdom, then it is a monarchy. In this case, the king's will is the justification for laws that he decrees. If the state is a church/religion, it is a theocracy and it is God's will that is the justification for laws the church leaders decree.

Finally there is a mixture of freedom and statism known as the welfare state. This unstable system moves toward full-fledged fascism or, at some point when it is clear that it is not working, it frees up, at least for awhile.

Democracy is not a political system at all although it is bandied about as if it were. A democracy is a state which uses a systematic means of legitimizing power by the vote of the citizens. Without a Constitution (i.e., a specific set of rights, government structure and rules) in the background, a democracy would be meaningless except possibly as a distraction to keep the masses mollified.

Another current term is "progressivism." A "progressive" is a person who thinks that the government should "progress" society according to a particular purpose or values. Having government do this means that it will be done by force and thus a progressive is a fascist by another name. The origin of this term is at the beginning of the 20th century. Woodrow Wilson was the first fascist/progressive president.

33. National identity is the person's identity and sense of belonging to one state or to one nation, a feeling one shares with a group of people, regardless of one's citizenship status.

National identity is not an inborn trait; various studies have shown that a person's national identity is a direct result of the presence of elements from the "common points" in people's daily lives: national symbols, language, national colours, the nation's history, national consciousness, blood ties, culture, music, cuisine, radio, television, etc.

The national identity of most citizens of one state or one nation tends to strengthen when the country or the nation is threatened militarily. The sense of belonging to the nation is essential as an external threat becomes clearer when individuals seek to unite with fellow countrymen to protect themselves and fight against the common threat.^{[ citation needed ]} An example of this is the development of Taiwanese identity versus Chinese identity, which strengthened after the Republic of China (ROC) became known internationally as "Taiwan" after losing its UN Seat and particularly starting in the late 1990s when it became clear that "China" (People's Republic of China) threatens Taiwan militarily and to "conquer and unite" Taiwan, especially in the face of increased popular support for Taiwan independence and tries to affect Taiwan's politics through "missle tests" and media rhetoric. Although the official country name is "Republic of China" and its residents have been taught that their country is "China" and self-references in the educational system, textbooks, and school public announcements refer to students as "we Chinese..." in the 1980s and 1990s, growing numbers of adults in the 2000s started identifying themselves as "Taiwanese" in the face of hostile Chinese stance and military threat in the 2000s and the Pan-Green Coalition's promotion of Taiwanese identity.

34. Democracy is a highly complex form of political system. It is not only a concept; it’s a culture, a code and a way of life. Despite infinite writings on democracy, no one could ever explain this concept better than the English philosopher John Locke. In his Second Treatise on Government in 1690, he presents his famous ‘consent theory’, the essence of a perfect democracy. According to Locke, the “whole power of the community” is in the hands of the “elected representatives” of the people. In other words, government should be based on people’s consent. Any political system, where people are kept away from the electoral process, may be anything but democracy. The will of the people is the ‘jugular vein’ or linchpin of a democratic society.

Due to historical, cultural, socio-economic and religious reasons, many people in Pakistan do not truly believe in democracy. These anti-democrats are in all segments of society, mostly in political parties. In the past, the Muslim League has had the worst track record supporting anti-democratic forces. Of course, the military junta played havoc with the democratic process. What did the politicians do to consolidate democracy whenever they got the opportunity? They did nothing because they had no love for true democracy. But their lust for power and position was higher than the Himalayas. Politicians in Pakistan have miserably failed to give the people the ownership of democracy. This is why the people of Pakistan distribute sweets and celebrate the demise of so-called democratic governments. Our political system is mostly based on non-democratic features and does not truly reflect the aspirations of the people.

No single executive in Pakistan is directly elected by the people, including the president, prime minister, chief ministers and governors. The upper house, the Senate, is not a directly elected body. All members who come from the Fata area and are either in the Senate or in the National Assembly are also not true representatives. In all legislatures in the country, the seats reserved for women, minorities and technocrats are filled by mere nominations and not through elections. Consequently, more than 200 out of a total of 1,070 seats are non-elected, which constitute over 20 per cent of members of the legislative bodies. This leads to graft and corruption in the legislatures since many politicians purchase seats in millions of rupees not only for themselves but for their wives, sons, daughters, siblings and relatives. This practice is the worst form of political patronage and has nothing to do with democracy. The induction of non-elected members is highly non-democratic, discriminatory and against the spirit of equal rights, equal treatment for all and rule of law. Who do Kashmala Tariq, Sharmila Farooqi and Marvi Memon, etc represent? Have they ever contested an election? Democracy is about electoral contest not beauty contest.

The American democracy is based on a two-tier electoral system where the registered voters of a party first elect their nominees/candidates in primary elections for all types of positions from president to mayor. At the second level of the general election stage, people elect their representatives from those nominees of both parties. In Pakistan, candidates are imposed by the party leadership on the people to vote. None of them is the people’s choice as a candidate. Nevertheless, I am not here to talk about fair and free elections. I only want to give people a chance to choose their leaders both as nominees/candidates and contestants. The caretaker governments of the future will have no mandate from the people. For three months, not a single elected member will be running the seventh nuclear power of the world. There is only one example in our history when a directly elected member was the executive head of a government: the Union Council Nazim under General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s Local Government system.

Democracy is a very broad concept and I’m unable to define it. However, I quote the US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart who will long be remembered for his statement that he could not define ‘obscenity’, but added “I know it when I see it.” Hence, I cannot define democracy but I know it when I see it — and I do not see it in Pakistan. Pardon me for this analogy.

36. Parliamentary system - a system of political organization of the state in which the functions are clearly defined legislative and executive authorities in the privileged position of Parliament. When parliamentarism government is formed by the Parliament from among members of the party that has a majority in parliament and is responsible to him. [1]

Parliamentarism is a special type of state sovereignty, in which the structure of government established a permanent popularly elected body responsible for taking decisions in the supreme form of laws. In this sense, the main feature of the parliamentary system - the presence of a national representative institution operating on a permanent basis. The parliamentary system of government as distinguished by specific forms of Parliament: sessions, plenary sessions, parliamentary hearings, parliamentary inquiries, etc. In modern conditions parliamentarism as possible in parliamentary republics, and in the parliamentary monarchy. It is believed that the political condition of the establishment of such a system of government is a stable two-party political system.

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