What is the political regime? The concept and types of democracy and autocracy

As a rule, state power is realized by any means and methods, and the complex of these methods is called the state regime. But this term is not equivalent to the designation "political regime" - the concept and species of the latter is broader and more diverse. It includes not only the ways that the state affects the society, but also other types of political relations

The concept and types of political regimes are also conditioned by the fact that each society consists of groups with different interests and goals that do not directly participate in the governance of the state, but which influence it in different ways. It's not just political parties, but business structures, military, media, public organizations, activists who implement the ideas of civil society. All of them to some extent exert pressure on political power and influence its decisions.

There are democratic and undemocratic political regimes, depending on the methods of government and the attitude to the principle of separation / delegation of power. Despite the fact that the very word "democracy" means "democracy", states or territories, where the people in the whole together not only had power, but also implemented it directly in practice, no. However, this does not mean that democracy does not exist - just this type of government and administration includes a certain number of elements of direct democracy. Under a democratic regime, power comes from a people who, in various forms, have the ability to influence decision-making in public policy; The minority view is taken into account by those who have a majority; In the field of legislation, the rule of law prevails; Only what is explicitly outlawed is prohibited - everything else is allowed by default; The principle of a real separation of the legislative, judicial and executive powers, and law enforcement agencies and other structures that use force methods are controlled by civil society; In society there are various institutions, parties and movements, and human rights are realized according to the highest standards. A democratic political regime, whose notion and types can vary depending on different regions and countries, exists in approximately 40 countries, and it has proved its long-term effectiveness in the complex relationship between society, the individual and the state.

The opposite of the democratic regime is historically an autocracy, that is, one-man management. In the modern world, the autocracy has gradually replaced the authoritarian and totalitarian political regime. The concept and types of these regimes differ from each other in the degree of interference of the state and controlling bodies not only in the social, but cultural, personal and other spheres of life. Authoritarian regime as a board of a group of individuals (often - military or other elite) is inclined to use coercive methods widely and to command methods of economic management; All power is concentrated in the hands of a certain clan, where they fall on the basis of personal or group loyalty, and the remaining power institutions, such as the parliament, have only a formal character. Human rights often exist only on paper and are present in speeches of politicians, but in practice they do not materialize. However, repression under this regime is limited mainly by political opposition and in general by the political sphere, as the authorities try to control only what can hamper its security. Examples of such a regime can serve as the board of Pinochet in Chile or the Islamic dictatorship of Khomeini in Iran.

Its features have a totalitarian political regime. The concept and types of totalitarianism are determined by many well-known political scientists and philosophers, in particular Karl Popper and Hanoi Arendt. Having all the signs of an authoritarian regime, totalitarianism differs primarily in its propensity to destroy the remaining political parties and movements, to unite the ruling party with the state (partocracy), headed by the same group of individuals. In this case, there is a cult of the leader, often endowed with supernatural features. There is a totalitarian ideology that turns the personality into an element of the system, and leads to the unification and total politicization of all forms of social life. In fact, in a totalitarian society, anyone who shirks politics should be eliminated. This kind of "left" and "right" political regimes existed in the USSR, China and the "socialist camp countries", Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Spain, Kampuchea "Khmer Rouge" and other countries.