The main forms of government briefly. Form of government

The form state government is the basis for determining the structure of the device and the functioning of the country. The basic scheme of the form of government is enshrined in the Constitution of many countries of the world. For modern Russia the establishment of an optimal hierarchy of power is a topical issue, since the country is characterized by complex economic, administrative-territorial, religious and national issues. Build constitutional state not possible until these issues are resolved.

Concept definition

The form of government of the state is an important element of the structure of the country, which determines the system of authorities, the sources of their formation, powers, terms of action and the relationship of the elements of the state apparatus between themselves and the population. concept"form of government" is close to the definitions " political regime” and “the form of the state structure”, however, they differ and have their own nuances. Taken together, these elements define a complete set of characteristic features of the territorial-administrative and political structure a certain country. The control form specifies:

the source of creation of the main organs of the state and their hierarchy;
the relationship between the branches of government in general and their subdivisions;
institutions of influence by citizens on power;
law enforcement institutions.

The study of the main methods of government began in the ancient world. Aristotle, using the example of city-states, developed the main classification. At different stages of history, the form of government was endowed with a certain meaning: under feudalism, it reflected the structure of the inheritance of power. With the emergence and development of capitalism, which was accompanied by the complication of social relationships, the definition of the form of government has become much more important.

Modern political science distinguishes several main varieties of forms of government. It is necessary to briefly list them:

monarchical;
republican;
hybrid.

Types of monarchy

Monarchy is a form of government feature which is related inheritance of power and lifelong rule. The ruler is not legally responsible to the citizens. This type of government includes:

An absolute monarchy is a system in which all branches of government of the state are subordinate to the ruler. The latter is able to reverse decisions government agencies. The monarch concentrates the main legislative, executive and judicial functions.
A limited monarchy is the next type of device, which is the symbiosis of the activities of the supreme ruler and the authorities that are not subordinate to him. The rights and powers are delimited by law.

This type of monarchy also includes:

A class-representative monarchy is a type of system in which the highest bodies are formed by representatives of a certain estate, caste or organization.
A constitutional monarchy is a type of government in which the powers of the monarch are limited by law. There are also elected bodies of power independent of the ruler.

Constitutional monarchy is distinguished by:

A dualistic monarchy is a system of government in which elected bodies can engage in legislative activity, but the ruler has the right to veto their decisions. The monarch has broad powers in all three branches of government.
A parliamentary monarchy is a type of system in which the ruler has no real levers of power. The elected bodies carry out legislative activities and form the executive bodies, while the judiciary is an independent branch.

signs of a republic

A republic is a form of government in which source of power population performs. The latter delegates its rights to an elected body for certain period. This type of government is characterized by certain features:

existence of independent branches of government;
the elected head of state is the president;
the responsibility of government officials to the people.

According to the structure of the formation of the executive power of the republic, they are divided into:

Presidential - a type of government in which the president forms and leads the government. The influence of parliament on the executive branch is minimal.
Parliamentary - a type of government in which the parliament has the means to control the activities of the president and government. The elected body acts as a source of formation of higher executive bodies. The head of state has limited powers.
A mixed republic is a government structure in which both the first person and parliament have broad powers to control the government.
Directory - a type of government in which executive power is distributed among several persons.

Atypical forms of government

A monarchy with elements of a republic is a system of government of a federal union, in which the ruler is elected for a certain period from the list of rulers of the countries participating in the union.

A republic with monarchical elements - the old days in which the elected head of state usurped power. Formally, there are signs of democracy, but in fact it is an authoritarian system.

A theocratic republic is a type of government in which powers are concentrated in the hands of religious organizations. At the same time, there may be elected bodies of legislative and executive power.

The classification of control types has complex structure. Let's bring general scheme forms of government of the state:

Table. States by type of government.

Control type	supreme authority	Country examples
Monarchy:
Absolute;	Monarch.	UAE, Oman, Qatar.
limited;

Class-representative;	The monarch under the authorities of the representatives of individual estates.	Poland during the Commonwealth.
A constitutional monarchy.
A constitutional monarchy:
dualistic;	The monarch, as an elected body, has limited powers.	Jordan, Morocco.
Parliamentary.	An elected body, and the monarch has limited powers.	UK, Japan, Denmark.
Republic:
Presidential;	The president, and the parliament is limited to legislative activity.	USA
Parliamentary;	Parliament. The president has a limited range of powers.	Israel, Greece, Germany.
mixed;	President and Parliament.	Russia, Ukraine, France.
Directory.	Small group board	Switzerland.
Hybrid:
Monarchy with republican elements;	The first person is elected for a fixed term from among the rulers of the union association.	UAE, Malaysia.
Republic with monarchical elements;	President with life term board.	North Korea, Kazakhstan.
Theocracy.	Religious organization.	Iran

Russian governance structure

Since modern Russia does not have the features of a unitary state, then the Russian Federation- a federal state. The president and parliament have broad powers, so the form of government is a mixed republic. The territorial-administrative subjects of the country have the right to legislative activity and state symbols. The management structure has three branches of power. The people are the only legitimate source of power.

The Russian Federation is a democratic federal republic with a mixed type of government. However, it is difficult to call Russia a republican country. This is an unconventional form of government for the country. Therefore, in the process of life, there is a large number of problems that require an integrated approach.

Form of government- this is an element of the form of the state, characterizing the organization of the supreme state power, the procedure for the 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 supreme 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 variety is the theocratic monarchy (Vatican).

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, the limited monarchy is divided into:

Estate-representative monarchy - a monarchy in which the power of the monarch is limited on the basis of the tradition of forming bodies according to the criterion of belonging to a certain estate ( Zemsky Sobor in Russia, the Cortes in Spain) and playing the role, as a rule, of an advisory body. There are currently 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 (Constitution), where there is another supreme body of power formed by elections 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 performs legislative functions, but the monarch can impose an absolute veto on the 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. State structure in such a monarchy is based on the principle of separation of powers (Great Britain, Japan, Denmark).

Republic

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

Distinctive features of the republican form of government:

There are always several supreme bodies authorities, while 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 are responsible to the population, which can be expressed in the following:

they are elected for a fixed term, after which their powers may not be renewed;

possible early termination.

Types of republics:

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

A presidential republic is a state in which, along with parliamentarism, the powers of the head of state and head of government are simultaneously combined in the hands of the president. The government is formed and dissolved directly by the president himself, while the 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 the 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 on the control of the parliament over the activities of the executive branch in the face of the government, which is formed by the president with the obligatory participation of the parliament. Thus, the government is simultaneously responsible to both the president and the country's parliament (Ukraine, Portugal, France).

organization of the highest bodies of state power, the order of their formation, their relationship with each other and with the population, the degree of participation of the population in their formation. It is customary to distinguish between two F.p. - monarchical (monarchy) and republican (republic).

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

FORM OF GOVERNMENT

the order of organization of state power, including the method of formation of higher and local state bodies and the order of their relationship with each other and with the population. Depending on whether power is exercised by one person or belongs to a collective elected body, monarchical and republican F. p. are distinguished. (see Monarchy, Republic).

Under the monarchist F.p. the bearer and source of state power, according to the laws in force, is the monarch. Under the republican - an elected body.

On the present stage In the development of society and the state, there are two types of monarchies - dualistic and parliamentary. characteristic feature dualistic monarchy is the formal legal division of state power between the monarch and parliament. executive branch is directly in the hands of the monarch. Legislative - at the Parliament. The latter, however, is actually subordinate to the monarch. The parliamentary monarchy is distinguished by the fact that the status of the monarch is formally and actually limited in all areas of the exercise of state power. Legislative power is wholly vested in Parliament. Executive - to the government, which is responsible for its activities to the parliament. The participation of the monarch in the formation of the government is purely symbolic. Great Britain, Holland, Sweden, etc. can serve as examples of a parliamentary monarchy.

Modern republics can be divided into two types: presidential, a feature of which is the combination in the hands of the president of the powers of the head of government and state, and parliamentary, which are characterized by a rather weak power of the president. A feature of a parliamentary republic is also the presence of the post of prime minister, who simultaneously performs the functions of head of government and leader of the ruling party or party coalition.

Examples of a presidential republic are Argentina, Brazil, the United States, a parliamentary republic - Greece, Germany.

An intermediate view between a parliamentary and a presidential republic is a semi-presidential republic (see Republic mixed type). Such a republic exists in France, Portugal, Poland and a number of other countries.

RF is a presidential republic. According to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the president, as head of state, determines the main directions of internal and foreign policy country, solves key personnel problems, represents the Russian Federation within the country and in international relations, calls elections to the State Duma, dissolves it in the cases and in the manner prescribed by the Constitution, calls a referendum, has the right of legislative initiative.

Great Definition

Incomplete definition ↓

The form of the state is a way of organizing and exercising state power .

It depends on it how the power in the state is organized, by what bodies it is represented, what is the order of formation of these bodies. The form of the state consists of 3 elements:

1) forms of government;

2) forms of government;

3) political regime.

At the same time, the form of government and the form of government reveal the structural side of the state, and the political regime reveals its functional side.

Form of government- this is the organization of the supreme state power, the structure and order of relations between the highest state bodies, officials and citizens. There are two forms of government: the monarchy and the republic (Fig. 5).

Monarchy (from the Greek mono arches - autocracy) - a form of government in which the supreme power is fully or partially concentrated in the hands of one person - the head of state, as a rule, a hereditary ruler, a monarch.

Signs of a monarchical form of government:

1. The existence of the sole bearer of the supreme state power.

2. Dynastic inheritance of supreme power.

3. Lifelong possession of power by the monarch.

4. The independence of monarchical power by its nature from the personal merits and qualities of the sovereign, its perception as an attribute of the throne, inherited.

There is an unlimited (absolute) and limited (constitutional) monarchy.

Absolute monarchy characterized by the sovereignty of the head of state. The monarch acts as the sole bearer of sovereignty, has broad powers in the legislative, executive and judicial spheres. Absolute monarchies are not sole dictatorships. The power of the monarch is limited in this case by customs, religious and ethical prescriptions, ceremonial requirements, that is, it has a traditional character. All these restrictions act as a moral duty of the monarch, their violation does not entail legal liability.

Currently, absolute monarchy is practically not found, with the exception of a few states (Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Brunei). Some of these countries have constitutions that state that all power belongs to the monarch. These countries have parliaments, sometimes elected by the population (only men), but their decisions need to be approved by the monarch.

State shape

Form of government

Monarchy

Republic

Absolute

Limited

(constitutional)

presidential

parliamentary

dualistic

parliamentary

mixed

(presidential-parliamentary)

Rice. 5. Forms of government.

Limited (constitutional) monarchy implies the limitation of the power of the monarch by parliament. Depending on the degree of such restriction, dualistic and parliamentary monarchies are distinguished.

Under a dualistic monarchy (Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco), the powers of the head of state are limited in the legislative sphere, but rather broad in the executive branch. The monarch has the right to appoint a government that is responsible to him. Judicial power also belongs to the monarch, but may be more or less independent. The monarch has an absolute veto on laws, so we can only talk about a truncated separation of powers. The monarch can also issue a decree that has the force of law and can dissolve the parliament, thus replacing the dualistic monarchy with an absolute one.

A dualistic monarchy is a transitional form between absolute and parliamentary monarchies, so many dualistic monarchies evolve into parliamentary ones.

Parliamentary monarchy is the most common in the countries modern world. It usually exists in highly developed democratic states, where power is actually divided, while recognizing the principle of the supremacy of parliament over the executive branch.

In such states, the head remains the monarch, who does not have real independent powers to govern the country. The powers of the head of state are predominantly representative, ceremonial in nature. Despite the fact that he has no real powers of authority, the monarch still has a certain influence on political processes as a kind of arbitrator.

Under a parliamentary monarchy, the power of the head of state practically does not extend to legislation and is significantly limited in the sphere of executive power. The government is formed by a parliamentary majority and is accountable to parliament, not to the monarch (Great Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Japan, etc.).

Performing various social functions of a moral nature, the monarchy can maintain an important political and legal role. The prerogatives of the monarch are a symbol of the unity of state sovereignty. The figure of the monarch, as it were, concentrates the key powers delegated to the state by the highest sovereign - the people. And the execution of certain powers is carried out by branches of power that are already independent of each other, acting on the basis of the prerogatives of the Crown or along with them.

The dominant form of government in the modern world is the republic. Historically, it arose much later than the monarchy. If the monarchy reflected the idea of power as a phenomenon of a higher, divine nature, then republicanism became the most logical expression of the social contract theory. In this case, the people are considered the source of power, the sovereign, and all authorities are derivatives of his will.

Republic (lat. res publika - common cause) - a form of government in which government bodies are formed on the principle of their election by the people; the supreme power belongs to elected representative bodies, and the head of state is elected by the population or a representative body.

For a republican form of government, the following features are decisive:

1. The derivative of state power from the sovereignty of the people.

2. The election of the highest bodies of state power, the collegial, collective nature of their activities.

3. The presence of an elected head of state.

4. Election of bodies of supreme state power for a certain period.

5. Legal responsibility of all branches of government, including the head of state.

There are presidential, parliamentary and mixed (presidential-parliamentary or semi-presidential) republics. Their key differences are determined not only by the configuration of the highest state bodies and the boundaries of their prerogatives. Each of republican forms government implies a certain style of exercising power, the degree of elitism of public administration, its centralization (decentralization), the presence of restraining mechanisms that protect civil society from possible political diktat by the state, their rigidity or formality, locality.

A presidential republic is a form of government in which the president is both the head of state and the head of the executive branch (government)(USA, Philippines, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, Syria, etc.).

The structure of the presidential republic is characterized by the following features.

1. Legislative and executive powers are elected separately (by direct general suffrage or, in some cases, by an electoral college), i.e. one power cannot be elected by the other.

2. The president is both the head of state and government (there is no prime minister). He has the right to independently form the government as his administration or a separate branch of the executive; the government is directly responsible to the president and is under his control in its current activities.

3. Implementation of the most consistent and tough version of the separation of powers - based on "checks and balances", including the absence or significant restriction of the president's right to dissolve parliament, the absence of the parliament's right to remove the government, the extraordinary nature of the parliament's right to remove the president (impeachment procedure).

4. Preservation of the predominance of the Parliament in the field of legislative activity in the presence of significant prerogatives of the President in this area (including the right of suspensive veto on laws, which must be overcome by a qualified majority of Parliament).

the president, at his own discretion, determines the foreign policy of his government;

has the right to legislative initiative or the right to make proposals for legislation;

has the right to veto laws passed by parliament;

ex officio is the commander-in-chief;

is the head of the ruling party and is guided in politics by its course.

A parliamentary republic is a form of government in which, in the conditions of separation of powers, the leading role in the political life of society belongs to the parliament.

The parliamentary republic (Estonia, Moldova, India, Italy, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, etc.) is a form of government with the leading role of parliament. Elected on the basis of universal direct suffrage and reflecting the entire spectrum of influential political party groups, he enjoys supremacy in the system of separation of powers. A strong parliament can, to the greatest extent, "pull" real powers of power upon itself, acquiring a key position not only in the legislative process, but in the entire political process. With the formation of a stable legal status of the government, its head (as a rule, who is also the leader of the ruling party or parliamentary coalition) can become a key political figure in the state. Such a system of government has the potential to become no less "strong" than a presidential republic (for example, the "Chancellor's Republic" in Germany). But in the case of the political fragmentation of the parliament itself, the instability of coalitions and active factional struggle, the parliamentary republic can become a symbol of a politically “weak”, conflict state (Italy).

The structure of a parliamentary republic is characterized by the following features.

1. The predominance of the principle of the supremacy of parliament, including in the system of separation of powers.

2. The political responsibility of the government to the parliament, which, in particular, involves the formation of the government by the legislature from among the deputies belonging to the ruling party (having a majority of votes in parliament), the right of the parliament to express a vote of confidence or a vote of no confidence in the government as a whole, the head of government (the chairman of the council ministers, prime minister, chancellor), minister.

3. The prime minister, who heads the government and represents the largest faction in parliament, is the most influential political figure; Parliament's right to remove the government is difficult in terms of the procedure for its adoption.

4. The president, as head of state, is elected by parliament or by an electoral college formed by parliament, i.e., is not elected on the basis of direct elections.

5. The President is the head of state, but not the head of government, his prerogatives are reduced, including in the field of the legislative process, the dissolution of parliament, control of the government and its composition.

Features of the powers of the President:

the president can dissolve the parliament and call early elections in cases where the parliament expresses no confidence in the government;

has the right to legislative initiative, agreed with the government;

does not have the right to veto laws passed by Parliament;

represents the state in the field of foreign policy and coordinates its actions with the foreign policy of the government;

does not depend on parties in its activities;

cannot dismiss the head of government; on the recommendation of the head of government may dismiss members of the government;

plays the role of a political arbiter, coordinator of the activities of state bodies and mediator between them in the event of a conflict.

The parliamentary regime functions stably if the majority in parliament has one Political Party or a stable bloc of political parties with similar views and goals.

Mixed (semi-presidential) republic combines the features of parliamentary and presidential(France, Portugal, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Peru, Turkey, Venezuela, Finland, Poland, Bulgaria, Austria, etc.).

Its distinctive feature lies in the double responsibility of the government - both to the president and to the parliament. The predominance of one or another branch of power is ensured by the distribution of their prerogatives in the field of control over the government:

who appoints the composition of the cabinet - the president or the prime minister representing the largest parliamentary faction;

who owns the initiative of expressing a vote of no confidence in the government - the executive or legislative power;

what are the legal consequences of such a vote - the obligation of the president or his right to dissolve parliament in the event of a vote.

The president and parliament themselves are elected under this form of government, as a rule, on the basis of general direct elections and do not have wide opportunities for mutual control. The essence of the semi-presidential model is reduced to a strong presidential power in conditions of a somewhat lesser degree of separation of powers than in a presidential republic. The president here can, under certain circumstances, dissolve the parliament, and the parliament has the right to express no confidence in the government. The president has a wide range of powers, which gives him the opportunity to actively interfere in the political life of the state.

A special kind of republican form of government - theocratic republic. It is characterized by the legal consolidation of the participation of the clergy in the direct administration of the state. For example, the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran of 1978 provides, along with the post of president, the post of a faqih, the spiritual leader of the Iranian people. Its decisions are binding on secular authorities and have a decisive influence on the conduct of public affairs.