111-630: [REDACTED] Look up liberal democrats in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Liberal Democrats may refer to: supporters of liberal democracy Liberal Democrats (UK) , a political party in the United Kingdom Liberal Democratic Party (Australia) , a political party in Australia, also known as Liberal Democrats left-liberals or social liberals in
222-463: A republic in which the executive branch is elected separately from the legislative . A parliamentary system is distinguished by the executive branch of government being dependent on the direct or indirect support of the parliament , often expressed through a vote of confidence . The presidential system of democratic government has been adopted in Latin America , Africa and parts of
333-437: A separation of powers into different branches of government , the rule of law in everyday life as part of an open society , a market economy with private property , universal suffrage , and the equal protection of human rights , civil rights , civil liberties , and political freedoms for all citizens. Substantive democracy refers to substantive rights and substantive laws , which can include substantive equality ,
444-568: A continuous defensive and withdrawal. The Dominions of the British Empire became laboratories for liberal democracy from the mid 19th century onward. In Canada, responsible government began in the 1840s and in Australia and New Zealand, parliamentary government elected by male suffrage and secret ballot was established from the 1850s and female suffrage achieved from the 1890s. Reforms and revolutions helped move most European countries towards liberal democracy. Liberalism ceased being
555-414: A country may still be seen as a liberal democracy. Some argue that this is only quantitatively (not qualitatively) different from autocracies that persecute opponents, since only a small number of people are affected and the restrictions are less severe, but others emphasize that democracies are different. At least in theory, opponents of democracy are also allowed due process under the rule of law. Since it
666-469: A dominant position among theories of government and is now endorsed by the vast majority of the political spectrum. Although liberal democracy was originally put forward by Enlightenment liberals, the relationship between democracy and liberalism has been controversial since the beginning and was problematized in the 20th century. In his book Freedom and Equality in a Liberal Democratic State , Jasper Doomen posited that freedom and equality are necessary for
777-546: A fringe opinion and joined the political mainstream. At the same time, a number of non-liberal ideologies developed that took the concept of liberal democracy and made it their own. The political spectrum changed; traditional monarchy became more and more a fringe view and liberal democracy became more and more mainstream. By the end of the 19th century, liberal democracy was no longer only a liberal idea, but an idea supported by many different ideologies. After World War I and especially after World War II , liberal democracy achieved
888-456: A goal to create a typology or taxonomy of polities , as typologies of political systems are not obvious. It is especially important in the political science fields of comparative politics and international relations . Like all categories discerned within forms of government, the boundaries of government classifications are either fluid or ill-defined. Superficially, all governments have an official de jure or ideal form. The United States
999-425: A governing body, such as a legislature or jury . Some governments combine both direct and indirect democratic governance, wherein the citizenry selects representatives to administer day-to-day governance, while also reserving the right to govern directly through popular initiatives , referendums (plebiscites), and the right of recall . In a constitutional democracy the powers of the majority are exercised within
1110-679: A liberal democracy. In his book The End of History and the Last Man , Francis Fukuyama says that since the French Revolution , liberal democracy has repeatedly proven to be a fundamentally better system (ethically, politically, economically) than any of the alternatives, and that democracy will become more and more prevalent in the long term, although it may suffer temporary setbacks. The research institute Freedom House today simply defines liberal democracy as an electoral democracy also protecting civil liberties . Political freedom
1221-420: A more limited franchise . Even today, some countries, considered to be liberal democracies, do not have truly universal suffrage. In some countries, members of political organizations with connections to historical totalitarian governments (for example formerly predominant communist, fascist or Nazi governments in some European countries) may be deprived of the vote and the privilege of holding certain jobs. In
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#17327657072671332-463: A narrower scope, such as the government of Portugal , which is actually more similar to the concept of "administration" . The moment and place that the phenomenon of human government developed is lost in time; however, history does record the formations of early governments. About 5,000 years ago, the first small city-states appeared. By the third to second millenniums BC, some of these had developed into larger governed areas: Sumer , ancient Egypt ,
1443-480: A party receives nationwide or in a particular region. One of the main points of contention between these two systems is whether to have representatives who are able to effectively represent specific regions in a country, or to have all citizens' vote count the same, regardless of where in the country they happen to live. Some countries, such as Germany and New Zealand , address the conflict between these two forms of representation by having two categories of seats in
1554-472: A period of expansion in the second half of the 20th century, liberal democracy became a prevalent political system in the world. Liberal democracy traces its origins—and its name—to 18th-century Europe, during the Age of Enlightenment . At the time, the vast majority of European states were monarchies , with political power held either by the monarch or the aristocracy . The possibility of democracy had not been
1665-779: A political party in Belarus, also known as Liberal Democrats Liberal Democrats (Belgium) , a political party in Belgium Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) , a political party in Japan, also known as Liberal Democrats Liberal Democratic Party (Netherlands) , a political party in the Netherlands Liberal Democrats (Slovenia) , a political party in Slovenia Liberal Democratic Party of Russia ,
1776-848: A political party in Russia, also known as Liberal Democrats Liberal Democratic Party of Ukraine , a political party in Ukraine, also known as Liberal Democrats Croatian People's Party – Liberal Democrats , a political party in Croatia, sometimes shortened as Liberal Democrats Order of the Nation (political party) , a political party in the Czech Republic formerly known as LiDem – Liberal Democrats See also [ edit ] List of Liberal Democratic parties All pages with titles containing liberal democrat Topics referred to by
1887-709: A political party took form with groups debating rights to political representation during the Putney Debates of 1647. After the English Civil Wars (1642–1651) and the Glorious Revolution of 1688, the Bill of Rights was enacted in 1689, which codified certain rights and liberties. The Bill set out the requirement for regular elections, rules for freedom of speech in Parliament and limited
1998-401: A political regime to be considered a liberal democracy it must contain in its governing over a nation-state the provision of civil rights- the non-discrimination in the provision of public goods such as justice, security, education and health- in addition to, political rights- the guarantee of free and fair electoral contests, which allow the winners of such contests to determine policy subject to
2109-527: A seriously considered political theory since classical antiquity and the widely held belief was that democracies would be inherently unstable and chaotic in their policies due to the changing whims of the people. It was further believed that democracy was contrary to human nature , as human beings were seen to be inherently evil, violent and in need of a strong leader to restrain their destructive impulses. Many European monarchs held that their power had been ordained by God and that questioning their right to rule
2220-508: A small class or religious/ethnic group that support the regime. The leaders in nondemocracies may respond violently to any perceived criticisms or disobedience. This may make the soldiers and officers afraid to raise any objections or do anything without explicit authorisation. The lack of initiative may be particularly detrimental in modern warfare. Enemy soldiers may more easily surrender to democracies since they can expect comparatively good treatment. In contrast, Nazi Germany killed almost 2/3 of
2331-407: A standalone entity or as a hybrid system of the main three. Scholars generally refer to a dictatorship as either a form of authoritarianism or totalitarianism. An autocracy is a system of government in which supreme power is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perhaps for
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#17327657072672442-626: A state of considerable flux. Officially non-democratic forms of government, such as single-party states and dictatorships, are more common in East Asia , the Middle East and North Africa . The 2019 Freedom in the World report noted a fall in the number of countries with liberal democracies over the 13 years from 2005 to 2018, citing declines in 'political rights and civil liberties'. The 2020 and 2021 reports document further reductions in
2553-477: A striking parallel with star formation, new structures suddenly appeared, together with a new level of complexity. Like stars, cities and states reorganize and energize the smaller objects within their gravitational field. Another explanation includes the need to properly manage infrastructure projects such as water infrastructure. Historically, this required centralized administration and complex social organisation, as seen in regions like Mesopotamia. However, there
2664-428: A variety of hybrid regimes . Modern classification systems also include monarchies as a standalone entity or as a hybrid system of the main three. Historically prevalent forms of government include monarchy, aristocracy , timocracy , oligarchy , democracy , theocracy , and tyranny . These forms are not always mutually exclusive, and mixed governments are common. The main aspect of any philosophy of government
2775-454: A wide variety of information so that citizens can rationally and effectively put pressure onto the government, including that it can be checked, evaluated and removed. This can include or lead to accountability, responsiveness to the desires of citizens, the rule of law, full respect of rights and implementation of political, social and economic freedom. Other liberal democracies consider the requirement of minority rights and preventing tyranny of
2886-409: A wider shift in the political culture and gradual formation of the institutions of democratic government are needed. There are various examples—for instance, in Latin America —of countries that were able to sustain democracy only temporarily or in a limited fashion until wider cultural changes established the conditions under which democracy could flourish. One of the key aspects of democratic culture
2997-414: Is a central concept in history and political thought and one of the most important features of democratic societies. Political freedom was described as freedom from oppression or coercion, the absence of disabling conditions for an individual and the fulfillment of enabling conditions, or the absence of life conditions of compulsion, e.g. economic compulsion, in a society. Although political freedom
3108-493: Is a federal constitutional republic, while the former Soviet Union was a federal socialist republic . However self-identification is not objective, and as Kopstein and Lichbach argue, defining regimes can be tricky, especially de facto , when both its government and its economy deviate in practice. For example, Voltaire argued that "the Holy Roman Empire is neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire". In practice,
3219-429: Is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, elite ruling class , such as a hereditary nobility or privileged caste . This class exercises minority rule , often as a landed timocracy , wealthy plutocracy , or oligarchy . Many monarchies were aristocracies, although in modern constitutional monarchies, the monarch may have little effective power. The term aristocracy could also refer to
3330-597: Is a means by which organizational policies are enforced, as well as a mechanism for determining policy. In many countries, the government has a kind of constitution , a statement of its governing principles and philosophy. While all types of organizations have governance , the term government is often used more specifically to refer to the approximately 200 independent national governments and subsidiary organizations . The main types of modern political systems recognized are democracies , totalitarian regimes , and, sitting between these two, authoritarian regimes with
3441-448: Is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head . The term "federalism" is also used to describe a system of government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units, variously called states, provinces or otherwise. Federalism is a system based upon democratic principles and institutions in which
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3552-665: Is alleged to make one person superior to others. They further argued that governments exist to serve the people—not vice versa—and that laws should apply to those who govern as well as to the governed (a concept known as rule of law ). Some of these ideas began to be expressed in England in the 17th century. There was renewed interest in Magna Carta , and passage of the Petition of Right in 1628 and Habeas Corpus Act in 1679 established certain liberties for subjects. The idea of
3663-502: Is also some evidence that it is associated with larger governments and more restrictions on international trade. If leaving out East Asia , then during the last forty-five years poor democracies have grown their economies 50% more rapidly than nondemocracies. Poor democracies such as the Baltic countries, Botswana, Costa Rica, Ghana and Senegal have grown more rapidly than nondemocracies such as Angola, Syria, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe. Of
3774-483: Is archaeological evidence that shows similar successes with more egalitarian and decentralized complex societies. Starting at the end of the 17th century, the prevalence of republican forms of government grew. The English Civil War and Glorious Revolution in England, the American Revolution , and the French Revolution contributed to the growth of representative forms of government. The Soviet Union
3885-471: Is called an aristocracy. In other kinds of Commonwealth there can be none: for either one, or more, or all, must have the sovereign power (which I have shown to be indivisible) entire. According to Yale professor Juan José Linz , there a three main types of political systems today: democracies , totalitarian regimes and, sitting between these two, authoritarian regimes with hybrid regimes . Another modern classification system includes monarchies as
3996-605: Is closely connected with the concepts of civil liberties and human rights , which in democratic societies are usually afforded legal protection from the state . Laws in liberal democracies may limit certain freedoms. The common justification for these limits is that they are necessary to guarantee the existence of democracy, or the existence of the freedoms themselves. For example, democratic governments may impose restrictions on free speech, with examples including Holocaust denial and hate speech . Some discriminatory behavior may be prohibited. For example, public accommodations in
4107-450: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Liberal democracy Liberal democracy , western-style democracy , or substantive democracy is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberal political philosophy . Common elements within a liberal democracy are: elections between or among multiple distinct political parties ,
4218-426: Is how political power is obtained, with the two main forms being electoral contest and hereditary succession . A government is the system to govern a state or community. The Columbia Encyclopedia defines government as "a system of social control under which the right to make laws, and the right to enforce them, is vested in a particular group in society". While all types of organizations have governance ,
4329-513: Is necessary. The legislature usually must give consent before the start of an offensive military operation, although sometimes the executive can do this on its own while keeping the legislature informed. If the democracy is attacked, then no consent is usually required for defensive operations. The people may vote against a conscription army. However, actual research shows that democracies are more likely to win wars than non-democracies. One explanation attributes this primarily to "the transparency of
4440-444: Is not due to higher levels of foreign assistance or spending a larger percentage of GDP on health and education, as instead the available resources are managed better. Form of government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state . In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature , executive , and judiciary . Government
4551-430: Is not followed by the social and cultural changes that may transform societies with ordinary economic growth. A 2006 meta-analysis found that democracy has no direct effect on economic growth. However, it has strong and significant indirect effects which contribute to growth. Democracy is associated with higher human capital accumulation , lower inflation , lower political instability and higher economic freedom . There
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4662-436: Is often interpreted negatively as the freedom from unreasonable external constraints on action, it can also refer to the positive exercise of rights, capacities and possibilities for action and the exercise of social or group rights. The concept can also include freedom from internal constraints on political action or speech (e.g. social conformity , consistency, or inauthentic behaviour). The concept of political freedom
4773-454: Is possible to disagree over which rights are considered fundamental, different countries may treat particular rights in different ways. For example: Liberal democracies usually have universal suffrage , granting all adult citizens the right to vote regardless of ethnicity , sex , property ownership, race, age, sexuality, gender , income, social status, or religion. However, historically some countries regarded as liberal democracies have had
4884-404: Is preferable to a system where political change takes place through violence. One notable feature of liberal democracies is that their opponents (those groups who wish to abolish liberal democracy) rarely win elections. Advocates use this as an argument to support their view that liberal democracy is inherently stable and can usually only be overthrown by external force, while opponents argue that
4995-521: Is taking place or has taken place in several countries, including, but not limited to, the United States , Poland , Hungary , and Israel . Freedom House considers many of the officially democratic governments in Africa and the former Soviet Union to be undemocratic in practice, usually because the sitting government has a strong influence over election outcomes. Many of these countries are in
5106-450: Is the concept of a loyal opposition , where political competitors may disagree, but they must tolerate one another and acknowledge the legitimate and important roles that each play. This is an especially difficult cultural shift to achieve in nations where transitions of power have historically taken place through violence. The term means in essence that all sides in a democracy share a common commitment to its basic values. The ground rules of
5217-581: Is to be reconceptualised where in times of climatic change the needs and desires of the individual are reshaped to generate sufficiency for all. The quality of a government can be measured by Government effectiveness index , which relates to political efficacy and state capacity . List of forms of government Plato in his book The Republic (375 BC) divided governments into five basic types (four being existing forms and one being Plato's ideal form, which exists "only in speech"): These five regimes progressively degenerate starting with aristocracy at
5328-421: Is typically the case with majority governments, but even a minority government may consist of just one party unable to find a willing coalition partner at the moment. A state that continuously maintains a single-party government within a (nominally) multiparty system possesses a dominant-party system . In a (nondemocratic) one-party system a single ruling party has the (more-or-less) exclusive right to form
5439-450: The Age of Enlightenment . The conventional views supporting monarchies and aristocracies were challenged at first by a relatively small group of Enlightenment intellectuals , who believed that human affairs should be guided by reason and principles of liberty and equality. They argued that all people are created equal , that governments exist to serve the people—not vice versa—and that laws should apply to those who govern as well as to
5550-867: The Democratic Party (United States) Liberal Democrats (Italy) , a political party in Italy European Liberal Democrats , a political party in Italy, also known as European LibDems Liberal Democratic Party (France) , a political party in France Liberal Democrats (Germany) , a political party in Germany Liberal Democrats (Sudan) , a political party in Sudan Liberal Democratic Party (Belarus) ,
5661-683: The Indus Valley civilization , and the Yellow River civilization . One reason that explains the emergence of governments includes agriculture. Since the Neolithic Revolution , agriculture has been an efficient method to create food surplus. This enabled people to specialize in non-agricultural activities. Some of them included being able to rule over others as an external authority. Others included social experimentation with diverse governance models. Both these activities formed
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#17327657072675772-589: The Industrial Revolution and the introduction of capitalism . On the other hand, the Industrial Revolution started in England which was one of the most democratic nations for its time within its own borders, but this democracy was very limited and did not apply to the colonies which contributed significantly to the wealth. Several statistical studies support the theory that a higher degree of economic freedom, as measured with one of
5883-474: The United States opted for different forms at the time of independence. The parliamentary system is widely used in the European Union and neighbouring countries. Recent academic studies have found that democratisation is beneficial for national growth. However, the effect of democratisation has not been studied as yet. The most common factors that determine whether a country's economy grows or not are
5994-495: The consent of the governed and that citizens had the right to instigate a rebellion against their government if that government acted against their interests. These ideas and beliefs influenced the American Revolution and the French Revolution , which gave birth to the philosophy of liberalism and instituted forms of government that attempted to put the principles of the Enlightenment philosophers into practice. When
6105-510: The equality of outcome for subgroups in society. Liberal democracy emphasizes the separation of powers, an independent judiciary , and a system of checks and balances between branches of government. Multi-party systems with at least two persistent, viable political parties are characteristic of liberal democracies. Governmental authority is legitimately exercised only in accordance with written, publicly disclosed laws adopted and enforced in accordance with established procedure. To define
6216-424: The lower house of their national legislative bodies. The first category of seats is appointed according to regional popularity and the remainder are awarded to give the parties a proportion of seats that is equal—or as equal as practicable—to their proportion of nationwide votes. This system is commonly called mixed member proportional representation . The Australian Government incorporates both systems in having
6327-617: The polities , and the stability of their preferences, once determined, democracies are better able to cooperate with their partners in the conduct of wars". Other research attributes this to superior mobilisation of resources or selection of wars that the democratic states have a high chance of winning. Stam and Reiter also note that the emphasis on individuality within democratic societies means that their soldiers fight with greater initiative and superior leadership. Officers in dictatorships are often selected for political loyalty rather than military ability. They may be exclusively selected from
6438-421: The preferential voting system applicable to the lower house and proportional representation by state in the upper house . This system is argued to result in a more stable government, while having a better diversity of parties to review its actions. The various state and territory governments in Australia employ a range of a different electoral systems. A presidential system is a system of government of
6549-463: The rule of law , and individual liberties. One argument for democracy is that by creating a system where the public can remove administrations, without changing the legal basis for government, democracy aims at reducing political uncertainty and instability and assuring citizens that however much they may disagree with present policies, they will be given a regular chance to change those who are in power, or change policies with which they disagree. This
6660-665: The Polity Data Set and that produced by Freedom House and Larry Diamond . There is agreement amongst several intellectuals and organizations such as Freedom House that the states of the European Union (with the exception of Poland and Hungary ), United Kingdom , Norway , Iceland , Switzerland , Japan , Argentina , Brazil , Chile , South Korea , Taiwan , United States , India , Canada , Uruguay , Costa Rica , Israel , South Africa , Australia , and New Zealand are liberal democracies. Liberal democracies are susceptible to democratic backsliding and this
6771-772: The Soviet Union was a centralized autocratic one-party state under Joseph Stalin . Identifying a form of government is also difficult because many political systems originate as socio-economic movements and are then carried into governments by parties naming themselves after those movements; all with competing political ideologies. Experience with those movements in power, and the strong ties they may have to particular forms of government, can cause them to be considered as forms of government in themselves. Other complications include general non-consensus or deliberate " distortion or bias " of reasonable technical definitions of political ideologies and associated forms of governing, due to
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#17327657072676882-632: The United Kingdom people serving long prison sentences are unable to vote, a policy which has been ruled a human rights violation by the European Court of Human Rights . A similar policy is also enacted in most of the United States. According to a study by Coppedge and Reinicke, at least 85% of democracies provided for universal suffrage . Many nations require positive identification before allowing people to vote. For example, in
6993-631: The United States may not discriminate on the basis of "race, color, religion, or national origin." There are various legal limitations such as copyright and laws against defamation . There may be limits on anti-democratic speech, on attempts to undermine human rights and on the promotion or justification of terrorism . In the United States more than in Europe, during the Cold War such restrictions applied to communists . Now they are more commonly applied to organizations perceived as promoting terrorism or
7104-546: The United States has been chiefly associated with right-wing politics and the Republican Party . However, during the era of segregation many Southern Democrats were conservatives, and they played a key role in the conservative coalition that controlled Congress from 1937 to 1963. Opinions vary by individuals concerning the types and properties of governments that exist. "Shades of gray" are commonplace in any government and its corresponding classification. Even
7215-404: The United States two thirds of the states require their citizens to provide identification to vote, which also provide state IDs for free. The decisions made through elections are made by those who are members of the electorate and who choose to participate by voting . In 1971, Robert Dahl summarized the fundamental rights and freedoms shared by all liberal democracies as eight rights: For
7326-429: The activities of associated government officials and candidates for office. In a multiparty system of government, multiple political parties have the capacity to gain control of government offices, typically by competing in elections , although the effective number of parties may be limited. A majority government is a government by one or more governing parties together holding an absolute majority of seats in
7437-402: The basis of governments. These governments gradually became more complex as agriculture supported larger and denser populations, creating new interactions and social pressures that the government needed to control. David Christian explains As farming populations gathered in larger and denser communities, interactions between different groups increased and the social pressure rose until, in
7548-523: The captured Soviet soldiers and 38% of the American soldiers captured by North Korea in the Korean War were killed. A democratic system may provide better information for policy decisions. Undesirable information may more easily be ignored in dictatorships, even if this undesirable or contrarian information provides early warning of problems. Anders Chydenius put forward the argument for freedom of
7659-819: The constraints established by other rights, when these are provided- and property rights- which protect asset holders and investors against expropriation by the state or other groups. In this way, liberal democracy is set apart from electoral democracy, as free and fair elections – the hallmark of electoral democracy – can be separated from equal treatment and non-discrimination – the hallmarks of liberal democracy. In liberal democracy, an elected government cannot discriminate against specific individuals or groups when it administers justice, protects basic rights such as freedom of assembly and free speech, provides for collective security, or distributes economic and social benefits. According to Seymour Martin Lipset, although they are not part of
7770-403: The country's level of development and the educational level of its newly elected democratic leaders. As a result, there is no clear indication of how to determine which factors contribute to economic growth in a democratic country. However, there is disagreement regarding how much credit the democratic system can take for this growth. One observation is that democracy became widespread only after
7881-419: The debate in favor of culture's causal primacy and shows that it is the civic and emancipative values ( liberty , impartiality and contractarianism ) among a country's citizens that give rise to democratic institutions, not vice versa. Several organizations and political scientists maintain lists of free and unfree states, both in the present and going back a couple centuries. Of these, the best known may be
7992-483: The eighty worst financial catastrophes during the last four decades, only five were in democracies. Similarly, poor democracies are half likely as non-democracies to experience a 10 per cent decline in GDP per capita over the course of a single year. Several key features of liberal democracies are associated with political stability, including economic growth, as well as robust state institutions that guarantee free elections,
8103-434: The first prototypical liberal democracies were founded, the liberals themselves were viewed as an extreme and rather dangerous fringe group that threatened international peace and stability. The conservative monarchists who opposed liberalism and democracy saw themselves as defenders of traditional values and the natural order of things and their criticism of democracy seemed vindicated when Napoleon Bonaparte took control of
8214-544: The former Soviet Union , largely by the example of the United States . Constitutional monarchies (dominated by elected parliaments) are present in Northern Europe and some former colonies which peacefully separated, such as Australia and Canada . Others have also arisen in Spain , East Asia and a variety of small nations around the world. Former British territories such as South Africa , India , Ireland and
8325-570: The framework of representative democracy, but the constitution limits majority rule , usually through the provision by all of certain universal rights , such as freedom of speech or freedom of association . A republic is a form of government in which the country is considered a "public matter" ( Latin : res publica ), not the private concern or property of the rulers, and where offices of states are subsequently directly or indirectly elected or appointed rather than inherited. The people, or some significant portion of them, have supreme control over
8436-811: The functions and number of branches. An independent, parallel distribution of powers between branches of government is the separation of powers . A shared, intersecting, or overlapping distribution of powers is the fusion of powers . Governments are often organised into three branches with separate powers: a legislature, an executive, and a judiciary; this is sometimes called the trias politica model. However, in parliamentary and semi-presidential systems , branches of government often intersect, having shared membership and overlapping functions. Many governments have fewer or additional branches, such as an independent electoral commission or auditory branch. Presently, most governments are administered by members of an explicitly constituted political party which coordinates
8547-458: The governed (a concept known as rule of law ), formulated in Europe as Rechtsstaat . Some of these ideas began to be expressed in England in the 17th century. By the late 18th century, leading philosophers such as John Locke had published works that spread around the European continent and beyond. These ideas and beliefs influenced the American Revolution and the French Revolution . After
8658-628: The government and where offices of state are elected or chosen by elected people. A common simplified definition of a republic is a government where the head of state is not a monarch. Montesquieu included both democracies , where all the people have a share in rule, and aristocracies or oligarchies , where only some of the people rule, as republican forms of government. Other terms used to describe different republics include democratic republic , parliamentary republic , semi-presidential republic , presidential republic , federal republic , people's republic , and Islamic republic . Federalism
8769-544: The government to respect minority groups and give them their positive freedoms, negotiate across multiple geographical areas, become more centrist among cooperative parties and open up with new social groups. In a new study published in Nature Human Behaviour , Damian J. Ruck and his co-authors take a major step toward resolving this long-standing and seemingly irresolvable debate about whether culture shapes regimes or regimes shape culture. This study resolves
8880-401: The government, and the formation of other parties may be obstructed or illegal. In some cases, a government may have a non-partisan system , as is the case with absolute monarchy or non-partisan democracy . Democracy is the most popular form of government. More than half of the nations in the world are democracies—97 of 167, as of 2021. However, the world is becoming more authoritarian with
8991-441: The highest GDP per capita in the world, but has never been democratic. There are also other studies suggesting that more democracy increases economic freedom, although a few find no or even a small negative effect. Some argue that economic growth due to its empowerment of citizens will ensure a transition to democracy in countries such as Cuba. However, other dispute this and even if economic growth has caused democratisation in
9102-555: The implicit threat of a coup d'état or mass insurrection ). Absolute monarchy is a historically prevalent form of autocracy, wherein a monarch governs as a singular sovereign with no limitation on royal prerogative . Most absolute monarchies are hereditary , however some, notably the Holy See , are elected by an electoral college (such as the college of cardinals , or prince-electors ). Other forms of autocracy include tyranny , despotism , and dictatorship . Aristocracy
9213-482: The incitement of group hatred. Examples include anti-terrorism legislation , the shutting down of Hezbollah satellite broadcasts and some laws against hate speech . Critics claim that these limitations may go too far and that there may be no due and fair judicial process. Opinion is divided on how far democracy can extend to include the enemies of democracy in the democratic process. If relatively small numbers of people are excluded from such freedoms for these reasons,
9324-484: The literature of classical antiquity , including Plato 's Ship of State . In British English , "government" sometimes refers to what's also known as a " ministry " or an " administration ", i.e., the policies and government officials of a particular executive or governing coalition . Finally, government is also sometimes used in English as a synonym for rule or governance. In other languages, cognates may have
9435-499: The majority. One of the most common ways is by actively preventing discrimination by the government (bill of rights) but can also include requiring concurrent majorities in several constituencies (confederalism); guaranteeing regional government (federalism); broad coalition governments (consociationalism) or negotiating with other political actors, such as pressure groups (neocorporatism). These split political power amongst many competing and cooperating actors and institutions by requiring
9546-404: The most influential of these philosophers was English empiricist John Locke , who refuted monarchical absolutism in his Two Treatises of Government . According to Locke, individuals entered into a social contract with a state , surrendering some of their liberties in exchange for the protection of their natural rights . Locke advanced that governments were only legitimate if they maintained
9657-469: The most liberal democracies limit rival political activity to one extent or another while the most tyrannical dictatorships must organize a broad base of support thereby creating difficulties for " pigeonholing " governments into narrow categories. Examples include the claims of the United States as being a plutocracy rather than a democracy since some American voters believe elections are being manipulated by wealthy Super PACs . Some consider that government
9768-463: The nature of politics in the modern era. For example: The meaning of "conservatism" in the United States has little in common with the way the word's definition is used elsewhere. As Ribuffo notes, "what Americans now call conservatism much of the world calls liberalism or neoliberalism "; a "conservative" in Finland would be labeled a " socialist " in the United States. Since the 1950s conservatism in
9879-550: The non- peasant , non-servant, and non- city classes in the feudal system . Democracy is a system of government where citizens exercise power by voting and deliberation . In a direct democracy , the citizenry as a whole directly forms a participatory governing body and vote directly on each issue. In indirect democracy , the citizenry governs indirectly through the selection of representatives or delegates from among themselves, typically by election or, less commonly, by sortition . These select citizens then meet to form
9990-412: The number of free countries in the world. Plurality voting system award seats according to regional majorities. The political party or individual candidate who receives the most votes, wins the seat which represents that locality. There are other democratic electoral systems, such as the various forms of proportional representation , which award seats according to the proportion of individual votes that
10101-405: The parliament, in contrast to a minority government in which they have only a plurality of seats and often depend on a confidence-and-supply arrangement with other parties. A coalition government is one in which multiple parties cooperate to form a government as part of a coalition agreement . In a single-party government, a single party forms a government without the support of a coalition, as
10212-509: The past, it may not do so in the future. Dictators may now have learned how to have economic growth without this causing more political freedom. A high degree of oil or mineral exports is strongly associated with nondemocratic rule. This effect applies worldwide and not only to the Middle East. Dictators who have this form of wealth can spend more on their security apparatus and provide benefits which lessen public unrest. Also, such wealth
10323-458: The people as a whole (a democracy, such as a republic). Thomas Hobbes stated on their classification: The difference of Commonwealths consisteth in the difference of the sovereign , or the person representative of all and every one of the multitude. And because the sovereignty is either in one man, or in an assembly of more than one; and into that assembly either every man hath right to enter, or not everyone, but certain men distinguished from
10434-487: The power of the monarch, ensuring that, unlike almost all of Europe at the time, royal absolutism would not prevail. This led to significant social change in Britain in terms of the position of individuals in society and the growing power of Parliament in relation to the monarch . By the late 18th century, leading philosophers of the day had published works that spread around the European continent and beyond. One of
10545-432: The power to govern is shared between national and provincial/state governments, creating what is often called a federation . Proponents are often called federalists . Governments are typically organised into distinct institutions constituting branches of government each with particular powers , functions, duties, and responsibilities. The distribution of powers between these institutions differs between governments, as do
10656-495: The press for this reason in 1776. The democratic system also provides a way to replace inefficient leaders and policies, thus problems may continue longer and crises of all kinds may be more common in autocracies. Research by the World Bank suggests that political institutions are extremely important in determining the prevalence of corruption : (long term) democracy, parliamentary systems, political stability and freedom of
10767-519: The press are all associated with lower corruption. Freedom of information legislation is important for accountability and transparency . The Indian Right to Information Act "has already engendered mass movements in the country that is bringing the lethargic, often corrupt bureaucracy to its knees and changing power equations completely". Democracies can put in place better education, longer life expectancy, lower infant mortality, access to drinking water and better health care than dictatorships. This
10878-461: The rest; it is manifest there can be but three kinds of Commonwealth. For the representative must need to be one man or more; and if more, then it is the assembly of all, or but of a part. When the representative is one man, then is the Commonwealth a monarchy; when an assembly of all that will come together, then it is a democracy or popular Commonwealth; when an assembly of a part only, then it
10989-475: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Liberal Democrats . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Liberal_Democrats&oldid=1219675699 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Political party disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
11100-399: The several Indices of Economic Freedom which have been used in numerous studies, increases economic growth and that this in turn increases general prosperity, reduces poverty and causes democratisation . This is a statistical tendency and there are individual exceptions like Mali, which is ranked as "Free" by Freedom House , but is a Least Developed Country , or Qatar, which has arguably
11211-514: The society must encourage tolerance and civility in public debate. In such a society, the losers accept the judgement of the voters when the election is over and allow for the peaceful transfer of power . According to Cas Mudde and Cristóbal Rovira, this is tied to another key concept of democratic cultures, the protection of minorities, where the losers are safe in the knowledge that they will neither lose their lives nor their liberty and will continue to participate in public life. They are loyal not to
11322-607: The specific policies of the government, but to the fundamental legitimacy of the state and to the democratic process itself. One requirement of liberal democracy is political equality amongst voters (ensuring that all voices and all votes count equally) and that these can properly influence government policy, requiring quality procedure and quality content of debate that provides an accountable result, this may apply within elections or to procedures between elections. This requires universal, adult suffrage; recurring, free elections, competitive and fair elections; multiple political parties and
11433-1034: The system in practice, liberal democracies often draw upon a constitution , either codified or uncodified , to delineate the powers of government and enshrine the social contract . A liberal democracy may take various and mixed constitutional forms: it may be a constitutional monarchy or a republic . It may have a parliamentary system , presidential system , or semi-presidential system . Liberal democracies are contrasted with illiberal democracies and dictatorships . Some liberal democracies, especially those with large populations, use federalism (also known as vertical separation of powers) in order to prevent abuse and increase public input by dividing governing powers between municipal, provincial and national governments. The characteristics of liberal democracies are correlated with increased political stability, lower corruption , better management of resources, and better health indicators such as life expectancy and infant mortality . Liberal democracy traces its origins—and its name—to
11544-421: The system is inherently stacked against them despite its claims to impartiality. In the past, it was feared that democracy could be easily exploited by leaders with dictatorial aspirations, who could get themselves elected into power. However, the actual number of liberal democracies that have elected dictators into power is low. When it has occurred, it is usually after a major crisis has caused many people to doubt
11655-438: The system of government as such, a modicum of individual and economic freedoms , which result in the formation of a significant middle class and a broad and flourishing civil society , are seen as pre-conditions for liberal democracy. For countries without a strong tradition of democratic majority rule, the introduction of free elections alone has rarely been sufficient to achieve a transition from dictatorship to democracy;
11766-556: The system or in young/poorly functioning democracies. Some possible examples include Adolf Hitler during the Great Depression and Napoleon III , who became first President of the Second French Republic and later Emperor. By definition, a liberal democracy implies that power is not concentrated. One criticism is that this could be a disadvantage for a state in wartime , when a fast and unified response
11877-401: The top and tyranny at the bottom. In his Politics , Aristotle elaborates on Plato's five regimes discussing them in relation to the government of one, of the few, and of the many. From this follows the classification of forms of government according to which people have the authority to rule: either one person (an autocracy , such as monarchy), a select group of people (an aristocracy), or
11988-475: The word government is often used more specifically to refer to the approximately 200 independent national governments on Earth, as well as their subsidiary organizations, such as state and provincial governments as well as local governments . The word government derives from the Greek verb κυβερνάω [ kubernáo ] meaning to steer with a gubernaculum (rudder), the metaphorical sense being attested in
12099-461: The young French Republic , reorganized it into the first French Empire and proceeded to conquer most of Europe. Napoleon was eventually defeated and the Holy Alliance was formed in Europe to prevent any further spread of liberalism or democracy. However, liberal democratic ideals soon became widespread among the general population and over the 19th century traditional monarchy was forced on
12210-449: Was tantamount to blasphemy . These conventional views were challenged at first by a relatively small group of Enlightenment intellectuals , who believed that human affairs should be guided by reason and principles of liberty and equality. They argued that all people are created equal and therefore political authority cannot be justified on the basis of noble blood, a supposed privileged connection to God or any other characteristic that
12321-502: Was the first large country to have a Communist government. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall , liberal democracy has become an even more prevalent form of government. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, there was a significant increase in the size and scale of government at the national level. This included the regulation of corporations and the development of the welfare state . In political science, it has long been
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