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Governments- Ancient and Medieval Period

The government system is a statutory body that governs the state of affairs in a country across its geographical borders.

Introduction of Government

A government is a wholesome body that governs an organized community, generally a state. Generally, a government consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary and this is responsible for enforcement of organizational policies. Though they have another duty i.e. choosing a mechanism for determining policy. 

All types of organizations need a governance body and that’s the reason there are approximately 200 independent national governments and subsidiary organizations. There are a few kinds of government:

  1. monarchy
  2. aristocracy
  3. timocracy
  4. oligarchy
  5. democracy
  6. theocracy
  7. tyranny

Any kind of government follows one basic rule that is how political power is obtained. There are two main forms of philosophies that are being followed- 

  1. being electoral contest
  2. hereditary succession

Definition of Government

A government is a system that helps to govern a state or a whole community. Though we couldn’t decide properly that when the government has been started by people, but it’s found that there were larger communities that has a government system:

  1. Sumer
  2. Ancient Egypt
  3. Indus Valley Civilization
  4. Yellow River Civilization

In ancient times, the government system has been developed mainly for agriculture, and water control projects. In ancient times, some elder people made a council that used to choose the smartest and most intelligent person as their head who will make some laws for the community. 

In some civilizations, some of the elder people made a group that worked as a council and made community rules and policies. This kind of decision of a group of the smartest tribesmen gradually became the government of the state or a country. It also allowed all the people to communicate better and to create the solution of all the problems easily.

In the early seventeenth century, the republican government was started to reveal. Also, there are some factors that helped to grow the need for government in society. Those are:

  1. the Glorious Revolution in England
  2. the American Revolution
  3. the French Revolution

In the nineteenth and twentieth century, there was a huge growth of governing bodies among the countries and states. Gradually the scale and size of the government increased based on the needs of that community. With the increased size of the government, the welfare of humans and the regulation of corporations had been included in the government’s agenda.

Political Science Towards The Government

In political science or in the government system index, there is a goal to create a typology or taxonomy of polities. Through this one can understand the hidden inner meaning of real government or governing policies. All governments have an official form thereafter; like the former Soviet Union was a socialist republic, the United States is a constitutional republic, etc.

So one can understand that identifying the proper type and form of a governmental body is not that easy. Because a government is always bound to deal with socio-economic movements. Through these political movements, party-related people always get into the government to show themselves off.

There are some complications though while choosing the form of government. There can be differences in the ideology of a governing body. For example, conservatism is quite common in every state or country but there is a difference in thinking. Like what the United States of America calls conservatism, others say it as liberalism. Also, what is conservative to Finland’s citizens, would be socialist to the citizens of the USA. 

The Central Government Concept across The Globe

The central government is a group of governing bodies that have the ruling power over a unitary bunch of states. There is another kind of sovereign political entity which is called a federal government, which has well-defined powers at various stages of the government. Sometimes the word central government is often confused with the government of the federation though it is inappropriate.

A central government structure varies from territory to territory. Some countries have sub-national levels of government steps, which can include regional, state, local, provincial, and any other representatives. 

The structure may vary from one country to another but the responsibilities are quite common at this level of government. Those responsibilities are:

  1. maintaining national security
  2. exercising international diplomacy
  3. creating laws for the citizens 

Example Of Unitary States 

There are some countries across the globe that have delegated powers. For example

  1. Republic of China
  2. Denmark
  3. France
  4. Georgia
  5. Indonesia
  6. Spain
  7. Philippines
  8. Portugal
  9. Turkey
  10. Ukraine
  11. United Kingdom
  12. Vietnam

Example Of Federations

There are some countries that have a federal government which includes:

  1. Austria
  2. Argentina
  3. Australia
  4. Belgium
  5. Brazil
  6. India
  7. Canada
  8. Germany
  9. Malaysia
  10. Mexico
  11. Nigeria
  12. Nepal
  13. Pakistan
  14. Russia
  15. Soviet Union
  16. Sudan
  17. Switzerland
  18. Venezuela

The State Government Concept across The Globe

The state government is a subdivision of the country which comes under the federal form of the government. The relationship of a state with the country will be based on the constitution. The word “state” also should not be confused with the words “sovereign state”. 

In some federations or we can say in most Federations, the state is divided or bounded by terms of local languages; however, in some federations oblast or republic can be taken into account to designate a state.

The Parliamentary Government Concept

In the modern democratic government system, the government is divided into parliamentary and presidential systems. This system is based on the nature of the relationship between the executive and the legislative assembly of the government. This parliamentary government has the responsibility to the legislature for its policies and acts.

The Parliamentary Government is also considered a cabinet government. This Westminster model of government is prevalent in Britain, Japan, Canada, India.

The parliamentary system has a few responsibilities:

  1. Clear division of responsibility
  2. Lower potential for intra-executive infighting
  3. Formalized coalition building
  4. Higher flexibility
  5. Checking the power of the executive

The cabinet is the nucleus of power within a parliamentary system. It is also considered the “responsible government” because the cabinet is accountable to the parliament.

Features of The Parliamentary Form of Government

There are a few features of the parliamentary government. Those are:

  1. The President is the nominal executive, the Prime Minister is the real executive
  2. The political party which possess the highest seats in the Loksabha forms the government
  3. All the Ministers are responsible to the Parliament as a collective member
  4. All the Ministers are members of the legislative as well as the executive
  5. The Prime Minister holds the position of a leader of the council of ministers, the parliament, and the political party that holds the highest seats

Conclusion

The collapse of the Roman Empire, seen against the backdrop of millennia, appears to be a routine occurrence that is almost remarkable and has generated so much ink. The Visigoths were only one among many groups who had been driven from the grasslands in the usual manner. Unable to penetrate either Sāsānian Persia’s or the Roman Empires.