In the world there are many different systems of governing countries. There are monarchies and republics, centralized countries and decentralized countries, full democracies and dictatorships…
The types of states that we can find in the world are very diverse, but the majority are found in one of the following 16 typologies that we are going to discover below. Go for it.
The state is a political concept that refers to the social, political and economic organization of a society. For a region of the world to be considered a sovereign state, in addition to being recognized as such, it must have the following three elements: a delimited territory, a population and institutions.
One of the first to speak of the state was the Italian philosopher Nicolás Machiavelli, who used this term to designate the political organization From that moment on, the concept has expanded its meaning, referring to various structures of power and dominance that are considered the legitimate holders of power over a certain area of land.
In the theory of the social contract, the state is spoken of as a type of agreement that people make individually, constituting an association which differs from the institution of government. Max Weber also treats the state as an association, but differs from the theory of the social contract considering that it is an agreement reached by a group of people that is imposed on other groups in society, implying in one way or another the benefit of some. and the oppression of others.
Throughout history there have been multiple forms of State. In fact, we could say that each country has its own, since each nation has had its own particular social, demographic, economic and political characteristics, which influence the way they have been organized. But despite this, All of them can be grouped into categories that share common features and are organized according to several criteria
1. According to the territorial model
According to the territorial model of the state, that is, to what degree of autonomy the regions that make it up have or to what extent the capital decides all aspects of the state, we talk about:
1.1. centralized state
In a state with a centralized territorial model we can find that it is the central government that has practically all the powers, leaving very little decision-making capacity to its administrative regions It is a model of state in which all aspects of the executive, legislative and judicial power are decided in the capital.
Municipalities, regions, provinces, departments or any other intrastate subdivision are almost completely subordinated to the central power. In fact, its rulers and officials are appointed practically from the state capital and there is only one legal system for the entire territory.
Examples of centralized states are France, Portugal and Vatican City.
1.2. Federal state
States with a federal-type territorial model are made up of several states with considerable autonomy. Practically, these states are sovereign and free, almost independent with respect to the central government but are united to a federal entity that makes up the country.
These states have a high degree of political decentralization, radically opposed to unitary states because the federative entities get to decide practically everything. Each state has its own laws, taxes, educational system, police, nationality… They have judicial and legislative autonomy, although always subject to the federal constitution.
Germany, the United States and Russia are examples of this type of state.
1.3. confederate state
It shares characteristics with the federal state, since Its territorial model implies the union of two or more states with their respective powers However, in the confederated case the decentralization is even greater, implying many more freedoms.
The degree of autonomy of each state is so great that by proxy they can even have their own army and other defensive organizations apart from those found at the confederal level. Full independence is given to all states to be able to defend themselves as quickly as possible without having to depend on permissions at the sovereign state level.
However, power is delegated to the confederal authorities when it comes to international issues, something that we can observe in confederate countries such as Switzerland.
1.4. Composite State
The composite state is a type of organization that arises from one or more sovereign states. Is about entities composed of several states, all of them practically independent, with their own government They can be federations, confederations and associations of states but they continue to appear on maps as sovereign and independent nations.
In the past this system was quite common, especially because there were more monarchies than there are now and it was common for the same person to play the role of king of two or more countries thanks to dynastic inheritances. We have historical examples of this in Charles I of Spain and V of the Holy Empire, son of Juana “la Loca”, who in turn became queen of Castile, Aragon and Navarra as three independent states.
But it is not necessary to travel to late medieval Europe to find composite countries. The former Soviet Union is considered by some to be an example of a composite state, in which each of its Soviet socialist republics had its own government but under the guidance of the president of the Union.
Another example is the British Commonwealth of Nations, made up of countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Belize each with its own army, sovereign government, nationality and so on but with the same head of state, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.
1.5. autonomous state
There is the case of countries that, although they are constituted in a single state, their administrative regions enjoy a lot of power This is the autonomous state, a territorial model halfway between the unitary and the federal one, since although there continues to be a single national sovereignty, its regions can choose in matters of education, health, their own language and internal politics.
This system is typical of Spain and, to a certain extent, is in force in Italy. The entire country is considered a sovereign nation, with its army, president, ministers and head of state, but the regions have autonomous presidents counselors with powers similar to ministerial ones and parliamentarians who function in a similar way to the congress of deputies but with less power.
1.6. Macrostate models
Macrostate models are a very new concept and do not correspond to a state organization, but to several sovereign states that for different reasons come together to achieve a common objective that benefits everyone They all enjoy full sovereignty, but they have to give explanations to an entity that, although chosen by them in an agreed manner, has jurisdiction over them.
An example of this is the European Union, a supranational entity resulting from the fact that several European countries have joined forces agreed to progressively cede its power, creating a strategic entity halfway between the United States, a sovereign state, and NATO, a political and economic alliance composed of several totally independent states.
Each EU country is free and retains its idiosyncrasy, with its army, executive branch and head of state. In fact, Its member countries are so different that there is practically everything: monarchies like Spain and republics like Italy, autonomous states like Spain, centralized states like France, federations like Germany, countries with autonomous dependencies like Finland and its Åland islands. There is everything.
The reason for the existence of the EU is due to the need to unify foreign policy, defense, security and economy. The European continent, despite being historically very important, is small, so much so that in an increasingly globalized world it does not make sense that there are more than 30 European countries with their own currency and armies that go at their free will, while much larger countries large countries such as China, Brazil and Russia are taking on an increasingly relevant role in the world.
2. According to their form of government
States can be differentiated depending on how the country is governed.
Monarchies are states in which the head of state is a king The king or queen is usually so because he is the son or daughter of the previous monarch, ascending to the throne when his predecessor died or abdicated. In ancient times, monarchies were the most common form of government in Europe, many of them surviving until the beginning of the 20th century. Countries such as France, Italy, Russia, Germany (or Prussia) and Portugal have been kingdoms throughout much of their history.
The king may have royal powers with respect to his country, being able to be in charge of the administration of justice, legislation, the management of the armed forces and others; nevertheless, It may also happen that his role is more symbolic, simply holding the title of king of his country Depending on the real power that the monarch has, we talk about different types of monarchy.
absolute monarchies They are those kingdoms in which the head of state and the head of the executive fall to the same person, the king. He practically has absolute powers, having no restrictions in political, administrative and even religious terms. A modern example of an absolute monarchy is Saudi Arabia.
constitutional monarchies They correspond to those of most modern kingdoms. They are states where the king is the head of state, but not of the government, having rather few powers when it comes to deciding the policy of his country.
The government of the nation falls to the president or prime minister and a constitution is obeyed. Spain, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Japan are examples of states with constitutional monarchies.
There are semi-constitutional monarchies, in which there is a constitution but the king or queen has certain powers above that text. Examples of this system of government are Monaco, Bahrain and Morocco.
2.2. Republic
As it is defined, A republic is any state in which there is no monarchy, regardless of whether there is democracy or not Executive power and the title of head of state are not inherited, but acquired through different mechanisms.
The fundamental idea of republics is that power does not reside in a single person, but in a group or, at least, in a person who has been chosen by the people. It should be said, however, that although the idea of democracy is closely associated with republics, many dictatorships are, technically, republican governments since a monarch does not hold power.
23. Aristocracy
According to Aristotle, aristocracy is the rule of a few. It is also known as the government of the best, of the elite that aspires, at least, to make the state function as best as possible.
Is about a republican type system in which power is handled by the noble and privileged classes Although among these aristocrats there may be people with royal lineage, it is not a monarchy for the simple fact that power does not rest with a single person.
2.4. Democracy
The pure idea of democracy is that all citizens can be eligible to rule and voters for whoever rules, with no inheritable titles or restrictions on who can run as a candidate for government. In democracies there is a division of powers and the rulers are elected through popular election
This idea is usually related to the republic, but this does not mean that all republics are democratic nor that monarchies cannot be democracies. As long as the government can be chosen by the people, respecting individual freedoms and human rights, that state will be considered a democratic nation.
Spain, France, Italy, the United States, Japan, Finland, Sweden and Canada are examples of full democracies.
2.5. Socialism
Socialist states are governments that, constitutionally, try to build a socialist society. This means that the means of production are public, property of the government for the people, and that An attempt is made to ensure that assets are distributed fairly
This system of government states that there must be a rational organization of the economy, making it the people themselves who manage the resources. To achieve this goal, the system states that there should be neither social classes nor private ownership of the means of production
Currently there are only five countries that consider themselves socialist: People’s Republic of China, North Korea, Cuba, Vietnam and Laos.
3. Depending on the type of political abuse committed
There are other forms of government that, in one way or another, they can overlap with the types of state we have seen They do not refer to the territorial model or who is the head of state or to what extent the people can decide what happens to their country, but rather they are types of states according to what type of political abuse the ruling class carries out.
3.1. Dictatorship
A dictatorship is any state in which practically There are no political or social freedoms and where the government is concentrated in a single person, the dictator This type of government resembles an absolute monarchy, but it usually happens that the dictator is such not because he has inherited power, but because he has seized it from the person who held it before him.
In dictatorships there is no division of powers, so the dictator and his collaborators exercise command in a completely arbitrary manner. It is at this point that it differs most from democratic regimes, since in dictatorships those who govern do so to benefit the followers of the regime, not the majority of society.
Franco’s Spain, Mussolini’s Italy and North Korea are examples of dictatorially governed countries.
3.2. Totalitarian
We are talking about a totalitarian state such as one in which the government It tries to have absolute power over all aspects of society, even the most intimate and trivial ones Justice, population, territory, language, religion, economy… everything is attempted to be controlled, without asking for consent or permission from society.
There are no political or social freedoms, and individual rights are conspicuous by their absence. It is about dominating absolutely everything and intolerance towards what is different is a very common attitude among those in power. Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union and communist China during the 20th century were very totalitarian states.
3.3. Tyranny
Tyranny is a regime of absolute power that is also exercised by a single figure However, unlike totalitarian regimes, tyrants are people who exercise power according to their will and without justice, taking power by force and carrying out arbitrary measures, causing fear among the population. It is governing without thinking about the people at all.
3.4. Oligarchy
Oligarchy is a system of government similar to aristocracy, since it is also a system of government in which a select and privileged class holds the political power of the state.
However, oligarchic governments are flawed, in which the ruling class does not care about the common good of society but rather its interests as a privileged class. It benefits a few, but it governs the entire society. Aristotle speaks of oligarchy as a degeneration of aristocracy.
3.5. Demagogy
According to Aristotle, demagogy is the degradation of democracy It is a type of state in which the rulers have been democratically chosen, but using appeal to the feelings and emotions of the people to achieve their approval rather than convincing them that they will improve society.
Demagogue rulers manage to be so by generating a strong division in society, making people believe that there is an imminent threat or that those from the other party are the enemies of society. Furthermore, they instill the idea that there is no one better than them to govern and that, if the others win, it will be the end of the country as they knew it.
In states with a demagogic government it usually happens that, Far from investing public funds wisely, they end up being wasted on banalities like putting up more flags, spending it on the national team of a sport or building a wall to keep out illegal immigrants. Health, education and employment are rather secondary aspects for rulers who use demagogic strategies.
