The concept of a political regime is one of the main ones in conventional political science. Any political power has its own characteristic features and characteristics. The exercise of power is carried out through certain methods and means.
Political Regime
In different historical periods, state power can have different forms of political regime. The mechanisms of interaction between society and the state among themselves, the methods of political management of the country, the scope of the rights, freedoms and duties of citizens depend on them.
It is rare to find any political regime in its purest form. This is evidenced by the history of the USSR, when a tough dictatorship of power functioned for a long time under the guise of democracy. In our time, a similar situation is observed in a number of countries, including dictatorship against the backdrop of democracy.
Signs of the political regime
The main features that characterize the political regime are:
- principles on which the institutions of power operate;
- political goals;
- ways and mechanisms to achieve political goals.
The nature of the country's political regime is directly related to the historical development of the state, the traditions of the people, the levelpolitical awareness and culture. No wonder they say: "The people have the power they deserve." It is this phrase that illustrates well the cases of usurpation of power by one person or a group of persons (the so-called political elite). In fact, the people themselves allow the dictator to take the place where he is.
What is a dictatorship, the citizens of many states have felt for themselves, and sometimes more than once. As a rule, the cycle of totalitarian regimes tends to repeat itself in countries with an unchanged political culture.
Mode Shapes
The political regime is a reflection of the situation prevailing in society, characterized by the volume of citizens' participation in the exercise of state power. Political scientists distinguish two main types of state regimes.
- Democratic.
- Non-democratic (dictatorial).
The main characteristic of a democratic regime is the direct influence of citizens on the exercise of state power in the country. The state constitution does not determine the nature of political power. But it may contain indications of a democratic orientation.
In turn, answering the question: "What is a dictatorship?" - political science characterizes a regime with a complete lack of participation of civil society in the mechanisms of exercising state power. The concentration of all power in the hands of one person or group of people. The latter may represent the ruling party or even a small elite part of this party.
There are two main typesdictatorial (undemocratic) political regime:
- totalitarian;
- authoritarian.
Totalitarian regime
What is a dictatorship in the form of totalitarianism, was defined in the 20s by B. Mussolini's critics. The term "totalitarianism" was first used in relation to the fascist regime in 1925. Later the term was used to refer to the Soviet regime.
The first manifestations of totalitarianism date back to the beginning of the twentieth century. Its appearance is due to the desire of society for clear guidelines for the development of the "new man", "new economic order". Such a socio-economic model is a kind of reaction of the masses to the rapid destruction of familiar structures, the desire of people to unite in the face of a frightening future.
In an unbalanced, frightened state, the masses easily succumb to the influence of strong political leaders (leaders, Fuhrers). Charismatic individuals with sufficient political will easily find like-minded people. And already relying on their support, they exert imposing pressure on citizens, introducing their ideology, decisions, goals and ways to achieve them.
The totalitarian regime is characterized by complete (total) subordination by the state of all areas of life of a particular person and society as a whole. The state power structure under totalitarianism is a centralized political structure. The emergence of other uncontrolled political or public organizations in this situation is excluded. Due to the complete absorption of onethe power structure of all spheres of society's activity achieves ideological control of the ruling organization. As a result, such an ideology becomes a global unifying force. It is this kind of global control by the state that distinguishes totalitarianism from regimes such as military dictatorship, tyranny, despotism, and so on.
Differences in ideological currents make it possible to subdivide totalitarian regimes into "left" and "right". Based on the ideas of Marxism-Leninism and fascism, respectively.
Common features for any totalitarian regime are:
- constant search for enemies, both inside and outside the country;
- military or partially military organization of society;
- creating extreme situations;
- constant mobilization of the masses to carry out important, urgent tasks;
- hard power vertical;
- submission to leadership.
Totalitarian regimes are characterized by slogans: "victory at any cost", "the end justifies the means", "the party is our helmsman".
Authoritarian regime
The authoritarian political regime of power is characterized by the concentration of all the power of the state in one ruling group or one person (monarch, dictator).
Unlike totalitarianism, society here is not so tightly controlled. Ideology allows for pluralism of opinions, provided it is harmless to the state system. The main share of repressive measures falls on zealous opponents of the regime. The rights and freedoms of citizens are of a personal nature.
Characteristicfeatures of authoritarianism are:
- high centralization of power;
- subordination of many aspects of the life of citizens to the interests of the state;
- clear separation between people and government;
- avoid strong political opposition;
- violation of media freedoms;
- with the formal division of the branches of government into executive, legislative and judicial, in reality there is no such division;
- the constitution is declarative;
- The electoral system is actually indicative.
Authoritarianism is a transitional process between democratic and totalitarian regimes. At the same time, development can occur both in one direction and in the other direction (conservative or progressive options). Transitivity is well defined in the fuzziness of characteristics that simultaneously have the features of totalitarian and democratic regimes.
Most often, authoritarian regimes can be found in a state where the authorities seek to carry out fundamental changes in the social system and carry out a “revolution from above.”
Causes of dictatorship
Having de alt with the question “what is a dictatorship”, one cannot ignore the reasons for its occurrence. Dictatorship, according to many political scientists, is the result of the reaction of the masses to political and socio-economic crises. Such phenomena are accompanied by mass appearances of "unsettled", "unsettled" persons. In other words, as a result of the influence of external circumstances (migration, economic crises, and so on), the individual loses ties with his social groups andcultural norms. As a result, a person easily falls under the influence, and it can be manipulated. The masses made up of such people are very sensitive to the appeals of leaders who are ready to offer a new unifying basis, in other words, a new ideology. A certain illusion of attracting the individual to the common (to class, race, state, party) is created. The causes of dictatorship can be not only internal, but also external. A dictatorial regime can be established as a response to an external threat, and it can be not only real, but also imaginary. Threats can be: the prerequisites for the emergence of military conflicts, the danger of losing independence, the assumption of an invasion of the country's territory.
Conclusion
An internally closed system of power (such as a dictatorship) does not have sufficient flexibility and the ability to adapt to the dynamics of change in a multi-layered society. Fear, terror, restrictions on freedoms cannot persecute citizens forever. At the slightest relaxation of the regime, oppositional sentiments begin to actively manifest themselves in society, capable of undermining the foundations of dictatorial regimes.
In addition, against the backdrop of the active development of technical infrastructure, the constant growth in the volume of available information, the mass media, the development of the Internet, totalitarian systems face the danger of not retaining the limitedness and narrowness of the information field. And that means the inability to control the mood of the masses. And the fall of the system of unified thinking is the first and main blow to the dictatorship, which can lead to the collapse of the entiresystems. Thus, today totalitarian regimes are forced to artificially limit the information space.
The dictatorship regime can be finally destroyed only with the help of democratic institutions and the involvement of the country's population in transparent information relations. The political culture of society, self-respect and the growth of social responsibility are important for having a “he althy” government.
