POLİTİKA BİLİMİ - Deneme Sınavı - 4

An oligarchy is a form of government by a few with a continuous base of power through privilege or through corruption. Power may be limited to political parties, individuals, or wealthy groups. The results of action from this government focus on self-preservation and retention of a base for total power. The correct answer is A.

Stratocracy is a  source of political power comes from military strength. Since many nations maintain an active military force, we can consider how the presence of such power could be used to rule through fear over a population. The idea is to control behavior through forceful action for much the same reason governments exercise control through legislative power. The correct answer is C.

Although they are in nominal control of their territory and have one dominant group with shared culture, religion, language, and traditions, these are not states in the international sense since they lack international recognition. Technically, they are countries and nations but not states.

Geographically the city-states consisted of a walled city or body of water with an outlying area that provided the necessary goods for existence such as food for those within the boundaries of the walls.

Harold Laski thought that liberalism is ‘not a clearcut body of doctrine.’ But he defined it nonetheless by saying the liberal seeks ‘to indicate the right of the individual to shape his own destiny, regardless of any authority which might seek to limit his possibilities’ (Laski, 1936: 14-15).

Politics as part of society also includes many other groups that try to change government policies and actions. These might be pressure groups, interest groups, individual businesses, and corporations.

The first modern political parties were formed at the end of the 18th century.

Most countries have a modest amount of parties (between 10 and 17), such as Bahrain (15), Ireland (10), and Greece (12). There are also countries with just one political party such as China.

Another system is what is called a parallel electoral system. In parallel systems, voters elect the candidate and the party separately. This is done either with one ballot or two separate ballots. Countries using parallel systems include Armenia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, and Ukraine.

There are different organizational structures, and different sizes, of democracies. The Economist identifies democracies as: full democracy (examples: Norway and Canada); flawed democracy (examples: United States and France); as hybrid regime (for example Pakistan); or as authoritarian democracy (examples: Russia and China) (Economist, 2015).

Democracy is the government “of the people, by the people, for the people” – Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg, 1863.

All democracies possess some characteristics in common. These include: citizen participation in government processes with voting, issue group participation, direct participation, and the rule of law developed to balance behaviors of both citizens and their government.

We can turn to the country of Switzerland to find a good example of direct democracy. With a population of just over 8 million people, it ranks 99th in size among all United Nations member countries. All Swiss citizens of at least 18 years of age take part in government decision-making.

Elements of Indirect Democracy
• Citizens determine government through indirect voting
• Open elections to all citizens of legal age to determine representatives who act on their behalf
• Representation in government through political party influence
• Rotation of leadership when determined by leadership to be necessary
• Rule of law developed by representative leaders

The parliamentary system of government was created in the United Kingdom. It is known as a parliamentary monarchy because the Queen remains at the head of government.

Hybrid democracy is a form of government with a mixture of democratic principles found in non-democratic governments.

Spain under Francisco Franco, Italy under Benito Mussolini, Germany under Adolph Hitler, and The Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin were totalitarian regimes.

An oligarchy is a form of government by a few with a continuous base of power through privilege or through corruption. Power may be limited to political parties, individuals, or wealthy groups. The results of action from this government focus on self-preservation and retention of a base for total power.

Manipulation of truth is not among the problems democracy must overcome to support its citizens.

George Gallup, Archibald Crossley and Elmo Roper developed modern-day opinion polling in the early 1930s.