Forms of government are ways of organizing the highest power in the state, influencing the order of formation and structure of the supreme government bodies and the principles of their interaction. They also indicate the degree of participation of the population in the life of the state. There are two forms of government - monarchy and republic.

Monarchy

Supreme state power belongs to the monarch by right of inheritance. The latter bears no responsibility to the population. Monarchy can be absolute (unlimited). In this case, the head of state alone leads the executive authorities, exercises legislative functions, and controls justice. A limited monarchy involves the distribution of supreme state power between the monarch and other bodies. It is divided into constitutional, parliamentary and dualistic. These forms of government differ from each other in the following ways. In a constitutional monarchy, the state has a representative body that, on the basis of the Constitution, significantly limits the power of the head of state. In a parliamentary monarchy, the Government is formed from representatives of the parties that received a majority in the elections to Parliament. The power of the head of state is symbolic. He does not interfere in the political life of the country. The monarch can declare war or make peace, introduce a state of emergency, etc. With dualism, power is divided between Parliament and the Government formed by the monarch, which is not responsible to the highest legislative body.

The highest state power is vested in elected bodies that carry out their activities for a certain period of time and are responsible to the population. There are such forms of government as presidential and parliamentary republics. Their main difference is who forms the Government - the Parliament or the President. In the first case, the President is not the head of the Government. He performs representative functions and is elected by Parliament. The country is governed by the Government. Parliament, if necessary, may demand the resignation of the President by expressing its no-confidence.

The head of state has broad powers and, as a rule, is also the head of the government. The formation of the Government is carried out by the President. The power of the President is limited by the need to obtain legislative support to achieve political goals. In addition to “pure” monarchies and republics, there are also atypical forms of government. These can be semi-parliamentary and semi-presidential republics, monarchies with republican elements (for example, the presence of an elected monarch, collective rule, etc.). A special place is occupied by such a form of monarchy as theocracy (Vatican City), where the supreme political and spiritual power belongs to the clergy, and the head of the church is also the head of state.

There are about two hundred states in the world. They can be classified depending on the level of economic and political development, on ideological, religious orientation, on the means by which international politics are carried out, etc. But even within the same group, having a single essence, the same tasks, states vary in their form.

When we talk about the form of a state, we mean its structure, which is manifested in the totality of its external features.

The form of the state is greatly influenced not only by economic factors, but also by natural and climatic conditions, religious views, national characteristics, the cultural level of the people, historical traditions, etc.

The form of a state includes three interrelated elements: the form of government, the form of government and the political regime.

The form of government characterizes the organization of state power, the system of supreme government bodies, as well as the order of their formation, relationships among themselves and with citizens.

Thus, in Nepal, all power belongs to the king; in Great Britain, the queen rules only formally, but in fact, the parliament and the government headed by the prime minister; The USA is a republic with a strong presidential power; In Italy, parliament plays a decisive role. However, with all the diversity of states, according to the form of government, they can be divided into two groups: monarchies and republics.

Monarchy(translated from Greek - the power of one) as a form of government can otherwise be called personal autocracy. It is distinguished by the following characteristics:

• the existence of a single head of state;
• the possession by the monarch of all power, which is supreme, indivisible and sovereign (independent);
• hereditary order of transfer of power;
• the perpetual reign of a monarch;
• legal irresponsibility of the monarch.

There are unlimited (absolute) and limited monarchies.

An absolute monarchy is characterized by the absence of representative institutions of the people and the concentration of all state power in the hands of the monarch. He makes laws, appoints officials, controls the collection of taxes and spends them at his own discretion. The punitive function is also in his hands. A type of absolute monarchy is a theocratic monarchy (for example, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman), which is characterized by the concentration of both state and religious power in the hands of the monarch.

A limited monarchy is divided into dualistic and parliamentary (constitutional) depending on the degree of limitation of the powers of the head of state.

In a dualistic monarchy, there are two political institutions: the royal court (the institution of the monarchy), which forms the government, and the parliament, which does not have any influence on the government, as, for example, in Russia before the revolution of 1917. The monarch has a strong influence on the parliament: he can veto on the laws it adopts, issue emergency decrees that have the force of law, or even dissolve parliament.

A parliamentary monarchy (sometimes called a constitutional monarchy) is characterized by limitations on the power of the monarch in both the legislative and executive spheres. Despite the fact that formally the head of government and ministers are appointed by the monarch, the government is responsible not to him, but to parliament. The monarch here is a symbolic figure, a kind of tribute to tradition, rather than an authoritative one. He reigns, but does not rule (Japan, Sweden, Great Britain).

There are several systems of succession to the throne:

1. Castilian, adopted in Scandinavian countries, does not distinguish between men and women. The decisive factor in succession to the throne is not the gender of the heir, but seniority. Consequently, the presence of an eldest daughter in the monarch's family does not give the younger son the opportunity to become king;
2. Salic, allowing women to the throne only if the king has no sons. In other words, the younger brother precludes the older sister from taking the throne;
3. the Austrian one is the most stringent system adopted in Russia after the reign of Catherine II, allowing women to the throne only if there are no men left in the royal family.

Republic(in translation, from Latin - a public matter) as a form of government arose later than the monarchy and became dominant in the modern world.

The republic has the following characteristics:

1. governance is carried out collectively, that is, not by one person, but by a system of government bodies;
2. republican government is based on the principle of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial;
3. the people participate in the formation of power; in the process of electing power, various electoral systems can be used, some less, others more democratic;
4. representative authorities and senior officials are elected for a certain term;
5. senior officials are responsible to the body that elected them or to the people.

In the practice of state building, two main types of republic are known.

Presidential Republic characterized by the significant role of the president in the system of government bodies, combining in his hands the powers of the head of state and head of government. Since the president and government are elected extra-parliamentarily, these institutions of power in certain situations can politically oppose parliament. A presidential republic creates favorable conditions for the concentration of greater powers in the hands of the president, which stabilizes state power. Usually this is extremely necessary in transitional stages (Mexico), in states where monarchical traditions are strong (Romania), in situations that are not stable (Ukraine), during reforms (Chile), in states with a vast territory or multinational composition ( USA), in the presence of emergency events, such as war (Syria). Most of the listed factors are inherent in modern Russia, so the issue of choosing the type of republic here should be resolved, of course, in favor of a presidential republic.

Parliamentary republic characterized by the proclamation of the principle of the supremacy of parliament, to which the government bears full responsibility for its activities. The president's participation in the formation of the government is minimal: it is formed by the party that receives the majority in parliament. Although the president is formally vested with great powers, in practice he does not have a serious influence on the exercise of state power, as, for example, in Germany. A parliamentary republic is a less common form of government than a presidential republic. It exists in countries with developed, largely self-regulating economies (Italy, Finland, Turkey, etc.). There are not many countries like this in the world. Russia is still very far from introducing this form of government.

There are other types of republic: super-presidential, mixed (semi-presidential or semi-parliamentary) republic.

It should be noted that the form of government cannot be chosen arbitrarily. In many ways, it depends on the level of consciousness of people living in a given state.

Forms of government determine the structure of the highest authorities, the order in accordance with which they are formed, the competence and period of activity. At the same time, they establish the method of interaction of institutions with each other and with citizens, as well as the degree of participation of the population in their creation. Let us consider further the concept of “form of government” in more detail.

Theoretical aspects

In a narrow sense, the main forms of government represent the actual organization of the highest authorities. Simply put, these are the ways through which a system is formed. In a broad sense, these are methods of organization and interaction of all institutions of power. Forms of government should not be confused with the way the state is structured and the political regime in the country. These characteristics relate to different aspects, but at the same time complement each other.

The meaning of the form of government

This element shows exactly how the highest institutions of power in the country are created and what their structure is. The form of government reflects the principles that underlie the process of interaction between government agencies. It shows the way of building relationships between ordinary citizens and the supreme authorities, to what extent the realization of the rights and freedoms of the population is ensured.

System development

The form of government is the oldest element that began to be studied back in the days of Ancient Greece. At different periods of history this term had different meanings. For example, in the era of an agrarian society, the essence of the form of government consisted only in determining the method of replacing the head of the country - through elections or in the order of inheritance. During the decomposition of feudalism and the transition to industrialization, accompanied by the weakening of royal power, the formation and strengthening of civil representation, the system began to develop. Gradually, it was not the method of transferring power that acquired greater importance, but the method of organizing interaction between the head of the country, the government, and parliament, and the mutual balancing of their powers.

Determination criteria

The form of government is characterized by the following features:

• The method of transfer of power is elective or hereditary.
• Responsibility of the highest institutions of government to citizens. For example, the monarchical form of government does not provide it for the autocrat (unlike the republican one).
• Division of powers between the highest government institutions.

Basic forms of government

There are several types of government organization:

A republic, in turn, can be:

• Presidential.
• Parliamentary.
• Mixed.

Monarchy is of the following types:

• Parliamentary.
• Dualistic.
• Constitutional.
• Estate-representative.
• Limited.
• Absolute.

Mixed forms of government:

Republic

This form of government is characterized by a special procedure for the formation of government. The authorized institution, depending on the type of republic, may be the president or parliament. The forming body coordinates the work of the government. It, in turn, is responsible to the higher institution. In a presidential republic, along with parliamentarism, the powers of the chairman of the government are in the hands of the head.

The president convenes and dissolves the government. The existing parliament cannot exert any significant influence in this regard. This form exists in Ecuador, USA. In a parliamentary republic, the president is not vested with any powers. This form exists in Greece, Israel, Germany. Parliament convenes the government and has the right to dissolve it at any time. In a mixed republic, the presidency acts jointly with the parliament. The latter has the power to control the functioning of the government. Such a system operates in the Russian Federation.

Autocracy

A state where the monarch acts as the only supreme body is called an absolute monarchy. Such a system is present in Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia. A limited monarchy is one in which, in addition to the autocrat, there are other institutions that are not accountable to him. Power is distributed among the highest authorities. This system, in turn, comes in two types.

An estate-representative monarchy is characterized by the fact that the monarch’s powers are limited by the tradition of the formation of organs according to the criterion of belonging to a particular estate. In Russia it was the Zemsky Sobor, for example.

In a constitutional monarchy, the power of the autocrat is limited by a special act. It, in turn, is divided into dualistic and parliamentary. The first assumes that the monarch has all executive power, part of the legislative initiative and judicial powers. In such systems, there is a representative body that makes laws. But the monarch has the right to veto them. This system is typical for Morocco and Jordan. In a parliamentary monarchy, the autocrat acts as a tribute to tradition. He is not vested with any significant powers. This system operates in Japan and Great Britain.

Theocratic republic

This form of government combines the main features of the Islamic Caliphate and the modern republican regime. According to the constitution, Rahbar is appointed as the head of the country. He is not elected by the citizens. His appointment is carried out by a special religious council. Influential theologians are present. The president serves as the head of the executive branch. The legislative institution is headed by parliament, consisting of one chamber. The candidacies of the president, deputies of the Mejlis, and members of the government are approved by the Council of Guardians of the Basic Law. It also reviews draft legislation for consistency with Islamic law.

Form of government- this is an element of the form of the state that characterizes the organization of the supreme state power, the order of formation of its bodies and their relationship with the population. Depending on the position of the head of state, forms of government are divided into monarchies and republics.

Monarchy

Monarchy is a form of government where the highest state power belongs to the sole head of state - the monarch, who occupies the throne by inheritance and is not responsible to the population.

Distinctive features of the monarchy:

The sole head of state is the monarch, who receives his power by inheritance;

The monarch is legally irresponsible (it is impossible to remove the monarch from power).

Types of monarchies:

Absolute monarchy (unlimited)- a state in which the monarch is the only supreme body in the country and all the fullness of state power is concentrated in his hands (Saudi Arabia, Oman). A special type is the theocratic monarchy (Vatican City).

Limited monarchy- a state in which, in addition to the monarch, there are other bodies of state power that are not accountable to him, and state power is dispersed among all the highest authorities, the power of the monarch is limited on the basis of a special act (Constitution) or tradition. In turn, a limited monarchy is divided into:

Estate-representative monarchy is a monarchy in which the power of the monarch is limited based on the tradition of forming bodies based on the criterion of belonging to a particular estate (Zemsky Sobor in Russia, Cortes in Spain) and playing the role, as a rule, of an advisory body. Currently, there are no such monarchies in the world.

A constitutional monarchy is a monarchy in which the power of the monarch is limited on the basis of a special act (the Constitution), where there is another supreme body of power, formed through the election of representatives of the people (parliament). In turn, the constitutional monarchy is divided into:

A dualistic monarchy is a state in which the monarch has full executive power and also has some legislative and judicial powers. A representative body in such a state exists and carries out legislative functions, but the monarch can impose an absolute veto on adopted acts and, at his discretion, dissolve the representative body (Jordan, Morocco).

A parliamentary monarchy is a state in which the monarch is only a tribute to tradition and does not have any significant powers. The government structure in such a monarchy is based on the principle of separation of powers (Great Britain, Japan, Denmark).

Republic

A republic is a form of government in which the highest bodies of state power are elected by the people or are formed by special representative institutions for a certain period of time and are fully responsible to the voters.

Distinctive features of the republican form of government:

There are always several supreme authorities, and the powers between them are divided in such a way that one body is independent of the other (the principle of separation of powers);

The head of state is the President, who exercises his power on behalf of the people;

The highest authorities and officials bear responsibility to the population, which can be expressed in the following:

they are elected for a certain period, after which their powers may not be renewed;

early termination of powers is possible.

Types of republics:

Republics differ mainly in which of the authorities - the parliament or the president - forms the government and directs its work, as well as to which of these the government is responsible.

A presidential republic is a state in which, along with parliamentarism, the powers of the head of state and the head of government are simultaneously combined in the hands of the president. The government is formed and dissolved directly by the president himself, while parliament cannot exert any significant influence on the government - here the principle of separation of powers is most fully revealed (USA, Ecuador).

A parliamentary republic is a state in which the supreme role in organizing public life belongs to parliament. Parliament forms the government and has the right to dismiss it at any time. The president in such a state does not have any significant powers (Israel, Greece, Germany).

Mixed republic - in states with this form of government, strong presidential power is simultaneously combined with the presence of effective measures for parliamentary control over the activities of the executive branch in the form of the government, which is formed by the president with the mandatory participation of parliament. Thus, the government is responsible simultaneously to both the president and the parliament of the country (Ukraine, Portugal, France).