Systems of Government

1. Systems of
Governments
 There are different types of governments used by
different countries.
 These are Monarchy, Parliamentary democracy, One
Party State and Dictatorship

2. Mornarch(y)
 Monarch is a system in which the country is ruled by a King,
Queen or Emperor.
 Examples of monarchies are Swaziland, Britain, Lesotho and
others.
 In traditional monarchies in the past the supreme power of the
state was vested in the monarch. Monarchs base their power on
the doctrine of "the divine right of Kings".
 This doctrine claims that the monarch ruled directly through
God's will. Monarchs, therefore, have always had absolute
power.
 During the 17th and 18th Centuries many countries in Europe
and Africa were ruled by absolute monarchs.

3. Mornarch(y) cont.
 These Kings claimed control over all the elements of
the state; appointing their own executives, making
their own laws and personally administering justice.
 In many countries monarchies were overthrown by
people who were eventually fed up with the system.
 The most famous example was the French Revolution
which began in 1789 during which the King was
beheaded by the revolutionaries.

4. Mornarch(y) cont.
 There are still countries in Europe, Asia and Africa today that
have monarchs.
 Examples in Europe include the United Kingdom, the
Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.
 These countries are called constitutional monarchies. This
means that the monarchs have limited power and their role is
mainly ceremonial, yet the monarchs still represent their
countries as Heads of States.
 Some countries in Africa and Asia such as Swaziland, Lesotho,
Morocco, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia still have monarchs who
exercise considerable power.

5. Characteristics of a
monarchy
 The following are some of the prominent or common
features of a constitutional monarchy;
 (i) The monarch is a ceremonial figure.
 (ii) The positions of monarch is hereditary
as it passes from King to the eldest son
or eldest daughter.
 (iii) In a constitutional monarchy, there is a
Prime Minister who is the head of
the government.

6. Mornarchy
Advantages
 It maintains tradition — that
is, in a monarchy culture is
maintained, kept and followed.
 It creates an unchanging and
stabilising influence.
 It is not as easily corrupted as
political Heads of States.
Disadventages
 The people are not consulted
on the choice of the monarch,
therefore, the system is said to
be undemocratic.
 Monarchies are hereditary, so
there is no guarantee that the
successor to the throne will be
competent to rule.
 The monarch may become
corrupt and accumulate great
wealth at
the expense
of the people.

7. Parliamentary
Democracy
 The term democracy is derived from the Greek words
"demos", which means the people and "kratos" which
means authority or rule.
 Democracy, therefore, means "rule by the people".
 This basically means the idea that the people as a
whole should have control over the rulers.
 The people have power to choose their leaders.

8. Parliamentary
Democracy Cont.
 Parliamentary democracy is a system of government in which political
authority lies with the people. It means the government of the people by the
people.
 In a democracy the people choose the government by voting in free and fair
elections. Therefore, the government is composed of representatives chosen
by the majority of the citizens.
 The final power lies with the people who can replace the government in a
future election. Elections in a democratic state are held after a number of
years.
 For instance, in Botswana, which is a democracy - elections are held after
every 5 years. All adults aged 18 years and above can vote during the
elections in Botswana. This is referred to as Universal Adult Suffrage as it
does not discriminate anybody during elections.


9. Parliamentary Democracy
Cont.
 During elections people choose individuals to represent them in
Parliament through a secret ballot.
 Parliament is a body of individuals called Members of Parliament
who represent their voters or electorates. The Members of
Parliament hold meetings in buildings called Houses of
Parliament.
 The political party with the largest number of elected
representatives in Parliament forms the government.
 The leader of the government and the other Ministers are
chosen from this political party with the largest number of
electorates.
 The party will then become the ruling party while all others
become opposition parties.

10. Characteristics of
Parliamentary Democracy
 People are free to form different political parties and identify
candidates of their choice for office.
 There is freedom of speech and freedom to discuss political
choices
 There is freedom of the press.
 There is freedom to campaign for different political parties.
 All adult citizens who are18 years or older have a right vote. This
is called universal adult suffrage.
 There is a system of one person one vote. This means that
everyone has a right to vote once during the election time.

11.  Elections are held at regular intervals. For instance in
Botswana elections are held after every 5 years.
 There is a secret ballot voting system so that no one is
afraid that other people will find out who they have voted
for.
 There are independent bodies set up to oversee the
smooth running of elections, for instance, to avoid rigging
of elections or intimidation
during election time.
 There is free, fair and controlled elections.

12. Parliamentary
Democracy
Advantages of a
Parliamentary Democracy
 There is joint decision making as everyone has a
say in making decisions.
 People elect representatives to represent them in
parliament.
 There is transparencyregarding
decision making because everyone
is involved or consulted.
 Generally there is peace and stability which can
lead to economic prosperity.
 People can elect a different government into
power if they are not satisfied with the current
one.
 People are free to form different political parties.
 There is usually social justice and equity as
everyone is treated equally.
Disadvantages of
Parliamentary Democracy
 There might be a problem of
bureaucracy.
 It is very expensive to
implement.
 There can be tribal or
religions conflicts as political
parties may be formed along
tribal or religions lines.

13. One-Party State
 In some countries, there is only one political party. This is usually the ruling party. Other
parties are not allowed to stand for elections.
 These countries are called one-party states as they have only one political party to
run the affairs of the state.
 A number of African countries became one party states soon after attaining their
independence.
 It was argued that if there was a large number of parties the countries would split into
different conflicting groups. Such countries include Zambia, Uganda and Malawi.
 There are still elections in one-party states but people can only choose representatives
from the ruling party.
 In other words, people do not have the right to form parties and the power to vote
other parties into power but only to change the leadership of the same political party.

14. Characteristics of a one-
party state
 There is only one political party.
 Elections are held at regular intervals and people vote
for representatives from the ruling party.
 The leaders of one party state normally turn out to be
dictators such as Malawi's Kamusu Banda and
Uganda's Idi Amin.

15. One-Party State
Advantages of one-party
state
 There is less argument in the
country.
 There is usually a
resemblance of unity in the
country
Disadvantages of one-party
state
 The ruling party may begin to
abuse its power and reject
criticism, thus turning into a
dictatorship and people being
denied their rights.

16. Dictatorships
 One other form of government which is even less democratic is dictatorship.
A dictatorship comes about when one person or a small group of people
control the government.
 Under this set up, there are no elections and so citizen have no power and
no say in the running of their country.
 The government simply dictates to people and tells them what to do and how
to do it.
 Leaders of countries that follow this political ideology have absolute power
and authority. Such leaders, learner, include Hastings Kamuzu Banda of
Malawi who dictated even what clothes people should wear.
 Others include Sani Abacha of Nigeria, Idi Amin of Uganda and others.

17. Dictatorships
 Dictatorships are often set up by military leaders who
seize control of the government by force or through
what is called coup d'etats, which means to throw
over or take over power by force and rule by an "iron
fist”.
 These type of governments are called military
dictatorships.

18. Characteristics of a
dictatorship
 Dictatorships are normally set up by military leaders through a coup d'etats.
 Power is in the hands of a few individuals.
 Political parties are not allowed.
 Dictators make their own laws (called decrees) and have them carried out as they
wish.
 Dictators control the courts of law.
 Murders, asylums, exiles and mysterious disappearances are common in
such countries especially to people who pose as threats or who are seen as
"enemies of the state".
 Opposition is ruthlessly or brutally suppressed or forbidden.

19. Dictatorship
Advantages of a Dictatorship
 Dictatorship builds a very strong
government
 It provides efficient and prompt
administration
 People who are appointed to do
the jobs are efficient and
competent.
 As a results the plans of state
are achieved in short possible
time. It is said dictatorship is 10
years ahead od democracy.
Disadvantages of a
Dictatorship
 People have no power over
the government.
 The government simply
dictates to people, telling them
what to do and when to do it.
 There is no freedom of neither
speech nor the press.