Политические права и свободы

 

A term used to describe monarchic rule which has no limitations. It can be regarded as the ancient form of AUTHORITARIANISM. Hence in Europe it is largely a pre-eighteenth century phenomenon though it lingered in Russia until the early nineteenth. The chief philosophers of absolutism were MACHIAVELLI (1469 1527), Bodin (1530 96) and HOBBES (1588 1679). They were all influenced by their experiences of indecision and civil strife and argued that it was necessary to have a strong monarch who imposed his will on his subjects. Another source of absolutist attitudes was the doctrine of 'legitimacy' which held that the king's right to rule was a consequence of the law of God. Hence some absolutist rulers claimed to have a religious sanction, giving their regime a flavour of theocracy. Some behaved in an arbitrary fashion. Typical absolutist monarchs were Ivan the Terrible (1530 84) of Russia, Ferdinand of Naples (1810 59), known as 'Bomba'.

 

They were opposed to change. When European monarchies became affected by the ENLIGHTENMENT they converted to Enlightened Despotism, a system maintaining monarchic rule, but diluting the authoritarianism with some respect for the law and not only encouraging economic development (which some absolutists like Czar Peter the Great 1672 - 1725 had done), but also promoting the improvement of rights of their subjects. Typical of them was Emperor Joseph II of Austro-Hungary (1780 - 90). Catherine II of Russia (1762 96) flirted with the ideas of the Enlightenment (among other more carnal attachments), but remained an absolutist in action.

 

 

Freedom and the State

Political regimes

Classification of regimes

Democracy, Totalitarianism, Authoritarianism,

Modern democracy

Discussions: Can we claim that absolute freedom is possible and beneficial?

Reading: “Democracy”, Dictionary of the History of Ideas http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhiana.cgi?id=dv1-78

 

 

Classifying the various forms of government has been one of the principal concerns of political analysis through ages. This process can be traced back to the 4’th century BCE, when Aristotle made the first recorded attempt to describe political regimes then in existence, using terms such as ‘democracy’, ‘oligarchy’ and ‘tyranny’.

From the 18’th century onwards, governments were increasingly described as monarchies or republics, or autocratic or constitutional regimes.

 

Political systems or regimes

A political regime has a conceptual breadth and complexity beyond that of a political system. Until recent decades (for the more recent and wider conception of 'political system' see Chapter 6) a political system referred to the interaction and relationships of the political institutions of a country (one view).

Political regimes are distinguished by the terms under which individual and collective activity affects, perhaps even determines, authoritative collective decisions.

There are two main types of political regime: authoritarian and democratic. Although these are ideal-types and most states may be in an intermediate position, the ease with which one can allocate the world's 174 states to the two categories is impressive.

Политический режим

В науке конституционного права- система приемов, методов, форм, способов осуществления политической (включая государственную) власти в обществе. П.р. является функциональной характеристикой власти. Единой типологии П.р. не существует. Чаще всего используются понятия демократического, авторитарного и тоталитарного П.р. Характер П.р. никогда прямо не указывается в конституциях государств (не считая весьма распространенных указаний на демократический характер государства), однако почти всегда самым непосредственным образом отражается на их содержании. (см. Государственный режим).

Политические права и свободы

Одна из основных групп конституционных прав и свобод граждан наряду с гражданскими (личными), социальными, экономическими и другими правами. П.п. и С дают гражданам возможность участвовать в общественной и политической жизни страны. К ним можно отнести: право на объединение (свободу союзов), право на участие в управлении делами государства как непосредственно, так и через представителей, избирательные права, право на равный доступ к государственной службе, право на участие в отправлении правосудия и т.д. К их числу относятся и такие свободы, как свобода мысли и слова, печати, собраний, митингов, уличных шествий, демонстраций, пикетирования, свобода-информации, право петиций и т.д. Обладание П.п. и с. обычно обусловлено обладанием гражданством данного государства.

 

 

Realpolitik

A German term familiarized by its use as a description of the policies of Bismarck, Chancellor of Prussia and Germany (1862 90), who unified the German Empire as a result of successful short wars against Austro-Hungary and France. He declared that the German problem could only be resolved by 'blood and iron'. An earlier exponent was MACHIAVELLI who is believed to be the originator of the phrase 'raison d'état' (reason of state), implying that the only justification of a policy is its success. It could be argued that practitioners of realpolitik are merely honest believers in REALISM. On the other hand, the crude assertion and unscrupulous use of military power are not common attributes of all international statesmen