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A political system is a system
System

System is a set of interacting or interdependent entities, real or abstract, forming an integrated whole.The concept of an "integrated whole" can also be stated in terms of a system embodying a set of relationships which are differentiated from relationships of the set to other elements, and from relationships between an element of the se...
 of politics
Politics

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions....
 and government
Government

Government is the body within any organization that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws, regulations, or rules. Typically, the government refers to a civil government -- local, provincial, or national -- but commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also administered by governing bodies....
. It is usually compared to the law system, economic system
Economic system

An economic system or ?conomic system is a system that involves the Economic production, distribution and consumption of Good and Service between the entities in a particular society....
, cultural system
Cultural system

A cultural system may be defined as the interaction of different elements of culture. While a cultural system is quite different from a social system, sometimes both systems together are referred to as the sociocultural system....
, and other social systems
Social systems

Social systemsSocial systems sciences is a loose term for engineered environments where, if successful, attract users to participate. The the advent of computers and internet has enabled new types of social systems to take form ,...
. It is different from them, and can be generally defined on a spectrum from left, i.e. communism or fascism, to the right, i.e. libertarianism. However, this is a very simplified view of a much more complex system of categories involving i.e. the view on who will have the authority, the view of religious questions and the government's influence on its people and economy.

e are several definitions of "political system":



Commonalities between political systems:



following are examples of political systems, some of which are typically mutually exclusive (eg Monarchy and Republic), while others may (or may not) overlap in various combinations (eg Democracy and Westminster system, Democracy and Socialism).

Anthropological forms of political systems
Anthropologists generally recognize four kinds of political systems, two of which are uncentralized and two of which are centralized.






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A political system is a system
System

System is a set of interacting or interdependent entities, real or abstract, forming an integrated whole.The concept of an "integrated whole" can also be stated in terms of a system embodying a set of relationships which are differentiated from relationships of the set to other elements, and from relationships between an element of the se...
 of politics
Politics

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions....
 and government
Government

Government is the body within any organization that has the authority to make and the power to enforce laws, regulations, or rules. Typically, the government refers to a civil government -- local, provincial, or national -- but commercial, academic, religious, or other formal organizations are also administered by governing bodies....
. It is usually compared to the law system, economic system
Economic system

An economic system or ?conomic system is a system that involves the Economic production, distribution and consumption of Good and Service between the entities in a particular society....
, cultural system
Cultural system

A cultural system may be defined as the interaction of different elements of culture. While a cultural system is quite different from a social system, sometimes both systems together are referred to as the sociocultural system....
, and other social systems
Social systems

Social systemsSocial systems sciences is a loose term for engineered environments where, if successful, attract users to participate. The the advent of computers and internet has enabled new types of social systems to take form ,...
. It is different from them, and can be generally defined on a spectrum from left, i.e. communism or fascism, to the right, i.e. libertarianism. However, this is a very simplified view of a much more complex system of categories involving i.e. the view on who will have the authority, the view of religious questions and the government's influence on its people and economy.

Overview

There are several definitions of "political system":

  • A political system is a complete set of institution
    Institution

    Institutions are social structure and social mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals. Institutions are identified with a social purpose and permanence, transcending individual human lives and intentions, and with the making and enforcing of rules governing cooperative human behavior....
    s, interest group
    Interest group

    An interest group is an organized collection of people who seek to influence political decisions. It is a private organization that tries to persuade public officials to act or vote according to group members? interests....
    s (such as political parties
    Political party

    A political party is a political organization that seeks to attain and maintain politics power within government, usually by participating in electoral campaigns....
    , trade union
    Trade union

    A trade union or labor union is an organization run by and for workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages, hours, and working conditions....
    s, lobby groups), the relationships between those institutions and the political norms and rules that govern their functions (constitution
    Constitution

    A constitution is a system for government — often codified as a written document — that establishes the rules and principles of an autonomous political entity....
    , election
    Election

    An election is a decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold formal office. This is the usual mechanism by which modern Representative democracy fills offices in the legislature, sometimes in the executive and judiciary, and for regional government and local government....
     law
    LAW

    LAW may refer to:* Anti-tank warfare, e.g. the US Army M72 LAW or the British Army LAW 80*Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights ...
    ).
  • A political system is composed of the members of a social organization (group) who are in power.
  • A political system is a system that necessarily has two properties: a set of interdependent
    Interdependence

    Interdependence is a dynamic of being mutually responsible to and sharing a common set of principles with others. This concept differs distinctly from "dependence" in that an interdependent relationship implies that all participants are emotionally, economically, ecologically and or morally "interdependent." Some people advocate Freedom or i...
     components and boundaries toward the environment
    Natural environment

    The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, is a term that encompasses all life and non-living things occurring nature on Earth or some region thereof....
     with which it interacts
    Interaction

    Interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. The idea of a two-way effect is essential in the concept of interaction, as opposed to a one-way causal effect....
    .
  • A political system is a concept in which theoretically regarded as a way of the government makes a policy and also to make them more organized in their administration.
  • A political system is one that ensures the maintaining of order and sanity in the society and at the same time makes it possible for some other institutions to also have their grievances and complaints put across in the course of social existence.


Commonalities between political systems:

  • Interdependent parts
    • Citizen
      Citizenship

      Citizenship refers to a person's membership in a political community such as a country or city. It has different legal definitions in different countries....
      s
    • Government
  • Boundaries
    • Citizenship
    • Territory
    • Property


Basic forms of political systems

The following are examples of political systems, some of which are typically mutually exclusive (eg Monarchy and Republic), while others may (or may not) overlap in various combinations (eg Democracy and Westminster system, Democracy and Socialism).
  • Anarchism
    Anarchism

    Anarchism is a political philosophy encompassing anarchist schools of thought which consider the state to be unnecessary, harmful, and/or undesirable....
  • Democracy
    Democracy

    Democracy is a form of government in which power is held directly or indirectly by citizens under a free electoral system. It is derived from the Greek language d?????at?a , "popular government" which was coined from d???? , "people" and ???t?? , "rule, strength" in the middle of the 5th-4th century BC to denote the political syst...
  • Monarchy
    Monarchy

    A monarchy is a form of government in which supreme power is absolutely or nominally lodged in an individual, who is the head of state, often for Life tenure or until abdication, and "is wholly set apart from all other members of the state." The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch....
    . Monarchies are one of the oldest political systems known, developing from tribal structure with one person the absolute ruler.
  • Republic
    Republic

    A republic is a state or country that is not led by a hereditary monarch but in which the people have an impact on its government. The word originates from the Latin term res publica....
    . The first recorded Republic was in India in the 6th century BCE.
  • Socialism
    Socialism

    Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating public or state ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equality for all individuals, with a fair or Egalitarianism method of compensation....
    . Degrees of socialism (state run economies or services) have been present in political systems since antiquity, the modern socialist movement largely originated in the late-19th century and spawned communism and democratic socialism.
  • Sultanates. a political structure claiming to be Islamic, which combines aspects of Monarchy and Theocracy.
  • Islamic Democracy
    Islamic democracy

    Known as Islamic democracy, two kinds of democratic states can be recognized in the Islamic countries. The basis of this distinction has to do with how comprehensively Islam is incorporated into the affairs of the state....
    . a political structure claiming to be both Islamic and democratic, which combines aspects of Theocracy (as the framework) and Democracy (as the decision making method under the Islam's ethical system). Iran
    Iran

    Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persian Empire until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea....
    's constitution is based on such a system.
  • Theocracy
    Theocracy

    Theocracy is a form of government in which a god or deity is recognized as the state's supreme civil ruler, or in a broader sense, a form of government in which a state is governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided....
  • Westminster system
    Westminster System

    The Westminster system is a Democracy parliamentary system of government modelled after the British government . The term comes from the Palace of Westminster, the seat of the UK Parliament....
  • Feudalism
    Feudalism

    Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period , in its most classic sense refers to a Middle Ages European political system composed of a set of reciprocal law and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs....


Anthropological forms of political systems


Anthropologists generally recognize four kinds of political systems, two of which are uncentralized and two of which are centralized.

  • Uncentralized systems
    • Band
      Band society

      A band society is the simplest form of human society. A band generally consists of a small kin group, no larger than an extended family or clan....
    • Tribe
      Tribe

      A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups ....
  • Centralized systems
    Centralized government

    A centralized government is the form of government in which power is concentrated in a central authority to which local governments are subject....
    • Chiefdom
      Chiefdom

      A chiefdom is a type of complex society of varying degrees of centralization that is led by an individual known as a Tribal chief.In anthropology, one model of human social development rooted in ideas of cultural evolution describes a chiefdom as a form of social organization more complex than a tribe or a band society, and less complex tha...
    • State
      State

      A state is a political Social contract with effective sovereignty over a geographic area and representing a population. These may be nation states, State or multinational states....
    • City States


See also

  • Form of government
    Form of government

    A form of government is a term that refers to the set of political institutions by which a government of a state is organized in order to exert its powers over a body politic....
    , a related but separate concept
  • List of forms of government
    List of forms of government

    This article lists forms of government and political systems, according to a series of different ways of categorising them. The systems listed are of course not mutually exclusive, and often have overlapping definitions ....
  • Voting system
    Voting system

    A voting system allows voters to choose between options, often in an election where candidates are selected for public administration. Voting can be also used to award prizes, to select between different plans of action, or by a computer program to find a solution to a problem....


External links

  • For further resources on political theory and the mechanics of political system design, see the Governance and Social Development Resource Centre's