Is a system of government in which supreme power is concentrated in the hands of one person?
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Sovereignty is a political concept that refers to dominant power or supreme authority. In a monarchy, supreme power resides in the "sovereign", or king. In modern democracies, sovereign power rests with the people and is exercised through representative bodies such as Congress or Parliament. The Sovereign is the one who exercises power without limitation. Sovereignty is essentially the power to make laws, even as
Blackstone defined it. The term also carries implications of autonomy; to have sovereign power is to be beyond the power of others to interfere. Beyond lawmaking power, two other (often contentious) aspects of sovereignty are eminent domain (the
right of the sovereign to take private property for public use) and sovereign immunity(which offers the sovereign protection from lawsuits). Separation of Powers The term “Separation of Powers” was coined by the 18th century philosopher Montesquieu. Separation of powers is a model that divides the government into separate branches, each of which has separate and independent powers. By having multiple branches of government, this system helps to ensure that no one branch is more powerful than another. Typically, this system divides the government into three branches: the Legislative Branch, the Executive Branch, and the Judicial Branch. The United States federal government and forty states divide their governments into these three branches. In the federal government, Article 1 of the United States Constitution establishes the Legislative Branch, which consists of Congress. Congress, in addition to other enumerated responsibilities, is responsible for creating laws. As a general rule, the nondelegation doctrine prohibits the Legislative Branch from delegating its lawmaking responsibilities. Congress can, however, provide agencies with regulatory guidelines if it provides them with an “intelligible principle” to base their regulations on. For more information on the Legislative Branch, refer to “Congress.” Article 2 of the United States Constitution establishes the Executive Branch, which consists of the President. The President approves and carries out the laws created by the Legislative Branch. For more information on the Executive Branch, refer to “Executive Branch.” Article 3 of the United States Constitution establishes the Judicial Branch, which consists of the United States Supreme Court. The Judicial Branch interprets the laws passed by the Legislative Branch. For more information on the Judicial Branch, refer to “Judiciary.” Separation of Powers in the United States is associated with the Checks and Balances system. The Checks and Balances system provides each branch of government with individual powers to check the other branches and prevent any one branch from becoming too powerful. For example, Congress has the power to create laws, the President has the power to veto them, and the Supreme Court may declare laws unconstitutional. Congress consists of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives, and can override a Presidential veto with a 2/3 vote in both houses. The Checks and Balances System also provides the branches with some power to appoint or remove members from the other branches. Congress can impeach and convict the president for high crimes, like treason or bribery. The House of Representatives has the power to bring impeachment charges against the President; the Senate has the power to convict and remove the President from office. In addition, Supreme Court candidates are appointed by the President and are confirmed by the Senate. Judges can be removed from office by impeachment in the House of Representatives and conviction in the Senate. In this way, the system provides a measure, in addition to invalidating laws, for each branch to check the others. Africa’s inclusive autocrats are seemingly handing over power through decentralisation processes. In reality, they are tightening the grip. ‘An autocracy is a system of government in which supreme power (social and political) is concentrated in the hands of one person’ [or party, Ed.] Wikipedia entry, accessed November 6, 2017 Many African leaders are amongst the most authoritarian leaders in the world. At the same time, several of them have promoted, pushed or merely accepted wide-ranging reforms aiming to distribute power to the local levels. They are so-called inclusive autocrats. The paradox of the inclusive autocrats form the background for CMI researchers Lovise Aalen and Ragnhild Louise Muriaas’ new book ‘Manipulating political decentralisation: Africa’s inclusive autocrats’. The myth of ‘deepening democracy’ -Africa’s inclusive autocrats have strategically used decentralisation processes and reforms to strengthen their power. They use decentralisation as a means of co-opting people and as a means of crushing political adversaries, says Lovise Aalen. The potential misuse of decentralisation reforms and processes feeds directly into debates on democracy and governance. The belief in decentralisation as a tool for deepening democracy has led donors to push for local elections and a redistribution of funds and resources to the local level in many countries. -The donor drive for decentralisation has failed. Strong party structures ensure that control and power remain in the hands of the political elite, says Aalen. Manipulating strategies The New York Times recently published a news article on how Ethiopia became a land of informers; a society stained by fear that your neighbor will snitch on you for not being loyal to the regime. The Ethiopian regime has gone to extremes in the quest for absolute control and power, pursuing a strategy Aalen and Muriaas describe as national dominance. -Ethiopia is in effect a one party state. The regime has placed loyal cadres all over the country, and uses them actively to keep any political opponents as well as the population as a whole in check. If the central party’s interests are at stake, the local cadres step up and regain control, says Aalen. Protests against the regime in the two most populous regional states, Amhara and Oromia, in 2015 and 2016, may however lead to new dynamics, where regional governments manage to reinforce their position vis-à-vis the central government. While Ethiopia has, at least up until now, had an infallible system, other inclusive autocracies, like Uganda and South Africa, have systems that involve a certain amount of risk. Uganda, another inclusive autocracy, has chosen a different strategy. The party in power has managed to overwhelm the opposition by taking decentralisation processes to the extremes. Uganda has an intricate system of special representation at all levels and for all groups. There are elected committees for women, for people with disabilities, and for a wide range of interest groups. In practice, there are separate elections for so many levels that the opposition is unable to mobilise a sufficient amount of people to stand for election. Yet, there is political maneuvering space for an opposition to exist. In South Africa, the central authorities have allowed and even contributed to create regional opposition enclaves. The governing party, the African National Congress (ANC) is so strong that it knows that a few regional opposition enclaves cannot threaten its power. The country’s history, economy and ethnic composition are factors that still contribute to secure absolute power for ANC. -It seems unlikely that ANC’s position will be challenged in the near future, says Aalen. An interesting aspect of the South African case is that although the country is defined as a democracy, the ruling ANC uses elements of the same strategies of manipulation as autocratic Ethiopia and Uganda. This shows again how decentralisation and democratisation should not be considered as two sides of the same coin, which is the main message of Aalen and Muriaas’ new book. Which form of government has all the power in one person's hand?dictatorship, form of government in which one person or a small group possesses absolute power without effective constitutional limitations.
What are the 4 types of government?Today, the five most common government systems include democracy, republic, monarchy, communism and dictatorship.
What are the main 3 types of government?They are the Executive, (President and about 5,000,000 workers) Legislative (Senate and House of Representatives) and Judicial (Supreme Court and lower Courts).
Is a form of government in which the supreme power is retained by the people?A democratic system of government is a form of government in which supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodic free elections.
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