The political structure of the state: forms, regimes

States differ from each other not only in terms of area, population, level of welfare of citizens. Their internal organization can also be very different. What are the main features of the political structure of the country? What are their forms and regimes in modern state theory? This will be discussed in this article.

What is the state?

The state is a voluminous multi-faceted category, which is studied by a number of scientific disciplines: from geography to sociology. Unlike a particular territory or geographic country, this education is difficult to empirically perceive, being more abstract than the real object of research.

The phenomenon of the state, its political structure, form of government - these questions disturbed the minds of many philosophers and scientists in various historical epochs. Thus, such thinkers as Aristotle and Plato, Thomas Aquinas and Confucius, John Locke and Herbert Spencer engaged in the study of various aspects of the state .

The Ancient Greek philosopher Plato devoted one of his works (dialogues) under the same name to "The State". In this work, you can find several interesting ideas that have not lost their relevance in our days. So, he said that at the head of the state must be wise philosophers, because only they are able to properly take care of citizens. Plato also did not like the political structure of a democratic type. He called democracy a just and at the same time unjust power of the majority.

Signs and functions of the state

The state is a very complex social structure, an idea of which can be drawn up through the main features of this education. There are seven in all:

• Strictly delimited in geographical space;
• A certain population;
• Presence of public authorities and laws (norms of conduct);
• The presence of a system of law enforcement and ship agencies that follow the implementation of established laws;
• The presence of the army;
• Functioning of the system of taxation of citizens;
• The existence of state sovereignty (independence).

Proceeding from these signs, the state is obliged to perform several functions, namely:

• Political;
• Economic;
• Social;
• Defensive;
• Law enforcement;
• Cultural and educational and some others.

In this article, we will dwell in more detail on the first of these functions, examining in detail the forms and regimes of the political structure of the country. Which ones are the most popular today?

The political structure of the state and its main forms

Different scientists, philosophers and thinkers have differently assessed the role of the state. Sometimes these assessments were polar to each other. Thus, Vladimir Lenin argued that "the state is the apparatus of violence in the hands of the ruling class". But the famous Russian existentialist Nikolai Berdyaev was sure that it is the state that allows the earthly human life not to turn into the final hell.

Both these and other statements have the same right to life. The effectiveness of the education under consideration in this article largely depends on the specific form of the political structure of the state. After all, in some countries of the planet we see how the rulers really try to work for their people. In other countries, the government apparatus only oppresses and uses its citizens.

Socio-political arrangement is a process and at the same time the result of the organization of power in a specific country. It includes both the type of state structure and the political regime.

The form of the political system is a way of national, as well as territorial organization of the state. It provides for the establishment of certain relationships between central and regional (local) authorities.

A political device can take three basic forms. It is a unitary state, a federation, and also a confederation.

Unitary State: Characteristics and Signs

A unitary state is understood as such a political structure of the country, under which its separate administrative-territorial units do not have sovereignty. Among the main features of this form are the following:

• A single citizenship and a system of lawmaking;
• Leadership of the country from a single center (capital);
• A unified financial and taxation system;
• A single army;
• Common state symbols - flag, emblem and anthem.

In modern political science there are several types of unitary states. It:

• Strictly centralized;
• Decentralized.

Unitary states can have one (examples: Tajikistan, Ukraine) or several autonomies (examples: Moldova, Spain).

In the quantitative aspect, unitary states predominate in the modern world. This is clearly visible on the map, where they are all marked in blue. As a rule, this is a small country with a predominance of one nation. Although there are exceptions among them. One of them is China, which has several multi-level autonomies.

Federative State: Characteristics and Signs

The Federation is a special political device in which certain parts of the state have a certain sovereignty that is legally fixed. The word itself has Latin roots and is translated as "union" or "union".

One of the distinguishing features of a federal state is the so-called double legislation. What does it mean? Laws can be created both by central authorities and regional ones. At the same time, bills adopted at the level of individual subjects of the federation should not contradict federal legislation.

In federations, as a rule, there is a single monetary unit, however, the tax system can be two-channel. This means that a specific subject of the federation has the right to form its regional budget and distribute its funds.

In the world, symmetrical and asymmetric federations are distinguished. In the first, territorial entities have equal rights, but in the second their legal status is not the same.

The federations on the modern political map of the planet are evenly distributed (there are 28 of them). Among them - almost all the largest countries in the world: Russia, the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, India.

Confederation: the essence and historical examples

Under the confederation is meant the union of several states, created to achieve any goal: military, economic or other. Countries that are part of the confederation, as a rule, retain their sovereignty both in domestic policy and in the global arena.

The main features of confederations are the absence:

• Common borders;
• A single system of lawmaking;
• A unified financial system;
• A single constitution;
• Single citizenship.

All decisions in the confederation are taken on the basis of consensus. At the same time, each of its participants reserves the right to free access from such union.

Confederations were common throughout the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe. In the last century there were still several classical confederations: the United Arab Republic, and also Senegambia. However, they existed quite a short time. Today, the features of the confederation can be observed with the example of the European Union or the organization of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States).

Basic forms of the state-legal regime

The powers that be in each of the countries of the world can exercise their powers in different ways. The totality of methods and means of realizing power - this is the state-legal regime. He is the most important element, the criterion for determining the essence of a state.

There are several types (forms) of the state-legal regime. It can be democratic or undemocratic (authoritarian, totalitarian, fascist, etc.).

It is very difficult to distinguish a democratic regime from a totalitarian one. So, for example, the leadership of the Soviet Union positioned itself before the whole world as "an island of democratic rights and freedoms". And many peoples of the world sincerely believed in this lie.

Authoritarianism and its Signs

"The power of the founder" - so roughly you can translate the term from Latin. In this political regime, absolutely all the power is in the hands of one person (or a group of people).

The main signs of authoritarianism include the following:

• Powerful centralization of power;
• Command-planning method of governing the country;
• Strict control of various aspects of public life by the state;
• The absence of a real division of power into separate branches (legislative, executive, judicial);

The Constitution of the country under authoritarianism is purely declarative in nature, popular elections are indicative-fictitious.

Political repressions under this regime are selective, they are directed against only the most active opponents of power. Pluralism of thought, in general, is allowed, but only if it does not cause significant harm to the system. These two features distinguish authoritarianism from totalitarianism.

Totalitarianism and its Signs

Few people know that the term was used by the dictator Mussolini in the 1920s. Totalitarianism means total (total) control of the state of all spheres of public life. Despotism, tyranny, repression and mass denunciations are all typical features of this political regime.

The society as a whole and every person separately under totalitarianism are completely absorbed by the state. Pluralism of opinions is not permissible in any sphere of life. Another distinguishing feature of totalitarianism is the rigid vertical of power.

In world history there are examples of both "left" and "right" totalitarianism. The first was typical for the Soviet Union, the second - for fascist Germany or the dictatorial regime B. Mussolini.

Democracy and its main features

Democracy is the power of the people (literal translation from the ancient Greek language). Under this regime, the people in the state, or more precisely, the majority, are the bearer of power in the state.

It should be noted that the outstanding thinker Plato did not like democracy. He considered it one of the worst forms of government. But the famous politician Winston Churchill once described it as follows: "Democracy is the worst form of government, not counting all the others that are known to history." So the British prime minister subtly emphasized the lack of alternative to this political regime.

The most important features of democracy are:

• Universal suffrage, as a result of which the power is formed;
• Recognition of the supreme power of the people at the legal level;
• Absolute equality of rights of all citizens, regardless of gender, age or nationality;
• Subordination of the minority to the majority;
• Control of the public over the actions of the executive branch of government.

The political structure of Russia

Modern Russia is a federal state. It is a presidential-parliamentary republic, in which the president has rather broad powers. The main institutions of power in the country were formed in the early 1990s, immediately after the collapse of the USSR. At the beginning of this century, small changes were made to their functioning.

Russia has a complex administrative and territorial structure. In the state - 85 subjects of the federation, which are endowed with equal rights and powers. Each of them has its own legislative body, as well as its regional government. In addition, Russia is divided into nine more federal districts.

The modern political structure of Russia has features of both a territorial and a national federation. Formations of a national type in the Russian Federation are represented by the republics. Territorial entities are regions, territories, autonomies, and also cities of federal significance. Such a mixed nature of the political system requires a fairly flexible and well-thought-out policy on the part of the authorities.

Finally…

Under the form of the political structure of the state means the way of governing the country. In the modern theory of the state it is customary to distinguish three such forms: a unitary state, a federation and a confederation. Each of them is different for its features and attributes.

On the political map of the 21st century, unitary states predominate. Federations are much smaller, but the confederations, in fact, and did not remain.