List of forms of rule
Forms of rule characterize the actual way in which rule is exercisedand take into account, among other things, which persons or groupsexercise political power .
The systems of government , which are differentiated according to the position of the head of state , heads of government and parliament as well as their interrelationship, must be distinguished from this. A distinction must also be made between forms of government and the forms of government , which nowadays are usually based on the constitutional position of the head of state.
When examining case studies, it is often found that several forms of rule can occur in parallel.
In social forms such as the “ hunter-gatherer ” cultures, which are mainly to be found in the Neolithic , and also with nomads, there is often a segmental society in which there is no permanent ruler, but at most people of respect who temporarily take on leading tasks based on collective decisions allowed to.
The case in which there is no form of rule and thus in fact no one exercises rule is called anarchy . In contrast to the segmentary society, however, anarchy must be understood as a consciously chosen “return” from a pre-existing form of rule.
Overview of forms of rule
| designation | Rule by ... | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| absolutism | a monarch detached from controls | Special form of the monarchy (see there). Examples: France ( Louis XIV. ), Principalities in the Roman-German Empire . Absolutist rulers acted on their own authority; Age of absolutism in Europe between 1648 and 1789. |
| Aisymnety | Arbitrator | Aisymnets were mediators in antiquity who were supposed to reunite city-states after a crisis, they had great power. |
| Acephaly (" freedom of rule") | at most temporary informal and provisional leaders | Social structure without permanent heads, for example in hordes of hunters, fishermen and collectors (horde society) or in segmental societies |
| Algocracy | Calculator ( algorithms ) | The rule of algorithms |
| anarchy | nobody | Anarchism denotes a state of absence of domination. |
| Androcracy | Men | |
| aristocracy | the nobility or the " best " | As a rule, the aristocracy describes the rule of the nobility (also over a senate as a senate aristocracy), more rarely also a priestly aristocracy or early bourgeois urban aristocracy (patrician rule ). The term labor aristocracy also appears in socialist writings . In a figurative sense, the term money aristocracy is also used. |
| autocracy | a single person or group | literally “autocracy”, self-legitimized rule; see also autocrat |
| bureaucracy | Officer | Order, control, sanction |
| Demarchy | the people | democratic form of rule in which the government and representatives are determined by lottery and not by elections; a variant of democracy |
| democracy | the people (direct) or elected representatives (indirect) | direct or indirect rule by the people; Negative in antiquity, see ochlocracy (degenerate form of democracy): rule of the rabble, the mob. For the different variants of democracy in detail see here . |
| despotism | a ruler | totalitarian rule of a tyrant |
| dictatorship | the commanding ones | Dictatorship by a dictator , a political party or other group. Expression moves between the poles “authoritarian” and “totalitarian” . For possible variants of a dictatorship see here . |
| Dyarchy | two equal persons | literally "dual power" |
| Ecclesiarchy | cleric | |
| Epistocracy | Philosophers | according to Plato not rule of intellectuals; Kant favors the coexistence of rulers and philosophers |
| Expertocracy | Experts | | see. technocracy |
| Exarchy | Bishops | |
| feudalism | Feudal lords | see also manorial rule |
| gerontocracy | the old | also by the council of elders |
| Globocracy | international regimes or organizations | z. B. UN, WTO or international organizations to be created , EU |
| Manorial rule | the landowner | similar to lordship by the landlord |
| Gynarchy | Women | |
| Chieftainship | permanently recognized leader | Binding to an inheritable office, but mostly only limited power |
| Hierarchy | priest | |
| Idiocracy | Stupid | |
| Infocracy | Mass media | see. Telecracy (problem: information selection by the media) |
| Kakistocracy | the worst | as "rule of the worst" analogous to aristocracy ("rule of the best") |
| Kleptocracy | the corrupt | as the rule of those who have arbitrary power of disposal over the property and income of the ruled and either enrich themselves or their clientele at the expense of the ruled |
| communism | all together | Idea of a domination-free and classless society |
| Corporatocracy | Companies | Political orders or political systems are influenced and determined by leading corporations, the so-called global players ("corporate rule") |
| Critarchy | Judge | as impermissible rule by judges. Especially in the context of judges arbitrarily assuming power of disposal over the freedom, life, property and income of the ruled and either enriching themselves or their clientele at the expense of the ruled. |
| Kyriarchat | a "lord, master " | stands for interconnected, interacting systems of domination and submission. |
| Kyriarchy | the potentate | Influence of a secular ruler on church hierarchies |
| matriarchy | Mothers / the elders | in a community dominated by women |
| meritocracy | deserved personalities | Rule by public officials who have been selected on the basis of their performance or merit so that there is no abuse of power. |
| Minarchy (minimal state) | "Freedom and the property of every individual" | Minimal exercise of power through parliaments; Rule limited to the judiciary, police, prisons and armed forces |
| monarchy | an individual , often supposedly authorized by God | literally "sole rule", by succession or by elections
(Absolute monarchy: the king can rule without a representative office, without parliament and a constitution; constitutional monarchy: the king is subject to a constitution; parliamentary monarchy: the king is only the head of the executive, parliament is the legislature) |
| Monocracy | One ruler | can represent both a legitimate monarchy and a tyranny or dictatorship and is therefore an umbrella term for these forms of rule. The opposite is polycracy . |
| Neopatrimonialism | Favoritism | Mixed form of the two Weberian types of rule of patrimonial and rational-legal rule ; between democracy and autocracy. Characteristics are clientelism , corruption and the rent economy . Widespread especially in modern times (especially in Africa). |
| Nomocracy | Rule of law | In a nomocracy, the ruler cannot or hardly change the rules (laws). |
| oligarchy | a minority / a selfish small group, literally "rule less" | In an oligarchy there are some who rule, but they are only interested in their self-interest. It thus forms the counterpart to the aristocracy in the constitutional cycle. |
| Ochlocracy | the crowd / the " rabble " | In the constitutional cycle, alongside democracy, the degenerate form of politics |
| Panarchy | all systems | Separation of government and territory - d. H. “All” systems can exist in a territory |
| Pantisocracy | all alike | ST Coleridge , R. Southey and R. Lovell used the term as a name for their colony to be founded in the New World in the late 18th century. See also: Utopian Socialism |
| Paidoarchy | children | as the succession of the ages of patriarchy and matriarchy |
| Patriarchy | Fathers / elders | in a male dominated community |
| plutocracy | the rich | Sub-form of the oligarchy; State offices are only accessible to the rich (including plutarchy ). |
| Politics | Sensible, level-headed | According to Aristotle, the best form of legal rule in the constitutional cycle. |
| Polyarchy | Many, several | in contrast to the monarchy |
| Polycracy | Many in parallel | Counterpart to the sole rule of an individual ( monocracy ). |
| Pornocracy | Mistresses | Influencing the rulers through their (official) lover |
| Ptochocracy | the poor | |
| socialism | Rule of the proletariat (working class) | According to Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels ( Marxism ), the proletariat organized in a party can and should conquer power; this rule of the proletariat (socialism) has its main task in the abolition of economic private property and can lead to a classless society ( communism ). |
| Sociocracy | the (entire) population | no clear demarcation to democracy or ochlocracy possible; however, usually also includes residents who are not normally entitled to vote. |
| Stratocracy | military | bourgeois government with military intervention by the armed forces |
| Synarchy | by many people at the same time | Form of rule in which the government is carried out by many people at the same time; many conspiracy theories see synarchies as "world governments" such as the Freemasons or the Illuminati order . The term has existed since the 19th century. |
| Sync | from many | Form of rule of a state in which the people participate in legislation and government, for example through voting or elected representatives. |
| technocracy | Expert commissions | pejorative for decisions based on practical constraints by experts and politicians, mostly believing in progress |
| Thalassocracy | of the ocean | Form of rule of a maritime-commercially oriented state or an association of states that have a superiority based on sea power to secure their trade monopoly as well as an efficient economy and merchant fleet. |
| theocracy | a divinely chosen person or the priestly class | literally "rule of God"; Form of rule in which the ruler is venerated by his followers as a divinely chosen person and his power is legitimized only religiously. See also " Caesaropapism " with a secular and spiritual ruler in one person |
| Timocracy | the most respected / the haves | literally "honorary rule" |
| Tyranny | an absolute ruler | predominantly ancient form of autocracy, in which the ruler, according to Aristotle, can rule absolutely. |
| Xenocracy | Strangers | "Foreign rule" |
Democracy and dictatorship variants
The following tables are also intended to give an overview of the different types of dictatorships and types of democracy :
| Form of rule | Meaning or variants | distribution | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| democracy | Popular rule (Greek) | Greek antiquity to the present day | Democracy originally referred to direct popular rule in ancient Greece, today the term describes all forms of rule whose bases are derived from the people. |
| Variants of Democracy | Direct democracy (also called immediate democracy ) | Direct exercise of power by the people (or better: by the citizens) | |
| Grassroots democracy | Form of direct democracy , d. H. direct popular rule independent of representatives "from below" | ||
| Participatory Democracy | Objective of the political participation of many in as many areas as possible | ||
| Liquid Democracy | The citizen can vote on laws or the like himself or transfer his vote (together with any adopted) to someone else. He can withdraw or change the transfer at any time and for any decision. The whole thing is organized via a computer network. | ||
| Demarchy (also called aleatory democracy) | z. B. Attic democracy | Government or elected officials are lottery , not by election determined | |
| Representative democracy (also called indirect democracy) | Decisions are not made by the people themselves, but by cyclically elected representatives | ||
| Council democracy | |||
| Deliberative democracy | |||
| Illiberal democracy | |||
| Panarchism | The voting decision applies to the voter concerned; Personal identity instead of territorial identity | ||
| Party democracy | Democratic system with a decisive role for political parties | ||
| Chancellor Democracy | Special type of representative democracy with a special power position of the chancellor | ||
| Plebiscitary democracy | Mixed type; representative democracy with numerous possibilities for direct political influence by the people or citizens |
| Form of rule | Meaning or variants | distribution | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
| dictatorship | to prescribe, to command (Latin) | Roman antiquity to modern times, in the 20th century for example Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin | Originally, a (Roman) dictator was a commanding officer legitimized with special powers over all areas for time in times of need. In a dictatorship, a single dictator or a small group rules without free elections; Unlike monarchs, (modern) dictators usually do not come to power through inheritance or election, but illegitimately by overthrowing a legitimate form of government. The exercise of power can be either authoritarian or totalitarian . Formal republics or monarchies can also be run dictatorially. At the same time, the dictatorship is a philosophical form of rule . |
| Variants of dictatorship and forms of government in dictatorial states | Despotism / tyranny | Usually the term describes a degenerate dictatorial monarchy in which the ruler (despot) exercises absolute rule. Despotism is characterized by tyranny and arbitrariness . Despot corresponds to the term ruler in Greek. | |
| Dictatorship of the proletariat | Political rule especially of the working class | ||
| One-party system | Dictatorial rule by a party | ||
| Military dictatorship | Exercise of government through a military system | ||
| Personal dictatorship | Fixed on a leader, less ideological dictatorship and thus a special form of charismatic rule | ||
| Mixed forms | Mixed types from the previous forms of dictatorship |
See also
Individual evidence
- ^ Walter Leisner: The Democratic Anarchy: Loss of Order as a State Principle? Duncker & Humblot, 1982.
- ↑ Aneesh Aneesh: Global Work: Technologically Coded Authority: The Post-Industrial Decline in Bureaucratic Hierarchies . ( stanford.edu [PDF; accessed on August 18, 2018]).
- ↑ Paidoarchat - The Age of the Child. In: Man - the fascinating being. February 7, 2014, accessed on April 22, 2020 (German).