Politics and Political Systems: State, Democracy, Ideologies, Parties and Elections
Domain 2 covers the state, the distinction between democracies and non-democracies, the ideologies behind party programmes, and how electoral rules turn votes into seats.
The state
Three constitutive elements: territory, population, and supreme power (sovereignty). Functions: internal (law, order, welfare) and external (defence, diplomacy). Forms: unitary versus federal, monarchy versus republic. A nation is a community of identity; a state is an institution - do not merge the two.
Democracy and its alternatives
Procedural minimum: free, competitive, recurring elections; universal suffrage; rule of law; independent courts; freedoms of speech, assembly and press. The substantive view adds real participation and protection of minorities. Authoritarian regimes permit limited pluralism without accountability; totalitarian regimes pursue total control through ideology, a single party, terror and a media monopoly. Hybrid regimes hold elections but hollow out courts and media.
Ideologies and parties
Liberalism (liberty, limited power), conservatism (tradition, gradual change), social democracy (equality through redistribution), nationalism (nation as core value), Christian democracy (personalism, subsidiarity), populism (a thin people versus elite frame that attaches to any host ideology). Party types: cadre, mass, catch-all, cartel. Party systems: two-party, moderate pluralism, polarized pluralism.
Electoral systems
Proportional representation (Poland: 41 districts, D'Hondt method, 5% for parties, 8% for coalitions, national-minority committees exempt); first-past-the-post (Polish Senate, UK Westminster); mixed systems.
Worked example
National result: A 35%, B 30%, C 12%, D 9%, E 8%, F 4.9%. Under the 5% threshold F wins nothing although nearly one voter in twenty chose it; its votes are disregarded in the allocation. Conclusion: PR is not pure proportionality - thresholds create wasted votes and favour large or concentrated parties, whereas FPTP wastes votes locally instead.
Traps
- State is not government and not nation.
- Majority rule alone is not democracy; minority rights and independent courts belong to the definition.
- The Polish threshold is counted nationally, not per district.