A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system.[1] In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or have limited and controlled participation in elections. The term "de facto one-party " is sometimes used to describe a dominant-party system that, unlike a one-party state, allows (at least nominally) multiparty elections, but the existing practices or balance of political power effectively prevent the opposition from winning power.[2]
Membership in the ruling party tends to be relatively small compared to the population.[3] Rather, they give out private goods to fellow elites to ensure continued support. One-party, compared to dominant-party dictatorships, structure themselves unlike democracies. They also turn into multi-party democracies at a lower rate than dominant-party dictatorships.[4] While one-party states prohibit opposition parties, some allow for independent candidates to stand for election in competition with party candidates. Therefore, they place elites and sympathetic candidates in key administrative races.[5] For example, the Chinese Communist Party exercises political control by infiltrating village administrations.[6] They view these positions as crucial for gathering information on the population and maintaining a presence in the far reaches of their borders.[7]
One-party states recognize the trade-off between election victory and gathering valuable data.[8] To account for this, the regimes have been observed placing local nobility in easy-to-win races.[9] One-party states have also been observed using elections to ensure that only the most popular elites get chosen to office.[10] They also gather data from elections to indicate if a local official is performing poorly in the eyes of the residents.[10] This gives locals the opportunity to monitor local officials and communicate satisfaction with the local government.[10] Throughout the country, members of the one party hold key political positions.[4] In doing so, the party avoids committing outright fraud and rather sustains their power at the local level with strategic appointment of elites.[7] Data on one-party regimes can be difficult to gather given their lack of transparency.[5]
Current one-party states
The following countries are legally constituted as one-party states:
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A de facto one-party system is one that, while not officially linking a single political party to governmental power, utilizes some means of political manipulation to ensure only one party stays in power.[22] Many different countries have been claimed to be de facto one-party states, with differing levels of agreement between scholars, although most agree that the African continent is marked by this political system.[23][24][25] Below are just a few examples of governments that have been claimed to have single party rule due to political manipulation.
Although Azerbaijan is officially a constitutional democracy, and opposition parties remain active within the country, the New Azerbaijan Party and the ruling Aliyev family have maintained power uninterrupted since 1993. Founded by Heydar Aliyev, the former head of state of the Azerbaijan SSR, his son Ilham Aliyev has maintained the presidential position since 2003. Aliyev amended the Constitution to remove term limits in 2009, and while presidential elections are held, Aliyev consistently receives over 80% of the vote. Legislatively, the National Assembly has nominal powers under the Azerbaijan Constitution, but in practice power is heavily concentrated in the ruling party. Between 1993 and 2010, major opposition parties were allowed some representation in the Assembly in each election. However, since 2010, no opposition parties have held seats in the Assembly. There are nominal opposition parties and independents but they are supportive of the Aliyev regime.[26][27] Consequently, parliamentary elections are not considered free or fair.[28][27]
Although multiparty elections have been held since 1992 and other parties have minimal legislative seats, the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement (RDPC), the ruling party since independence, has always retained control of the National Assembly. The Cameroonian political system invests overwhelming power in the hands of the President of the Republic, Paul Biya, and the RDPC exists essentially to support Biya and his policies. The RDPC has held supermajorities in the National Assembly since 2002, and in the Senate since its formation in 2013.
Equatorial Guinea, historically a one party-state under the PDGE from 1987–1992, has one nominal opposition party with the Convergence for Social Democracy. However, the opposition has only held at most 2 seats in the Chamber of Deputies since 1999, and had held no seats in neither the Chamber of Deputies or the Senate since 2013. The PDGE, by comparison, has held all seats in the Senate since 2013 and in the Chamber of Deputies since 2022.
Although Nicaragua has been practicing multiparty elections since 1990, the country has become a de facto one-party state with Sandinista National Liberation Front as the sole dominating party and was consolidated after the 2021 Nicaraguan general election.[31]
Although Rwanda nominally allows for multiparty elections, they are manipulated in various ways, which include the banning of opposition parties, the arrests or assassinations of critics, and electoral fraud.[32][33]
The official continuation of the Rally of the Togolese People, which ruled Togo as a one-party state under Gnassingbe Eyadema from 1967–1994, the Union for the Republic has maintained power under Eyadema's son, Faure Gnassingbe, since its establishment in 2012. Although opposition parties exist within the country and other parties nominally hold seats in the National Assembly, the Union for the Republic has maintained an absolute majority since 2018 due to opposition boycotts while other represented parties only expedite the ruling party's legislation. This is demonstrated by the legislature's extension of Gnassingbe's term limit in 2019, extending it to 2030. With the 2024 Togolese parliamentary election, the UPLR received 108 seats out of 113, while also enabling Gnassingbe's revision of the Constitution to name him the "President of the Council of Ministers". With this position elected directly by Parliament over popular vote, the outright lack of term limits, and the removal of presidential powers from the President in favor of Gnassingbe directly, the party solidified Gnassingbe to rule for life like his father previously.
Since 2014, the country has been going through a period of crisis of legitimacy and exceptionality due to the order to close the National Assembly and the convocation of a Constituent Assembly by Nicolás Maduro on May 1, 2017, composed mostly of PSUV politicians. Since then, different laws have been approved to restrict political participation, including informal persecution and the disqualification of certain politicians (including complaints of electoral fraud), concluding in 2024, at which point, because of new laws, the majority of opposition politicians have been disqualified and their organizations banned, leaving only a controlled opposition.[35][36]
↑ While the 2012 constitution introduced by Bashar al-Assad theoretically enabled the establishment of political parties, Ba'athist Syria remained a de-facto one-party state with an extensive secret police apparatus that curtails independent political activities.
↑ Bozarslan, Hamit (2019). "Afterword: Talaat's Empire: A Backward Country, but a State Well Ahead of Its Time". End of the Ottomans - The Genocide of 1915 and the Politics of Turkish Nationalism. I. B. Tauris. p.330. ISBN978-1-7867-3604-8.
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