Session 06: Government, Systems,

and Regimes
1-2 2 questions in classifying typologies
-

Who rules?
Who benefits from rule?

3. This scholar introduced the modern

system of checks and balances in the
government popularly known as separation
of powers
-

Montesquieu

4. The three worlds typology is considered

the legacy of what war?
-

Cold war

5. This scholar claims that the end of the

cold war, the triumph of the liberal
democratic political world system is the
end of history.
-

Francis Fukuyama

GOVERNMENT vs REGIME
Government
-

3 core functions:

Western polyarchies
New democracies
East asian regimes
Islamic regimes
Military regimes

11. How many waves of democratization

occured as per the theory of huntington?
-

3 waves of democratization

12-13 Lipjhart distinguished the two major

types of democracy. What are those?
-

Majority and Consensus democracies

14-15. Give two possible circumstances for

military disease
-

economic underdevelopment
international support
constitution is challenged
the values of the military is different
from the broader society

make law (legislation)

implement law (execution)
interpret law (adjudication)

Political System/ Regime

-

6-10 Regime types in the modern world.

-

refers to the institutional processes

through which collective and usually
binding decisions are made
refers to any mechanism through
which ordered rule is maintained
central features: ability to make
collective decisions and the capacity
to enforce them.
it refers to the agent of the state
particular point in time (ex. Aquino
govt, Obama govt)

is a broader term that encompasses

not only the mechanisms of a
government and the institutions of
the state, but also the structures and
processes through which these
interact with the larger society
a subsystem of the larger social
system

'system': there are interrelationships within

a complex whole
'political': these interrelationships relate to
the distribution of power, wealth and
resources in the society
Political regimes: characterized
effectively by the organization of economic
life as they are by the governmental
processes through which they operate
-

a 'system of rule' that endures

despite the fact that governments
come and go
ex. Pagpapatalsik kay Marcos,
bumalik yung demokrasya sa
Pilipinas from Cory Aquino to the
present (diff govts that we consider
as one regime)

WHY DO WE CLASSIFY POLITICAL

REGIMES?
1. Classification is an essential aid to
the understanding of politics and
government.

2. The purpose of classification is to

facilitate evaluation rather than
analysis.
- Decriptive understanding is
closely tied up with normative
judgments: questions about what
is are linked to questions about
what is? -> what should be?
DRAWBACKS
1. There is a danger of simplification.
- Overemphasis on similarities.
Underemphasis on differences.
- Different meanings in different
context or cultures.
2. Value biases tend to intrude into the
classification process.
3. Classification is necessarily statebound:
-Treating individual countries as
coherent or independent entities in
their own right.

CLASSICAL TYPOLOGIES
Aristotle, 4th century BCE
analyzed 158 Greek City states
2 Questions:

2. Who benefits from rule?

- Purpose was to evaluate forms of
government on normative grounds in the
hope of the ideal constitution
- identify the ideal form of government
Rul
er
All

Monarc
hy

Few
Oligarch
y
Aristocra
cy

Many
Democr
acy
Polity

Tyranny|Oligarchy|Democracy
- Perverted forms of government in
which a single person, a small group, and
the masses, governed in their OWN
interests at the EXPENSE of others
Monarchy|Aristocracy|Polity-Right
-

Tyranny- worst of all possible

constitutions
-

It reduced citizens to the status of

slaves

Monarchy & Aristocracy- preferred

but ruler should be God-like
*Tutol siya sa pagbagsak ng monarchs
Polity- lead by middle classes; perfect
rulers
-

Rule by the many in the interests

of all
Most practicable of constitutions

Aristotle criticised POPULAR RULE on

the grounds that the masses would resent
the wealth of the few, and too easily fall
under the sway of a DEMAGOGUE.
Aristotle advocated a mixed
constitution that combined the elements
of both DEMOCRACY and ARISTOCRACY,
and left the govt in the hands of the
middle classes who were neither rich
nor poor (POLITY)
Aristotelian System was later developed
by thinkers such as Hobbes and Bodin.

1. Who rules?

One
Tyranny

the masses governed in the

interests of ALL

Preferred forms of government,

the individual, small group, and

The principle of sovereignty was their

particular reason.
-

Basis for all stable political regimes

Most high and perpetual power that
alone could guarantee orderly rule

Bodin: Absolutism was the most

defensible of regimes, as it established a
sovereign who makes law but is not bound
by those laws.
The overriding merit of resting sovereignty
in a single individual was that it would then
be indivisible: sovereignty would be
expressed in a single voice that would
claim final authority.
-

He argued that absolute monarchs

were constrained by the existence of
higher law in the form of the will of
God or natural law.

Hobbes: portrayed sovereignty as a

monopoly of coercive power, implying

that the sovereign was entirely

unconstrained (Leviathan)

Third world: under the influence of either

first or second world

*revised by early liberals: Locke and

Montesquieu- championed the cause of
constitutional government

POLITICAL DIMENSION

Locke: argued that sovereignty resided

with the people, not the monarch
-

Advocated a system of limited

government to povide protection
for natural rights; notably, the rights
to life, liberty, and property.

Montesquieu: proposed a system of

checks and balances in the form of a
separation of powers between the
executive, legislative, and judicial
institutions

First world: liberal democratic politics

based on a competitive struggle for power
at election time
Second world: one-party states, ruling
peoples / communist parties, peoples
republic
Third world: typically authoritarian
(monarch, dictators, army)
Since the 1970, the systems of
classification has been increasingly difficult
to sustain.
-

separation of powers- one of the

defining features of liberal
democratic government

THE THREE WORLDS TYPOLOGY

-had economic. Ideological, political, and
strategic diemonsions

A capitalist first world

A communist second world
A developing third world
-shaped by the COLD WAR

ECONOMIC DIMENSION
First world: industrialized western
regimes, populations enjoying the highest
level of mass affluence
Second world: communist regime, also
largely industrialized, capable of satisfying
populations basic needs
Third world: colonies, non-aligned who
were economically dependent and suffers
from widespread poverty
IDEOLOGICAL DIMENSION
First world: capitalist principles
(desirability of private enterprise, material
incentives, free market)
Second world: communist values (social
equality, collective endeavor and need for
centralized planning)

Economic development of Middle

East, East Asia, BRICS (Brazil,
Russia, India, China, South Africa),
Latin America
Fourth world: Sub-Saharan
Africa
Collapse of the USSR
Democratization in Asia, Latin
America, and Africa

Fukuyama: the end of history, triumph

of the capitalist first world
TINA- There is no alternative (Margaret
Thatcher-iron lady)

REGIME TYPES OF THE MODERN

WORLD
Western Polyarchies- liberal democracies
Huntington: produces of the first two
waves

First wave: bet. 1828 & 1926 (USA,

France, UK)
Second wave: bet. 1943 & 1962
(West Germany, Italy, Japan, and
India)

DAHL- polyarchy
[Huntington: 3 waves of
democratization]

WESTERN POLYARCHIES

Polyarchy instead of liberal democracy

1. Liberal democracy is treated as a
political ideal and invested with
normative implications.

2. Use of a polyarchy acknowledges

that these regimes fall short on the
goal of democracy.
Two General Features Of Polyarchy
[Dahl and Lindbolm]
1. There is a relatively high tolerance of
opposition.
2. The opportunity in participating in
politics should be sufficiently
widespread to real ability.

A codified constitution and a bill of

rights

NEW DEMOCRACIES: PHILIPPINES

Huntington: 3rd wave of
democratization
-

In short: regular, consecutive,

competitive elections
Lijphart: majority democracies and
consensus democracies
Majority- organised along
parliamentary
-

Westminister model (UK,

Australia, Canada, Israel, India)

Features of Majoritarian
tendencies:

single-party government
a fusion of powers between
the executive and the
assembly
an assembly that is either
unicameral or weakly
bicameral
a two-party system
a single-member plurality, or
first-past-the-post, electoral
system
unitary and centralized
government
an uncodified constitution and
a sovereign assembly

Consensus- power-sharing
-

Europe (France, Germany)

Appropriate to societies that are
divided by deep religious,
ideological, regional, and others

Features of Consensual/Pluralistic
Tendencies:

Coalition government
A separation of powers between the
executive and the assembly
An effectuve bicameral system
A multiparty system
Proportional representation
Federalism or devolution

Dictatorship, military, collapse of

soviet communism
The central features of the
process were the multiparty
elections and introduction of
market-based economic reforms
(transition countries)

DISTINCT FROM WESTERN

because:
1. Communist past cant be
disregarded like Russia,
communist system endured over
70 years.
2. Process of transition has unleased
* and generated problems from
Western.
CHALLENGES TO POSTCOMMUNIST REGIMES:
1. Political-cultural consequence of
communist rule (Stalinist
totalitarianism)
2. Shock-therapy transitions
(IMF/WB) from central planning to
free market capitalism resulted to
unemployment, inflation, and
social inequality.
3. Weakness of state power when
faced by centrifugal force
suppressed during communist
era.
0.89%- rate of plitical dynasties sa US
75%-rate of political dynasties in PH

EAST ASIAN REGIMES

(Korea, Japan, Taiwan. Hong Kong)
-

Rise of East Asia in the global

economy (19880s-present)
Assumption: modernization
means westernization
However, the interpretation fails
to take account of the degree to
which polyarchical institutions
operate in an Asian context from
the way they do in Western one
Asian different from Western
CHINA: swim to the East leap to
the West

EAST ASIAN REGIMES SIMILAR

CHARACTERISTICS:
-

1. Oriented more about economic

goals than political ones
2. Broad support for strong
government
3. Respect leaders because of
confucian stress on loyalty,
discipline, and duty
(authoritarian)
4. Emphasis on community and
social cohesion, embodied in the
central role accountable* to the
family

ISLAMIC REGIMES
-

The rise of Islam as a political

force has had a pofound effect on
politics in North Africa, the Middle
East, and parts of Asia
Saudi Arabia: Islamic state since
1932
Iran: Islamic republic established
in 1979 after the Iranian
Revolution
Led by Ayatollah Khomeini

56 Islamic states (2005)

-

Islam is not, however, and never

has been, simply a religion.
Rather, it is a complete way of
life, defining correct moral,
political, and economic behavior
for individuals and nations alike.
Political Islam which political and
other affairs are structured
according to higher religious
principles. Nevertheless, Islam
has assumed clearly contrasting
forms, ranging from
fundamentalist to pluralist
extremes.
The fundamentalist version of
Islam is most commonly
associated with Iran.
Until his death in 1989, Khomeini
*

15 senior clerics
-

Moslems, themselves, have been

rejected to the classification of
any Islamic regime as
fundamentalist, on the ground
that this perpetuates long
established Western prejudices

against an exotic or
repressive East.
Evidence that Islam is
compatible with a form of
political pluralism can be found
in Malaysia
Although a popularly elected
president and parliament have
been established, all legislation is
ratified by the Council for the
Protection of the Constitution,
which ensures conformity to
Islamic principles.
Sharia law continues to be
strictly enforced throughout Iran
as both a legal and moral code
The forces of revolutionary
fundamentalism also asserted
themselves through the Taliban
regime in Afghanistan, which
was characterized by the
imposition of strict theocratic rule
and the exclusion of women from
education, the economy and
public life in general

Said (1978): Muslims, themselves ,

however, have often objected to the
classification of any Islamic regime as
fundamentalist, on the grounds that this
perpetuates long-established western
prejudices against an exotic or repressive
East, serving as examples of orientism
Although Islam is the official state religion
of Malaysia, with the Paramount ruler
serving as both religious leader and head of
state, a form of guided democracy
operates as the dominance of the United
Malays National Organization (UMNO),
operating as a broad coalition, the Barisan
Nasional, and within a multiparty
framework
Turkey also offers an interesting example
of the relationship between Islam and
democracy, as does the Arab Spring and
developments in countries such as Egypt,
Tunisia and Libya

MILITARY REGIMES
-

Survive through the exercise of

military power and systematic
repression
Military regimes belong to a broader
category of dictatorship.

Military dictatorship: most common in

Latin America, Middle East, Africa,
Southeast Asia
Key feature: the leading posts in the
government are filled on the basis of the
persons position within the military chain
of command
-

Normal political and constitutional

arrangements are usually
suspended, and institutions
through which opposition can be
expressed, such as elected
assemblies and a free press, are
either weakened or abolished

FORMS OF MILITARY REGIME

In some military regimes, the armed forces
assume direct control of government the
classical form of this is (1) military junta
(found in Latin America):
-

This operates as a form of collective

military government centered on a
command council of officers who
usually represent the three armed
services: Army, Navy, Air Force

Junta regimes: characterized by rivalry

between the services and between leading
figures, the consequence being that formal
positions of power tend to change hands
relatively frequently
(2) Military-backed personalized
dictatorship
- a single individual gains pre-eminence
within the junta or regime, often being

bolstered by a cult of personality designed

to manufacture charismatic authority
Ex. Col. Papadopoulos, Gen. Pinochet, Gen.
Abacha
(3) the loyalty of the armed forces is
the decisive factor that upholds the
regime
- the military leaders content themselves
with pulling the strings behind the scenes
Ex. Brazil
IN WHAT CIRCUMSTANCE DOES THE
MILITARY SEIZE POWER?
Military coups appear to be associate dwith
4 key sets of circumstances:
1. There is a clear link between the
incidence of military coups and
economic underdevelopment
2. The military is likely to intervene in
politics only when it senses that the
legitimacy of the existing institutions
and the ruling elite is challenged,
and when it calculates that its
intervention is going to be successful
3. Military intervention is associated
with the degree to which the values,
goals, and interests of the armed
forces differ from those of the broder
regime
- Occured in Nigeria, Indonesia,
Pakistan
4. The militarys decision to seize
power may also be affected by
international considerations