In politics, a regime (also known as "régime", from the original French spelling) is the form of government or the set of rules, cultural or social norms, etc. that regulate the operation of a government or institution and its interactions with society.

1. Regimes, Power
and Legitimacy
Prepared by:
MR. ANTONIO T. DELGADO
Faculty, Social Science Department
General De Jesus College
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2. FOCUS QUESTIONS
1. Differentiate regime from government.
2. Identify and describe the types of regimes.
3. Identify the types and sources of political power.
4. Compare and contrast the different types of legitimacy.
5. Differentiate the two types of political culture.
6. Identify and describe political ideologies.
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3. REGIME
Regime refers to the rules that a state sets and
follows in exerting its power.

4. REGIME VS GOVERNMENT
▪ Government is the leadership in charge of running the
state.
▪ If the state is a computer, the regime is the software and
the government is the operator.
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5. TYPES OF REGIMES

6. TYPE OF REGIME NUMBER OF PEOPLE
WHO HOLD POWER
EXAMPLES
Monarchy One
Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Jordan,
Brunei, medieval England
Dictatorship One
Libya, Cuba, North Korea, Nazi
Germany
Aristocracy A few (usually a small ruling class) Ancient Sparta
Oligarchy
A few (usually a small group of wealthy
individuals)
Renaissance Venice
Democracy Many or all United States, ancient Athens
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7. TYPE OF REGIME AMOUNT
OF GOVERNMENTAL POWER
EXAMPLES
Totalitarian
Absolute power; controls every aspect of
its citizens’ lives
Soviet Union, North Korea,
Nazi Germany
Autocratic
Controls most aspects of its citizens’
lives; often associated with a single ruler;
often arbitrary
Iraq before the 2003
American invasion
Authoritarian
Controls most aspects of its citizens’
lives; often outlasts its rulers
China, Egypt
Constitutional
Limited by specific rules, such as the
citizens’ right to free speech or freedom
of religion
United States, United
Kingdom, Germany, Japan
Anarchist
No power, or simply no government; can
occur when a government loses its
power
Somalia
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8. DEMOCRACY
▪ Democracy bases its authority on the will of the people.
▪ Democracies can be:
 Direct - individuals have immediate say over many
decisions that the government makes
 Indirect - elected officials represent the people
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9. DEMOCRACY
▪ Democratic governments typically have three major
branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.
▪ Democracies can be:
 Presidential - citizens vote for legislative
representatives as well as for executive branch leaders
 Parliamentary - citizens vote for legislative
representatives, who select the leaders of the
executive branch
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10. DEMOCRACY
▪ Typical of the parliamentary system is a separation in the
executive branch between:
 Head of state - a role that symbolizes the power and
nature of the regime
 Head of government - a role that deals with the
everyday tasks of running the government
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15. DEMOCRACY
▪ Semi-presidential system - a prime minister coexists
with a president who is directly elected by the people and
who holds a significant degree of power.
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17. AUTHORITARIANISM
▪ Authoritarianism - decisions are made by political
elites (those who hold political power) without much input
from citizens
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18. AUTHORITARIANISM
▪ Common characteristics:
 A small group of elites exercising power over the state
 Citizens with little or no input into selection of leaders
and government decisions
 No constitutional responsibility of leaders to the public
 Restriction of civil rights and civil liberties
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19. AUTHORITARIANISM
▪ Some authoritarian regimes are based on communism,
a theory developed in the 19th century by Karl Marx.
▪ The communist party controls everything from the
government to the economy to social life.
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22. AUTHORITARIANISM
▪ Military rule - a form of government where political power
resides with the military
▪ Coup d’état - a forced takeover of the government
▪ Since the end of World War II, military rule has occurred
almost exclusively in countries of the so-called developing
world.
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24. AUTHORITARIANISM
▪ Co-optation - the means a regime uses to get support
from citizens
▪ Corporatism - an arrangement in which government
officials interact with people/groups outside the
government before they set policy.
▪ Patron-clientelism - system in which the state provides
specific benefits or favors to a single person or small
group in return for public support.
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26. TOTALITARIANISM
▪ Totalitarianism seeks to control and transform all
aspects of the political and economic systems of the
society.
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28. POWER
Power is the ability to influence an outcome to achieve an
objective or the ability to influence someone to act in a way
contrary to the way he or she would choose to act.

29. TYPES OF POWER
1. Force is power involving physical means.
2. Persuasion is nonphysical power in which the agent
using power makes its use of power clear and known to
the agent over whom power is exercised.
3. Manipulation is nonphysical power in which the agent
using power conceals the use of power.
4. Exchange is the use of power through incentives.
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30. SOURCES OF POLITICAL POWER
1. Percolation-up model: Political power rests with the
citizens. In turn, citizens grant political power to their
leaders through elections.
2. Drip-down model: Political power rests with the leaders,
who organize society and impose order. Nevertheless,
citizens retain the power to overthrow the government by
electing new leaders.
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31. LEGITIMACY
Legitimacy is the understanding that a state has
certain authority to carry out tasks; the right to rule.

32. LEGITIMACY
▪ Legitimacy may be secured in a number of ways, using
sources such as social compacts, constitutions, and
ideologies.
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33. TYPES OF LEGITIMACY

34. TRADITIONAL LEGITIMACY
▪ Traditional legitimacy rests upon the belief that tradition
should determine who should rule and how.
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35. CHARISMATIC LEGITIMACY
▪ Charismatic legitimacy is based on the dynamic
personality of an individual leader or a small group.
▪ Charisma is an almost indefinable set of qualities that
make people want to follow a leader
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45. RATIONAL-LEGAL LEGITIMACY
▪ Rational-legal legitimacy - is based on a system of well-
established laws and procedures. Rule of law may take
two forms:
1. common law - based on tradition, past practices, and
legal precedents set by the courts
2. code law - based on a comprehensive system of
written rules (codes) of law divided into commercial,
civil, and criminal codes.
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46. FACTORS THAT
ENCOURAGE LEGITIMACY

47. FACTORS THAT ENCOURAGE LEGITIMACY
1. Economic well-being
2. Historical tradition/longevity
3. Charismatic leadership
4. Nationalism/shared political culture
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48. POLITICAL CULTURE
Political culture refers to the collection of political
beliefs, values, practices, and institutions that the
government is based on.

49. POLITICAL CULTURE
▪ Political culture may be analyzed in terms of social
capital.
▪ Social capital - amount of reciprocity and trust that exists
among citizens, and between citizens and the state.
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50. TYPES OF POLITICAL CULTURE
1. Consensual political culture - citizens may disagree on
some political processes and policies, they tend
generally to agree on how decisions are made, what
issues should be addressed, and how problems should
be solved.
2. Conflictual political culture - citizens are sharply
divided, often on both the legitimacy of the regime and its
solutions to major problems.
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51. POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
Political Ideologies are sets of political values held by
individuals regarding the basic goals of government
and politics.

52. POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
1. Liberalism places emphasis on individual political and
economic freedom.
▪ Freedom is the ability of an individual to act
independently, free of retribution from the state or
other individuals.
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54. POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
1. Liberalism places emphasis on individual political and
economic freedom.
▪ Freedom is the ability of an individual to act
independently, free of retribution from the state or
other individuals.
2. Communism generally values equality over freedom.
▪ Equality refers to a shared material standard of
individuals within a community, society, or country.
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55. POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
3. Socialism shares the value of equality with communism
but is also influenced by the liberal value of freedom.
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57. POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
3. Socialism shares the value of equality with communism
but is also influenced by the liberal value of freedom.
4. Fascism is the belief that the state has the right and the
responsibility to mold the society and economy and to
eliminate obstacles (including people) that might weaken
them.
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59. POLITICAL IDEOLOGIES
3. Socialism shares the value of equality with communism
but is also influenced by the liberal value of freedom.
4. Fascism is the belief that the state has the right and the
responsibility to mold the society and economy and to
eliminate obstacles (including people) that might weaken
them.
5. Religions have always been an important source of
group identity and continue to be in the modern world.
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62. REFERENCES
1. Ethel Wood, AP Comparative Government and Politics: An
Essential Coursebook 7th Edition, WoodYard Publications, 2015
2. Patrick H. O’Neil, Essentials of Comparative Politics 3rd Edition,
W.W. Norton & Company, 2010
3. Roskin et al, Political Science: An Introduction 14th Edition,
Pearson Education, Inc., 2017
4. Ellen Grigsby, Analyzing Politics: An Introduction to Political
Science 5th Edition, Wadsworth-Cengage Learning, Inc., 2012
5. Politics and Political Science, http://www.sparknotes.com/us-
government-and-politics/political-science/politics-and-political-
science [accessed July 15, 2018]
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