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One-party state
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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 enjoy limited and controlled participation in elections. The term "de facto one-party state" 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] With such a small winning coalition, leaders in one-party states usually lack the incentive to care about the well-being of citizens. 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 democracies at a lower rate than dominant-party dictatorships.[4] While one-party states prohibit opposition parties, some allow for elections at the smallest local level. One-party states lack any legitimate competition. 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]
- ^ Clark, William Roberts; Golder, Matt; Golder, Sona Nadenichek (23 March 2012). Principles of Comparative Politics. SAGE. p. 611. ISBN 9781608716791.
- ^ "One-Party States | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
- ^ Angiolillo, Fabio (27 April 2023). "Introducing the One-Party Membership Dataset: A dataset on party membership in autocracies". Journal of Peace Research. 61 (4): 694–708. doi:10.1177/00223433231155278. ISSN 0022-3433.
- ^ a b Magaloni, Beatriz; Kricheli, Ruth (1 May 2010). "Political Order and One-Party Rule". Annual Review of Political Science. 13 (1): 123–143. doi:10.1146/annurev.polisci.031908.220529. ISSN 1094-2939.
- ^ a b Creak, Simon; Barney, Keith (10 August 2018). "Conceptualising Party-State Governance and Rule in Laos". Journal of Contemporary Asia. 48 (5): 693–716. doi:10.1080/00472336.2018.1494849. ISSN 0047-2336. S2CID 158403649.
- ^ Hassan, Mai; Mattingly, Daniel; Nugent, Elizabeth R. (12 May 2022). "Political Control". Annual Review of Political Science. 25 (1): 155–174. doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-051120-013321. ISSN 1094-2939. S2CID 241393914.
- ^ a b Malesky, Edmund; Schuler, Paul (26 October 2011). "The Single-Party Dictator's Dilemma: Information in Elections without Opposition". Legislative Studies Quarterly. 36 (4): 491–530. doi:10.1111/j.1939-9162.2011.00025.x. ISSN 0362-9805.
- ^ Frantz, Erica. Authoritarianism : what everyone needs to know. ISBN 978-0-19-756964-1. OCLC 1202872902.
- ^ Frantz, Erica. Authoritarianism : what everyone needs to know. ISBN 978-0-19-756964-1. OCLC 1202872902.
- ^ a b c Gandhi, Jennifer; Lust-Okar, Ellen (1 June 2009). "Elections Under Authoritarianism". Annual Review of Political Science. 12 (1): 403–422. doi:10.1146/annurev.polisci.11.060106.095434. ISSN 1094-2939.
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