Governments do not only divide power between branches. They also divide power across levels. A country may have a national government, regional governments, state governments, provincial governments, city governments, county governments, or local councils. One of the major questions in political science is how power is divided between them.
6.4 Federal, Unitary, and Confederal Systems Read More »
Governments can organize executive and legislative power in different ways. Three common systems are (1) presidential systems, (2) parliamentary systems, and (3) semi-presidential systems.
6.3 Presidential, Parliamentary, and Semi-Presidential Systems Read More »
Many governments divide political power into three major functions: (1) legislative power, (2) executive power, and (3) judicial power. These are often called the branches of government.
6.2 Branches of Government: Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Power Read More »
Every government needs rules. A government may have leaders, officials, courts, laws, police, elections, agencies, and military power, but those things do not automatically explain how the government is supposed to work. Who has authority? What limits exist on that authority? What rights do citizens have? What happens when different parts of government disagree?
6.1 Constitutions: The Rules That Organize Government Read More »
Module 6 explains how governments are organized internally through constitutions, branches of government, executive-legislative systems, and territorial divisions of power. It begins by showing that constitutions are the basic rules that define authority, limit power, protect rights, and create procedures for political conflict. It then explains the three main branches of government—legislative, executive, and judicial—and shows how separation of powers and checks and balances are meant to prevent too much power from being concentrated in one place.
6.0 Political Science Module 6: Government Structure and Institutions Read More »
A hybrid regime is a political system that combines features of democracy and authoritarianism. Hybrid regimes are sometimes called gray-zone regimes because they are not fully democratic, but they are not fully authoritarian either. They may have constitutions, elections, courts, political parties, and legislatures, but these institutions do not function as freely or fairly as they would in a healthy democracy.
5.4 Hybrid Regimes: The Gray Zone Between Democracy and Dictatorship Read More »
Authoritarianism is a political regime where power is concentrated in the hands of one leader, one party, one military group, or a small ruling elite. In an authoritarian system, ordinary citizens have limited ability to challenge the people in power.
5.3 Authoritarianism and Totalitarianism Read More »
A democracy is a political regime where political power is supposed to come from the people. The word democracy comes from two Greek words: (1) demos, meaning “people,” (2) kratos, meaning “rule” or “power.”
5.2 What Is Democracy? Read More »
A political regime is the basic system that determines how political power works in a society. To understand this, it helps to separate three related ideas: (1) the state, (2) the government, and (3) the regime.
5.1 What Is a Political Regime? Read More »
Module 5 explains the main types of political regimes, focusing on how power is gained, used, limited, and transferred. It begins by distinguishing the state, government, and regime, then defines a regime as the deeper system of rule beneath changing leaders or administrations. The module explains that democracy is a system in which power is supposed to come from the people through meaningful political competition, freedom, accountability, and the rule of law.
5.0 Political Science Module 5: Types of Political Systems (Regimes) Read More »
