In this article you will learn about the Forms of Government in Political Science.
Forms of Government
Today our world has 206 states, out of which 193 are member countries of the United Nations. (191 Full States and the remaining two - Holy See/Vatican City) “Palestine enjoys an observer status in this international organisation and 11 other stands designated as “other states.” Besides these, there are present 61 dependent territories (Dependencies) and eight disputed territories.
Each State is a sovereign independent state with its own population, definite area, territory and government. All such states are defined as Equal Sovereign States of the world. State is popularly defined as a sovereign, equal nation-state with its own constitution and an independent system of governance.
The Constitution of each state defines the fundamental features and objectives as well as the organisational structure and functions of the government and its three principal organs - (the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary), the form of government and its relationship with the people. Currently the concept of political system is being popularly used by scholars and students for identifying and analysing the nature of the state, its government and the relations between it and the people.
Each student of Political Science essentially studies both Theory and Practice as well as the actual process of politics which is at work in each state of the world. For this purpose, the study of the constitutions of various states, each of which defines the structure, organisation, functions, powers, and forms of its government, enjoys a central place in the syllabus of the discipline of Political Science.
Now, it is indeed a very complex and difficult, in fact an impossible task for a student to study individually each and every constitution and political system of the world. This difficulty is sought to be overcome by classifying states into some categories on the basis of their organisational and functional differences and similarities, and by studying some select constitutions of the world.
States are broadly classified into three main categories - Totalitarian States, Authoritarian States and Liberal Democratic States. Same as, States and their Governments are also classified into four basic forms - Unitary Governments/States, Federal Government/Federal States, Parliamentary Governments and Presidential Governments. Study of Political Science involves the study of the theory and practice of these three basic categories of the state and four basic forms of the government.
This article on Forms of Government in Political Science is contributed by Dipshikha Anand. If you like LawStudyPoint.com do follow us on our Twitter handle.