There are four characteristic attitudes and behaviors of political culture within democratic societies. Explain each of the four characteristics. How does the U.S. measure up to these four key characteristics?
- Tolerance- the concept of tolerance is very essential for the success of a democratic political system. Tolerance means the legitimacy or acceptance of people of different religion race, ethnicity or those different political and social standing. Political tolerance studies have proved that there is a relationship between political intolerance and threats. Thus, in order to maintain peace, democratic societies are guided by tolerance as an important virtue. The United States has people of different social, political, economic and religion perspective. The United States is one country where tolerance is highly practiced (Arwine, & Mayer, 2012).
- Active participation- this allows citizens to do much more than just listen. Active participation allows private citizens to support or influence politics. Citizens can take part in electoral processes, speak out, associate, vie for office and be involved in public affairs. United States citizens are very active in political and government affairs.
- High level of interest and information- as much as citizens are free to participate, they cannot present their genuine opinions and effect change if they do not know what is happening. The level of interest and circulation of important information in the United States is satisfactory.
- Varying support for the state, the regime and the government- the other three characteristics are necessary for the people to hold the government accountable and vice versa. They are important regardless of the regime and government people support. This can be quite challenging considering that people in the United States rarely have faith in the government.
Related: Liberalism, conservatism, socialism, fascism
Distinguish between military, one-party states, monarchies, and theocratic forms of authoritarian regimes. What are the central characteristics of each? Provide an example of each form of government. Are authoritarian regimes more effective at providing material goods to their citizens than democratic regimes? Explain.
Military regime
The military regime is a type of government where all political power resides in the military. Being the most powerful force, the military gathers, holds and concentrates legitimate and political power. Military administrations are not delegated governments controlled by the military because they have military structure. Although civil servants and legislators are involved in the legislature, the military’s say is final. The vicinity of regular citizens in this form of government shows that military elites do not always comprise military administrators. Considering all things, a military officer, dynamic or resigned, with the support of military foundation, represents a military administration. Military officers have a huge impact on political arrangements in this type of government. The most conspicuous elements leading to their decrease when they were vigorous are lack of power to govern effectively and lack of global authenticity.
The breakdown of the Soviet Union and the end of Cold War made it so hard for military administrators to use socialism to defend their activities. In any case, military administrations are responsible for keeping the world at peace. Towards the start of the 21st century, military administrations were actively involved in nations such as Fiji, Mauritania and Thailand. Military powers that rose to fame in the 1960s in Myanmar and Libya are still doing well. Finally, although the number of military administrations around the world is diminishing significantly, it is not likely that they will be wiped out completely at any one point (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017).
One party state regime
This type of authoritarian rule has become very common and they have become more stable and they are growing faster than other regimes. The one party state regime is a single party state system where an administration is shaped by a single political force. Other parties are thus prohibited or allowed to participate in controlled or restricted activities. Sometime a single gathering state portrays a prevailing gathering framework that is different from single party state in that multiparty decisions and majority rule are permitted. The first single gathering state was started by the True Whig Party in Liberia. The party was very influential in commanding Liberian legislative issues for more than a century since 1878.
Monarchy regime
A monarchy is a form of a government where the leader of government of chosen based on birthright. Monarchies are not so common in the 21st century and those that still exist are symbolic with the king or queen being the head of state. The monarch represents their country but do not have much impact on policy. The power of the monarch is exercised in organization, equity, charges and outside strategy. Just as most political systems, monarchies are not equal. Rather, they are subject to the country’s political climate, culture and social mores. In the 21st century, the existing monarchies are constitutional. This means that the constitution limits their power and thus it has higher authority than the monarch (Grover, 2017).
Theoretic regime
In such a regime, God or a divine being is perceived as the leader of the administration. The laws that God has instituted in regards to that religion are the only laws that govern the area. As a result, the state progressive and religious systems are the same. Most theocratic regimes have a person acting as their natural leader of the religion. The leader stands in for God and thus he is the genuine leader for the state and religion. Some of the current theoretic nations include Afghanistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania and Iran.
Authoritarian governments can be more effective than democratic governments because they often lead to social, political, and economic stability, fast accomplishments of societal goals, and better decision making.
References
Grover, S. (2017). What Are the Characteristics of a Monarchy?. Our Everyday Life. Retrieved 26 March 2017, from http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com/characteristics-monarchy-7921.html
Encyclopedia Britannica,. (2017). military rule | political regime. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 26 March 2017, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/military-rule
Arwine, A., & Mayer, L. (2012). The Impact of Tolerance on Political Behavior. wpsa.research.pdx.edu. Retrieved 26 March 2017, from https://wpsa.research.pdx.edu/meet/2012/arwineandmayer.pdf
