POLITICAL ORGANITATION AND THE STATE

1. STATES AND POLITICAL SYSTEMS 1.1. States and nations 1.2. Democratic states 1.3. Non-democratic states

1.1. States and nations States are independent political organisations that are composed of institutions that organise the lives of people who live in the same territory, where laws and powers are the same to all their inhabitants.  States need borders that mark the limits of their power. They are based on geographical, cultural, or historical reasons.  They have identifying symbols, such as the flag, anthem, currency, and capital.  States collect taxes in order to provide services to population.  They administer public services, such as infrastructure and communal services, and have institutions such as the police, armed forces, diplomatic corps, and public officials and civil servants.

1.1. States and Nations Nations are group of people who share a common identity (language, religion, culture...).  There are recognised nations that live in many states and their nationals are also citizens of those states. That is the case of the Chinese, who live across many states but they consider themselves Chinese.  There are also multinational states, where different nations live in the same state. That is the case of the UK, where English, Welsh, Scots, and Irish live in the same state.  There are nations without any state, such as the Kurds or the Palestinians, who live in other countries since they do not have a state structure.

DEFINE DEMOCRACY

1.2 Democratic states A democracy is any system of government in which leaders rule with the consent of the citizens. The term democracy comes from the Greek demos (the people) and kratia (rule).

Four fundamental principles: 1st Political power belongs to the people (national sovereignty) and not to one or some specific people. It is impossible that all the citizens may rule; hence there are elections where people vote on their representatives to hold that task. That is why they are called representative democracies.

Four fundamental principles: 2nd All citizens are equal and must submit to the fundamental law, the Constitution, where their duties and rights are described. Due to the fact that everybody must submit to the law this system is called State of Law.

Four fundamental principles: 3rd Basic Human Rights: all citizens are equal under the law, freedom of speech, association, religion and faith, freedom of assembly and association, right to due process and fair trial, etc.

Four fundamental principles: 4th In democracy there are three different branches of power, which are independent and not held by the same people:  Legislative power  Executive power  Judicial power

MONTESQUIEU

LEGISLATIVE POWER Exercised by legislative houses (Parliament). In Spain: CORTES GENERALES (Senado and Congreso de los Diputados) Responsible for :  making laws  discuss and vote the laws  control the government.

EXECUTIVE POWER Exercised by: the government, in Spain: PRESIDENT and MINISTERS. Responsible for:  Applying laws  Taking political decisions.

JUDICIAL POWER Exercised by judges. In Spain the higher courts: TRIBUNAL SUPREMO and TRIBUNAL CONSTITUCIONAL. Responible for:  Passing judgment  Resolving conflicts basing on the law

TYPES OF GOVERMENT

DIVISIONS POLITICAL SYSTEMS:  Presidential democracy  Parliamentary democracy POLITICAL REGIMES:  Monarchy  Republic CENTRALISED/DECENTRALISED

POLITICAL REGIMES Explain the difference between: Monarchy and Republic. Give and example of each. Are they democracies?

Which one is repubic? And monarchy?

MONARCHY The Head of the State is a King or Queen and they have not got any political power. Most of them are hereditary monarchies. Spain, United Kingdom, Belgium.

REPUBLIC The Head of the State is a President that has been elected by voters and they political powers. USA, France, Germany, etc.

POLOTICAL ORGANISATIONS There are two ways to organize:  CENTRALISED  DECENTRALISED: could be:  FEDERAL STATES  AUTONOMUS STATES

CENTRALISED STATES All the ruling functions are held by the national government. Best example: France

DECENTRALISED STATES The ruling functions are shared between the national government and the regional authorities that exist in the country. 2 types: federal and autonomuos.

Federal States Federal states were each of them have many competences on many areas and there is a federal government that passes laws for the whole country. Examples: USA, Germany or Mexico.

Autonomous States Regions have their competences on some areas and the central government rules on the others. Spain