All Topics  
Single-party state

 

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Single-party state
 
 
  Topics Single-party state Topic Home

A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system
Party system

A party system is a concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political party. The idea is that political parties control the government, have a stable base of mass popular support, and create internal mechanisms for controlling funding, information and nominations....
 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....
 in which a single political party
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....
 forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for 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....
. Sometimes the term de facto single-party state is used to describe a dominant-party system
Dominant-party system

A dominant-party system, or one party dominant system, is a party system where only one political party can realistically become the government, by itself or in a coalition government....
 where laws or practices prevent the opposition from legally getting power. Some single party states only outlaw opposition parties, while allowing subordinate allied parties to exist as part of a permanent coalition
Coalition

A coalition is an Wiktionary:alliance among individuals, during which they cooperate in Joint venture, each in his own self-interest. Joining forces together for a common cause....
 such as a popular front
Popular front

A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of Left-wing politics and Centrism who are united by opposition to another group ....
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Single-party state'
Start a new discussion about 'Single-party state'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system
Party system

A party system is a concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political party. The idea is that political parties control the government, have a stable base of mass popular support, and create internal mechanisms for controlling funding, information and nominations....
 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....
 in which a single political party
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....
 forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for 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....
. Sometimes the term de facto single-party state is used to describe a dominant-party system
Dominant-party system

A dominant-party system, or one party dominant system, is a party system where only one political party can realistically become the government, by itself or in a coalition government....
 where laws or practices prevent the opposition from legally getting power. Some single party states only outlaw opposition parties, while allowing subordinate allied parties to exist as part of a permanent coalition
Coalition

A coalition is an Wiktionary:alliance among individuals, during which they cooperate in Joint venture, each in his own self-interest. Joining forces together for a common cause....
 such as a popular front
Popular front

A popular front is a broad coalition of different political groupings, often made up of Left-wing politics and Centrism who are united by opposition to another group ....
. Within their own countries, dominant parties ruling over single-party states are often referred to simply as the Party. For example, in reference to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
, the Party meant the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Communist Party of the Soviet Union

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest Communist Party in the world....
; in reference to the former People's Republic of Poland
People's Republic of Poland

The People's Republic of Poland or Polish People's Republic was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1989 inclusively.Although the People's Republic of Poland was a sovereignty state as defined by international law, its leaders were at the very least approved by Soviet Union leaders....
 it referred to the Polish United Workers' Party
Polish United Workers' Party

The Polish United Workers' Party was a communism party in the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1990. It was based on the program of Marxism and Leninism....
.

A one-party system should not be confused with a non-partisan democracy
Non-partisan democracy

Non-partisan democracy is a system of Representative democracy or organization such that universal and periodic elections take place without reference to political party....
 which prohibits all political parties. Also, some one-party states may allow non-party members to run for legislative seats, as was the case with Taiwan's
Republic of China

The Republic of China , also known as Nationalist China is a country in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition into a multi-party democratic state with Political status of Taiwan....
 Tangwai
Tangwai

The Tangwai movement was a political movement in the Republic of China in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the Kuomintang had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in Legislative Yuan, opposition parties were still forbidden....
 movement in the 1970s and 1980s.

In most cases, single-party states have arisen from Leninist
Leninism

Leninism refers to various related Political science and economics theories elaborated by the Bolshevik Communism leader Vladimir Lenin. Leninism builds upon and elaborates the ideas of Marxism, and serves as a philosophical basis for the ideology of Soviet communism....
, fascist or nationalist ideologies, particularly in the wake of independence from colonial rule. One-party systems often arise from decolonization because one party has had an overwhelmingly dominant role in liberation or in independence struggles.

Where the ruling party
Ruling party

The ruling party in a parliamentary system is the political party or coalition of the majority in parliament. Within a parliamentary system, the majority in the legislature also controls the Executive branch of government, thus leaving no possibility of dueling parties concurrently occupying the executive and legislative branches of governm...
 subscribes to a form of Marxism-Leninism
Marxism-Leninism

Marxism-Leninism is a communist ideology stream that emerged as the mainstream tendency among the Communist parties in the 1920s as it was adopted as the ideological foundation of the Communist International during Stalin's era....
, the one-party state system is usually called a communist state
Communist state

Communist state is a term used by many political scientists to describe a form of government in which the state operates under a single-party state and declares allegiance to Marxism-Leninism or a derivative thereof....
, though such states do not use that term to describe themselves, adopting instead the title of people's republic
People's Republic

People's Republic is a title that has often been used by Marxism-Leninism governments to describe their state. The motivation for using this term lies in the claim that Marxist-Leninists govern in accordance with popular sovereignty of the vast majority of the people, and, as such, a Marxist-Leninist republic is a people's republic....
, socialist republic or democratic republic. One peculiar example is Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
, where the role of the Communist Party
Communist party

A political party described as a communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government....
 is enshrined in the constitution, and no party is permitted to campaign or run candidates for 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....
, including the Communist party. Candidates are elected on an individual referendum
Referendum

A referendum , ballot question, or plebiscite is a direct vote in which an entire Constituency is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal....
 basis without formal party involvement, though elected assemblies predominantly consist of members of the dominant party alongside non-affiliated candidates.

Arguments for and against a single party-system

Supporters of a single-party state often appeal to a sense of unity, strength and commonality that a single-party government can lend a state. They argue that multi-party systems introduce too much division and are unsuitable for economic and political development. This argument was particularly popular during the mid-20th century, as many developing nations sought to emulate the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
, which had transformed itself from a backward, agrarian
Agriculture

Agriculture refers to the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of civilization, with the animal husbandry of domestication animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more Population density and Social stratification societies....
 nation into a superpower
Superpower

A superpower is a state with a leading position in the international relations and the ability to influence events and its own interests and project Power in international relations to protect those interests; it is traditionally considered to be one step higher than a great power....
.

Proponents also argue that an advantage of a single-party state is the tendency to adopt long-term policies while multi-party states tend to favour short-termist policies for the benefit of periodic elections.

A common counter-argument is that one-party systems have a tendency to become rigid and unwilling to accept change, which renders them unable to deal with new situations and may result in their collapse. This counter-argument became more widely held as the 20th century drew to a close and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 and the countries of the Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact

The Warsaw Pact was an organization of communist states in Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The treaty was signed in Warsaw, Poland on May 14, 1955 and official copies were made in Russian language, Polish language, Czech language and German language....
 collapsed. Finally, one-party states have often been criticized for their disrespect towards human rights
Human rights

Human rights refer to the "basic rights and freedom to which all humans are entitled." Examples of rights and freedoms which have come to be commonly thought of as human rights include civil and political rights, such as the right to life and liberty, freedom of speech, and equality before the law; and social, cultural and economic rights, i...
. However, proponents say that this is only a reflection on the ideology of the party (in most cases being Stalinism) in power, rather than on the system itself.

Democracy, dictatorship and the single-party system

Some do not consider a single party system to be truly democratic. This is due, in part, to the perception that a single party represents a single choice for a voter, which is seen to be no choice at all. While this is often true it is not necessarily the case. For example, under Mussolini's
Benito Mussolini

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, Order of the Bath Sovereign Military Order of Malta Order of the Tower and Sword was an Italy politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
 National Fascist Party
National Fascist Party

The National Fascist Party was an Italy party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Fascism . The party ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under an authoritarian system....
 numerous candidates ran for election in each constituency
Constituency

A constituency is any cohesive body of people bound by shared identity, goals, or loyalty. Constituency can be used to describe a business's customer base and shareholders, or a charity's donors or those it serves....
, albeit under the Fascist Party.

Furthermore, the single-party system is heavily associated with dictatorship
Dictatorship

A dictatorship is usually defined as an Autocracy form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator, without hereditary ascension....
. As there is only one party, political power
Political power

Political power is a type of power held by a political organization in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labour, and wealth....
 tends to be concentrated solely within the ruling party. As a result it is usually easy for the party in power to disregard previous 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 ...
s or the 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....
 of the state, creating a dictatorship consisting of the party. Further contributing to the association of dictatorship and the single-party system is the fact that many dictatorships have adopted a single-party system. This may be a means of legitimizing the dictatorship under that nation's constitution, or to present a veneer of democracy to other democratic nations, or the ideology
Ideology

An ideology is a set of aims and ideas, especially in politics. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to all members of this society....
 of the party may require that the dictatorship rule "by the will of the people".

Although many dictatorships represent themselves as one-party states, a one party-state is not a requirement of dictatorships. Examples of a dictatorship that is not a one-party state includes military dictatorship
Military dictatorship

A military dictatorship is a form of government wherein the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
s wherein the political power resides with the military
Military

A military is an organization authorized by its nation to use force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or Threat of force ....
, who exercise their authority without regard to political parties or elections.

Examples

The True Whig Party of Liberia is considered the founder of the first single-party state in the world. The party was conceived by the original Black American settlers and their descendants who referred to themselves as Americo-Liberians. Initially, its ideology was heavily influenced by that of the Whig Party
Whig Party (United States)

The Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from 1833 to 1856, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President of the United States Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party ....
 in the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
. Over time it morphed into a powerful Masonic Order that ruled every aspect of Liberian
Liberian

Liberian may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Liberia, a country on the west coast of Africa.* A person from Liberia, or of Liberian descent....
 society for well over a century until it was overthrown in 1980. While the True Whig Party still exists today, its influence has substantially declined.

Current single-party states

The following list includes the countries that are legally constituted as single-party states as of 2009 and the name of the single party in power:
  • People's Republic of China
    People's Republic of China

    The People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the List of countries by population in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately a fifth of the world's population....
     (Communist Party of China
    Communist Party of China

    The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and the ruling party of the People's Republic of China and the world's largest political party....
    ) - Eight minor parties
    List of political parties in the People's Republic of China

    The People's Republic of China is formally a multi-party state under the leadership of the Communist Party of China in the popular front model similar to the former Communist-era Eastern European countries such as the National Front ....
     are acceptable and Hong Kong
    Hong Kong

    Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south....
    , Macau
    Macau

    The Macau Special Administrative Region, , commonly known as Macau or Macao , is one of the two special administrative region of the People's Republic of China, the other being Hong Kong....
     are excluded.
  • Republic of Cuba
    Cuba

    The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
     (Communist Party of Cuba
    Communist Party of Cuba

    The Communist Party of Cuba is currently the governing political party in Cuba. It operates on a Marxism-Leninism model. The present Cuban constitution ascribes the role of the Party to be the "leading force of society and of the state"....
    )
  • State of Eritrea
    Eritrea

    Eritrea , officially the Country of Eritrea, is a country in Northeast Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast....
     (People's Front for Democracy and Justice
    People's Front for Democracy and Justice

    The People's Front for Democracy and Justice is the only legal political entity in Eritrea. It is nominally Marxism, but is often considered African socialism and holds itself open to nationalism of any political affiliation....
    )
  • Democratic People's Republic of Korea
    North Korea

    North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea , is a state in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula....
     (Korean Workers' Party leads the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland
    Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland

    The Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland , formed on July 22 1946, is a North Korean united front led by the Workers' Party of Korea....
    )
  • Lao People's Democratic Republic
    Laos

    Laos , officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and People's Republic of China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west....
     (Lao People's Revolutionary Party
    Lao People's Revolutionary Party

    The Lao People's Revolutionary Party is the Communist Party of Laos. Since 1975, it has monopolized political power in the country. The policy-making organs are the politburo and the central committee....
     leads the Lao Front for National Construction)
  • Syrian Arab Republic
    Syria

    Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
     (Baath Party
    Baath Party

    The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party was founded in Damascus in the 1940s by Michel Aflaq, a Syrian intellectual, as the original secular Arab nationalist movement, to unify all Arab countries in one State and to combat Western colonial rule that dominated the Arab region at that time....
     leads the National Progressive Front
    National Progressive Front

    The National Progressive Front , established in 1972, is a coalition of political parties in Syria that support the socialist and Arab nationalism orientation of the government and accept the leading role in society of the Ba'th Party....
    )
  • Socialist Republic of Vietnam
    Vietnam

    Vietnam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam , is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by People's Republic of China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east....
     (Communist Party of Vietnam
    Communist Party of Vietnam

    The Communist Party of Vietnam is the currently ruling, as well as the only legal political party in Vietnam. It is a Marxism-Leninism Communist Party supported by the Vietnamese Fatherland Front....
     leads the Vietnamese Fatherland Front
    Vietnamese Fatherland Front

    For the national railway company of Switzerland, see SBB-CFF-FFS.The Vietnamese Fatherland Front is an umbrella group of pro-government "mass movements" in Vietnam, and has close links to the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Vietnamese government....
    )


Former single-party states

Examples include:
  • many governments in Sub-Saharan Africa
    Sub-Saharan Africa

    Sub-Saharan Africa is a geographical term used to describe the area of the African continent which lies south of the Sahara, or those African countries which are fully or partially located south of the Sahara....
     after independence, although all except Eritrea
    Eritrea

    Eritrea , officially the Country of Eritrea, is a country in Northeast Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast....
     have converted to a de jure multi-party system.
  • (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola-Labour Party) 1975-1991
  • (People's Revolutionary Party of Benin
    People's Revolutionary Party of Benin

    The People's Revolutionary Party of Benin was a political party in Benin. It was founded in 1975 by General Mathieu K?r?kou. With the new constitution of November 30 1975, PRPB became the sole legal party in the country....
    ) 1975-1990
  • (Union for National Progress) 1966-1993
  • (Cameroon National Union
    Cameroon National Union

    The Cameroon National Union was Cameroon's sole legal political party until 1990. It was formed in 1966 through a merger of the Cameroon Union and the Kamerun National Democratic Party, the major political organizations, respectively, of the eastern and western regions, and four smaller parties....
     1966-1985/Cameroon People's Democratic Movement
    Cameroon People's Democratic Movement

    The Cameroon People's Democratic Movement is the ruling political party in Cameroon. Previously known as the Cameroon National Union, which had dominated Cameroon politics since independence in 1960, it was renamed in 1985....
     1985-1990)
  • (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde
    African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde

    The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde or PAIGC is a political party that governed Guinea-Bissau from independence in 1974 until the late 1990s and from 2004 to 2005....
     1975-1981/African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde 1981-1991)
  • (Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa) 1962-1979, (Central African Democratic Union
    Central African Democratic Union

    Central African Democratic Union , was a political party in the Central African Republic. UDC was installed by David Dacko in 1980 at a congress in March that year....
    ) 1980-1981, (Central African Democratic Rally
    Central African Democratic Rally

    The Central African Democratic Rally is a political party in the Central African Republic. In the first round of the Central African Republic general election, 2005, held on 13 March, the party's candidate, Andr? Kolingba, took 16.36% of the vote and third place....
    ) 1985-1991
  • (Chadian Progressive Party
    Chadian Progressive Party

    The Chadian Progressive Party was the first African political party created in Chad, active from 1947 to 1973. It was a regional branch of the African Democratic Rally ....
     1962-1973/National Movement for the Cultural and Social Revolution
    National Movement for the Cultural and Social Revolution

    The National Movement for the Cultural and Social Revolution was a political party in Chad. It was the successor to the Chadian Progressive Party and existed from 1973 to 1975 as the country's sole legal party, under the strict control of the Heads of state of Chad Fran?ois Tombalbaye....
     1973-1975), (National Union for Independence and Revolution
    National Union for Independence and Revolution

    The National Union for Independence and Revolution was the ruling party in Chad between 1984 and 1990. It was founded in June 1984 by Heads of State of Chad Hiss?ne Habr? as a successor of his Armed Forces of the North, the insurgent group through which Habr? had conquered power in 1982....
    ) 1989-1990
  • (Comorian Union for Progress
    Comorian Union for Progress

    The Comorian Union for Progress In 1978, France mercenary Bob Denard staged a coup d'etat against the socialism government of Ali Soilih, bringing Ahmed Abdallah back to power....
    ) 1982-1990
  • (National Revolutionary Movement) 1964-1968, (Congolese Labour Party) 1969-1990
  • (Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire-African Democratic Rally) 1960-1990
  • (People's Rally for Progress
    People's Rally for Progress

    The People's Rally for Progress , is a political party in Djibouti. It has dominated politics in the country since 1979, initially under the rule of President Hassan Gouled Aptidon....
    ) 1981-1992
  • (Worker's National United Party) 1970-1979, (Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
    Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea

    The Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea is the ruling political party in Equatorial Guinea. It was established by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo as the country's sole legal political organization on 11 October 1987....
    ) 1987-1991
  • (Worker's Party of Ethiopia) 1987-1991
  • (Gabonese Democratic Party
    Gabonese Democratic Party

    The Gabonese Democratic Party , or PDG, is the ruling and dominant political party of Gabon. Its motto is Dialogue, Tolerance, Peace.It has held power since independence, first under L?on M'ba , then under current leader Omar Bongo....
    ) 1968-1990
  • (Convention People's Party
    Convention People's Party

    The Convention People's Party is a Socialism political party in Ghana, based on the ideas of former President of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah.The CPP was formed in 1949 by Kwame Nkrumah to campaign for the independence of the Gold Coast ....
    ) 1964-1966
  • (Democratic Party of Guinea) 1958-1984
  • (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde
    African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde

    The African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde or PAIGC is a political party that governed Guinea-Bissau from independence in 1974 until the late 1990s and from 2004 to 2005....
    ) 1974-1991
  • (Kenya African National Union
    Kenya African National Union

    The Kenya African National Union, better known as KANU, ruled Kenya for nearly 40 years after its independence from British colonial rule in 1963, until its electoral loss at the end of 2002....
    ) 1982-1990
  • (True Whig Party) 1878-1980
  • (National Front for the Defence of the Revolution) 1976-1989
  • (Malawi Congress Party
    Malawi Congress Party

    The Malawi Congress Party is a political party in Malawi. It was originally known as the Nyasaland African Congress, but became the MCP under Hastings Banda, its first president....
    ) 1966-1993
  • (Sudanese Union-African Democratic Rally
    Sudanese Union-African Democratic Rally

    The Sudanese Union-African Democratic Rally is a Malian political party.The party was formed in 1945 by Mamdou Konat? and Modibo Keita, with the name Sudanese Bloc ....
    ) 1960-1968, (Democratic Union of the Malian People
    Democratic Union of the Malian People

    Democratic Union of the Malian People UDPN was a political party in Mali. It was founded by the CMLN military junta regime in order to provide it with political legitimacy....
    ) 1979-1991
  • (Mauritanian People's Party) 1961-1978
  • (Mozambique Liberation Front) 1975-1990
  • (Nigerien Progressive Party-African Democratic Rally
    Nigerien Progressive Party-African Democratic Rally

    The Nigerien Progressive Party-African Democratic Rally is a political party in Niger.The PPN-RDA was the country's sole legal party from 1960 until 1974, when the regime of President of Niger Hamani Diori was overthrown in a military coup....
    ) 1960-1974, (National Movement for a Developing Society) 1989-1991
  • (Democratic Republican Party-Party of the Hutu Emancipation Movement) 1965-1973, (National Revolutionary Movement for Development) 1978-1991
  • (Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe
    Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe

    The Movement for the Liberation of S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe/Social Democratic Party or Movimento de Liberta??o de S?o Tom? e Pr?ncipe/Partido Social Democrata, in Portuguese language, is one of the main political parties in S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe....
    ) 1975-1990
  • (Socialist Party) 1966-1974
  • (Seychelles People's Progressive Front
    Seychelles People's Progressive Front

    Seychelles People's Progressive Front is a socialist political party in Seychelles. It publishes a newspaper called The People.The SPPF was founded in 1964 by France-Albert Ren?, under the name Seychelles People's United Party, and it has been led by him since its inception....
    ) 1979-1991
  • (All People's Congress
    All People's Congress

    The All People's Congress is one of the two major political parties in Sierra Leone, the other is the Sierra Leone People's Party . The party was founded in 1962 by former Sierra Leone's president Siaka Stevens....
    ) 1978-1991
  • (Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party
    Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party

    Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party , was the governing political party in Somalia from 1976 to 1991....
    ) 1976-1991
  • (Sudanese Socialist Union
    Sudanese Socialist Union

    The Sudanese Socialist Union was a political party in Sudan. The SSU was the country's sole legal party from 1971 until 1985, when the regime of List of Presidents of Sudan Gaafar Nimeiry was overthrown in a military coup....
    ) 1971-1985
    Tanganyika
    Tanganyika

    Tanganyika is an East African territory lying between the largest of the African great lakes: Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika....
     (Tanganyika African National Union
    Tanganyika African National Union

    The Tanganyika African National Union was the principal political party in the struggle for sovereignty in the East Africa state of Tanganyika ....
    ) 1965-1975; Zanzibar
    Zanzibar

    Zanzibar is part of the East African republic of Tanzania. It consists of the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, 25?50 km off the coast of the mainland....
     (Afro-Shirazi Party
    Afro-Shirazi Party

    The Afro-Shirazi Party was the union between the mostly Persian people Shiraz Party and the mostly African people Afro Party in the island of Zanzibar....
    ) 1965-1992; TANU and ASP merged to form (Chama Cha Mapinduzi
    Chama Cha Mapinduzi

    The Chama Cha Mapinduzi is the ruling political party of Tanzania....
    ) 1975-1992
  • (Rally of the Togolese People
    Rally of the Togolese People

    The Rally of the Togolese People is the ruling political party in Togo. The President of Togo, Faure Gnassingb?, is also the National President of the RPT....
    ) 1969-1991
  • (Voltaic Democratic Union-African Democratic Rally) 1960-1966
  • (United National Independence Party
    United National Independence Party

    The United National Independence Party is a political party in Zambia. It governed that country from 1964 to 1991 under the president of Kenneth Kaunda....
    ) 1972-1990
  • (Popular Movement of the Revolution
    Popular Movement of the Revolution

    The Popular Movement of the Revolution was a Zaire political party established in 1967 by then-President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Joseph-D?sir? Mobutu ....
    ) 1967-1990
  • Middle East
    Middle East

    File:GreaterMiddleEast1.pngThe Middle East is a region that spans southwestern Asia, western Asia, and northeastern Africa. It has no clear boundaries, often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East....
    ern and North Africa
    North Africa

    North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan Africa.Geopolitically, the United Nations subregion of Northern Africa includes the following seven countries or territories:...
    n governments such as:
  • (National Liberation Front
    National Liberation Front (Algeria)

    The National Liberation Front is a socialist, political party in Algeria. It was set up on November 1, 1954 as a merger of other smaller groups, to obtain independence for Algeria from France....
    ) 1962-1988
  • (Arab Socialist Union
    Arab Socialist Union

    The Arab Socialist Union is one of a number of loosely related political party based on the principles of Nasserism Arab socialism in a number of countries....
    ) 1962-1978
  • (Rastakhiz Party
    Rastakhiz

    Rastakhiz party was founded on March 2, 1975 by Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Iranian monarchy, as a new single party holding a monopoly on political activity in Iran, and to which all Iranians were required to belong....
    ) 1975-1978, (Islamic Republican Party
    Islamic Republican party

    The Islamic Republican Party was a political party in Iran, formed in mid-1979 to assist the Iranian Revolution and Ayatollah Khomeini establish theocracy in Iran....
    ) 1979-1987
  • (Baath Party
    Baath Party

    The Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party was founded in Damascus in the 1940s by Michel Aflaq, a Syrian intellectual, as the original secular Arab nationalist movement, to unify all Arab countries in one State and to combat Western colonial rule that dominated the Arab region at that time....
    ) 1968-2003
  • (Yemeni Socialist Party
    Yemeni Socialist Party

    The Yemeni Socialist Party is a political party in Yemen. It was the former ruling party in South Yemen before the unification into Yemen. Now YSP is an opposition party in the Republic of Yemen....
    ) 1978-1990
  • Syria
    Syria

    Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is an Arab-majority country in Southwest Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Israel to the southwest, Jordan to the south, Iraq to the east, and Turkey to the north....
     (Arab Liberation Movement) 1951-1954
  • Tunisia
    Tunisia

    Tunisia , officially the Tunisian Republic , is a country located in North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and Libya to the southeast....
     (Constitutional Democratic Rally
    Constitutional Democratic Rally

    The Constitutional Democratic Rally is the ruling party in Tunisia. The RCD is the party of president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali and prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi....
    ) 1963-1981
  • The former Soviet Union
    Soviet Union

    The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
    , the Warsaw Pact
    Warsaw Pact

    The Warsaw Pact was an organization of communist states in Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The treaty was signed in Warsaw, Poland on May 14, 1955 and official copies were made in Russian language, Polish language, Czech language and German language....
    , and some of its neighbors were ruled by Communist parties
    Communist party

    A political party described as a communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government....
    .
  • (People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan
    People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan

    The People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan was a communist party that ruled Afghanistan from 1978 to 1992.The party was founded on January 1, 1965....
    ) 1978-1992
  • Bulgaria
    People's Republic of Bulgaria

    The History of Communist Bulgaria encompasses the period of Bulgarian history between 1944 and 1989. During this time, the country was known as the People's Republic of Bulgaria and was under the administration of the Bulgarian Communist Party ....
     (Bulgarian Communist Party
    Bulgarian Communist Party

    The Bulgarian Communist Party was the communist and marxist-leninist ruling party of the History of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 1990 when the country ceased to be a Communist state....
    ) 1946-1990
  • Czechoslovakia
    Czechoslovak Socialist Republic

    The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic was the official name of Czechoslovakia from 1960 until early 1990 .The traditional name Ceskoslovensk? republika was changed on July 11, 1960 as a symbol of the "final victory of socialism" in the country, and remained so until the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia....
     (Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
    Communist Party of Czechoslovakia

    The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, in Czech and in Slovak: Komunistick? strana Ceskoslovenska was a Communist and Marxist-Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992....
     with minor allied parties Czech National Social Party
    Czech National Social Party

    Czech National Social Party was a nationalism party established in 1898 within the Young Czech Party as a nominally socialism group with a stress on achieving Czech independence from the Austria?Hungary ....
    , Czechoslovak People's Party, Freedom Party (Slovakia)
    Freedom Party (Slovakia)

    The Freedom Party was a political party in Slovakia.It was founded by some members of the Democratic Party in March 1946 as a party mainly for Catholics....
     and Party of Slovak Revival
    Party of Slovak Revival

    Party of Slovak Revival was a political party founded in 1948 by pro-Communist members of the Democratic Party . It was accepted into the National Front and got 17 seats in the Slovak parliament ....
    ) 1948-1989
  • East Germany (Socialist Unity Party of Germany
    Socialist Unity Party of Germany

    The Socialist Unity Party of Germany was the governing party of the German Democratic Republic from its formation on 7 October 1949 until the elections of March 1990....
     with minor allied parties CDU
    Christian Democratic Union (East Germany)

    The Christian Democratic Union of Germany was an East German political party founded in 1945. It was part of the National Front with the Socialist Unity Party of Germany until 1989....
    , DBD
    Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany

    The Democratic Farmers' Party of Germany was an East Germany political party. The DBD was founded in 1948. It had 52 representatives in the Volkskammer, as part of the National Front ....
    , LDPD
    Liberal Democratic Party of Germany

    The Liberal Democratic Party of Germany was a political party in East Germany. Like the other allied parties of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany in the National Front it had 52 representatives in the Volkskammer....
    , NDPD
    National Democratic Party of Germany (East Germany)

    The National Democratic Party of Germany was an East Germany political party that acted as an organisation for ex-Nazis, the Wehrmacht and middle classes....
    ) 1949-1989
  • Hungary
    People's Republic of Hungary

    The People's Republic of Hungary or Hungarian People's Republic was the official state name of Hungary from 1949 to 1989 during its Communism period under the guidance of the Soviet Union....
     (Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party
    Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party

    The Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party was the ruling communist party of Hungary during the Cold War between 1956 and 1989. It was organised from parts of the Hungarian Working People's Party, during the 1956 Hungarian Revolution....
    ) 1948-1989
  • (Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party
    Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party

    The 'Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party' is an ex-communist political party in Mongolia. The party is abbreviated 'MPRP' in English language and in Mongolian....
    ) 1921-1990
  • Poland
    People's Republic of Poland

    The People's Republic of Poland or Polish People's Republic was the official name of Poland from 1952 to 1989 inclusively.Although the People's Republic of Poland was a sovereignty state as defined by international law, its leaders were at the very least approved by Soviet Union leaders....
     (Polish United Workers' Party
    Polish United Workers' Party

    The Polish United Workers' Party was a communism party in the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1990. It was based on the program of Marxism and Leninism....
     with two minor allied parties SD and ZSL) 1948-1989
  • Romania (Romanian Communist Party
    Romanian Communist Party

    The Romanian Communist Party was a Communist Party in Romania. Successor to the Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave ideological endorsement to communist revolution and the disestablishment of Greater Romania....
    ) 1947-1989
  • (Communist Party of the Soviet Union
    Communist Party of the Soviet Union

    The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest Communist Party in the world....
    ) 1922-1991
  • Other former single-party states
  • Afghanistan
    Democratic Republic of Afghanistan

    The Democratic Republic of Afghanistan was a government of Afghanistan between 1978 and 1992 Diplomatic recognition by 8 countries. It was both ideologically close to and economically dependent on the Soviet Union, and was a major belligerent of the Afghan Civil War....
     (National Revolutionary Party) 1975-1978
  • Albania
    Socialist People's Republic of Albania

    Socialist People's Republic of Albania was the official name of Albania during the History of Communist Albania between 1946 and 1992. The first name of the state was the People's Republic of Albania which was used from 1946 to 1976....
     (Albanian Party of Labour
    Albanian Party of Labour

    The Party of Labour of Albania was the single-party state political party in Albania during communist rule . It was founded on November 8 1941 as the Communist Party of Albania , but its name was changed in 1948....
    ) 1944-1991
  • (Fatherland's Front
    Fatherland's Front (Austria)

    The 'Vaterl?ndische Front' was a right-wing, austrofascist Austrian political party. It was founded in 1933 by Engelbert Dollfuss to collect all "loyal Austrians" under one banner....
    ) 1934-1938
  • (Burma Socialist Programme Party
    Burma Socialist Programme Party

    Burma Socialist Programme Party was formed by the Ne Win's military regime that seized power in 1962 and was the sole political party allowed to exist legally in Burma during the period of military rule from 1964 until its demise in the aftermath of the 8888 Uprising....
    ) 1962-1988
  • (Communist Party of Kampuchea
    Communist Party of Kampuchea

    The Communist Party of Kampuchea was a communist party in Cambodia. Its followers were generally known as Khmer Rouge ....
    ) 1975-79 (not official until September 1977), (Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party) 1979-93
  • (Kuomintang of China
    Kuomintang

    The Kuomintang of China , also often translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party, is the founding and the ruling party of the Republic of China ....
    ), 1928-1986
  • Croatia
    Independent State of Croatia

    The Independent State of Croatia was a puppet state of Nazi Germany. It was established on April 10, 1941, after the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was attacked by the Axis forces....
     (Ustaše
    Ustaše

    The Usta?a - Croatian Revolutionary Movement , members known collectively as Usta?e, but sometimes anglicised as Ustashas or Ustashi) was a Croatian and Nazi-like movement....
    ) 1941-1945
  • (Dominican Party
    Dominican Party

    El Partido Dominicano was the only legally approved political party in the Dominican Republic during the rule of autocratic ruler; Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina....
    ) 1930-1961
  • (National Socialist German Workers' Party - Nazi Party) 1933-1945
  • (New Jewel Movement
    New Jewel Movement

    The New Joint Endeavor for Welfare, Education, and Liberation, or New JEWEL Movement, was a Marxist Leninist vanguard politics party in the Caribbean island nation of Grenada....
    ) 1979-1983
  • (Arrow Cross Party
    Arrow Cross Party

    The Arrow Cross Party was a pro-German anti-Semitic national socialism party led by Ferenc Sz?lasi which ruled Hungarian State from October 15, 1944 to January 1945....
    ) 1944-1945
  • (National Fascist Party
    National Fascist Party

    The National Fascist Party was an Italy party, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Fascism . The party ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943 under an authoritarian system....
    ) 1928-1943
  • (Imperial Rule Assistance Association
    Taisei Yokusankai

    The was created by Prime Minister of Japan Fumimaro Konoe on 12 October 1940 to promote the goals of his Shintaisei movement. It evolved into a "militarist-socialist" political party which aimed at removing the sectionalism in the politics and economics in the Empire of Japan to create a totalitarianism single-party state, which would maximi...
    ) 1940-1945
  • (National Gathering
    Nasjonal Samling

    Nasjonal Samling was a fascism party in Norway active in the period 1933-45. Founded by former minister of defence Vidkun Quisling and a group of sympathisers such as Johan Bernhard Hjort who was to lead the party's paramilitary wing for a short time before leaving the party in 1937 after internal conflict....
    ) 1942-1945
  • (Colorado Party
    Colorado Party (Paraguay)

    The National Republican Association ? Colorado Party is a political party in Paraguay, founded in 1887 by Bernardino Caballero. It is usually known as the Colorado Party....
    ) 1947-1962
  • Portugal
    Estado Novo (Portugal)

    Estado Novo is the name of the Portugal authoritarian regime installed in 1933, following the army-led 28th May 1926 coup d'?tat of 28 May 1926 against the democratic Portuguese First Republic....
     (National Union
    National Union (Portugal)

    The National Union was the only legal political party in Portugal for most of the period of the Estado Novo , a right-wing dictatorship dominated by Ant?nio de Oliveira Salazar....
    ) 1933-1974
  • Romania
    Kingdom of Romania

    The Kingdom of Roumania was the old Romanian state based on a form of parliamentary monarchy between March 13, 1881 and December 30, 1947, specified by the First , and respectively, the Second Constitution of Roumania....
     (National Renaissance Front
    National Renaissance Front

    The National Renaissance Front was a Fascism-inspired Romanian political party created by King of Romania Carol II of Romania in 1938 as the Single-party state of government following his decision to ban all other political parties and suspend the 1923 Constitution of Romania, and the passing of the 1938 Constitution of Romania....
    ) 1938-1940, (Iron Guard
    Iron Guard

    The Iron Guard is the name most commonly given in English to a Far-right ultra-Nationalism, antisemitic, and fascism movement and political party in Romania in the period from 1927 into the early part of World War II....
    ) 1940-1941
  • Slovak Republic (Slovak People's Party
    Slovak People's Party

    The Slovak People's Party was a Slovak right-wing party with strong Roman Catholic Church and national orientation between 1906/1913 and 1945 in Slovakia....
    ) 1939-1945
  • (Spanish Patriotic Union
    Spanish Patriotic Union

    The Uni?n Patri?tica Espa?ola was the party created from above by Spain dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera, conceived as a support to his conservatism dictatorship and integrating political Roman Catholic Church, Technocracy s, and the business-owning classes....
    ), 1923-1930, and the (National Movement
    Movimiento Nacional

    The Movimiento Nacional was the name given to the fascist inspired mechanism during Francoist rule in Spain under Franco, which purported to be the only channel of participation to Spanish public life....
    ), 1939-1977.
  • (Republican People’s Party
    Republican People's Party (Turkey)

    The Republican People's Party is the oldest political party in the Turkey and is the main party of the Centre-left. The party was established during the Congress of Sivas as a union of resistance groups against the invasion of Anatolia....
    ),1923-1946.
  • Turkmenistan
    Turkmenistan

    Turkmenistan is a Turkic peoples country in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic ....
     (Democratic Party of Turkmenistan
    Democratic Party of Turkmenistan

    The Democratic Party of Turkmenistan is the only political party in Turkmenistan. The DPT was led by former Soviet dictator Saparmurat Niyazov from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s until his death in 2006....
    ),1991-2008.
  • SFR Yugoslavia
    Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

    The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and in Slovene language: Socialisticna Federativna Republika Jugoslavija The Slovene language name also uses this Gaj?s Latin alphabet version with a slight difference in spelling....
     (League of Communists of Yugoslavia
    League of Communists of Yugoslavia

    League of Communists of Yugoslavia , before 1952 the Communist Party of Yugoslavia , was a major Communist party in Yugoslavia. The party was founded as an opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1919....
    ) 1945-1990


See also

  • List of democracy and elections-related topics
    List of democracy and elections-related topics

    Democracy * Democracy* History of democracy* Democracy * List of types of democracy** Anticipatory democracy** Athenian democracy** Consensus democracy...
  • Multi-Party System
    Multi-party system

    A multi-party system is a system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition....
  • Two-Party System
    Two-party system

    A two-party system is a form of party system where two major party political parties dominate vote in nearly all elections, at every level. As a result, all, or nearly all, elected offices end up being held by candidates endorsed by one of the two major parties....
  • Dominant Party System
    Dominant-party system

    A dominant-party system, or one party dominant system, is a party system where only one political party can realistically become the government, by itself or in a coalition government....


External links