Military Government - search results

Benito Mussolini was an Italian political leader who established fascism in interwar Italy. He held the positions of president of the Council of Ministers of Italy (1922-1943) and leader (Duce) of the Italian Social Republic (1943-1945). His political life began in the ranks of socialism. But after going through World War I, he renounced his Marxist past, turned to the right, and became a nationalist. In 1921 he founded the National Fascist Party and the following year organized the March on Rome, which allowed him to reach power. Little by little, he was building an authoritarian regime that ended the parliamentary system, persecuted opponents, and criticized both capitalism and socialism.

Limitations to the Application of Rule of Law The rule of law is defined as the supremacy of law over everybody in a political system....

Zygmunt Bauman (1927-2017) was a Polish sociologist, thinker, teacher and writer, one of the most critical voices in contemporary society. He created the expression “Liquid Modernity” to classify the fluidity of the world where individuals no longer have a standard of reference.

Legislature is the organ of government charged with the responsibility of making laws as well as policy formulation. Despite the importance of this governmental institution, it remains the arm of government that is most hit and undermined by political instability.

The Judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law. The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the judiciary generally does not make law (in a plenary fashion which is the responsibility of the legislature) or enforce law (which is the responsibility of the executive) but rather interprets law and applies it to the facts of each case.

The executive is the branch of government which carries out the will of the state. It enforces the laws made by the legislature and carries out court decisions and also takes action on matters which are not covered by the law.

As the hub around which the wheel of government revolves, the executive is the active force in government. As such, it performs a number of functions and exercises certain powers which are necessary for the survival of the political system. Some of these powers and functions of the executive are explained below.

Functions of Political parties include the following in the political system - 1. Interest articulation, 2. Interest aggregation, 3. Recruitment and removal of political leaders, 4. Link between government and the people, 5. Mobilization of public opinion, 6. Peaceful means of changing government, 7. Simplification and clarification of issues.

The behaviour of political parties is determined by the kind of party systems in existence. Where the party system is competitive, the parties will likely be engaged in continual political activities. But where there is no inter-party competition, as in one-party states, the political party will be primarily engaged in the practice and justification of political authority.

Multi Party System | Governments are usually based on center coalitions with the parties of the right and left in opposition. Thus, for most of the time since 1947, the Christian Democrats (a party of the center) has formed the Governments in Italy with the smaller parties which are to the right or left.

The two party system is a system in which there are two major political parties of nearly equal strength and a few minor parties that may be too small to have any major influence on the outcome of an election, although a third party may arise which threatens to, and sometimes does supplant one of the two large parties.

One of the disadvantages of Multi-party System is that the system is defective in that it is usually difficult for one party to win an election. As such coalition governments which are generally unstable are formed to overcome the problem.

Single party system or One Party State may be defined as one in which only one legal and legitimate political party is constitutionally recognised in the country. No other party is recognised and can therefore not exist. The main features of one party state may be summarized as follows;

Control of Civil Service | The civil service is subject to various forms of control. Civil servants may be censured by the legislature, disciplined by the executive, overruled by the courts and criticised by the public.

The Western Regional Elections were held on 11th October, 1965 to elect members of the region’s House of Assembly. This was an election, which the new NNDP government needed to win to consolidate its hold on power in the region.

The National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroon (NCNC) was formed in 1944. The first president was Herbert Macaulay and the first general secretary was Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

The Peoples Democratic Party was formed on 28th July, 1998 and formally launched on 31st August, 1998. It was one of the three parties registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 1999 elections.

The National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was formed in September 1978. The party developed out of a body known as the Northern Movement, a group of old and young politicians from the Northern part of the country. One thing that bound together members of the Northern Movement was their belief that political elites of the North should provide leadership in any national government.

The Nigerian National Alliance was not a political party in the true sense of the term. It was rather a rally or coalition of several parties formed to contest the 1964 federal elections.

The term 'suffrage' is often used interchangeable with franchise. Nevertheless, they both mean the same thing. Suffrage or franchise is the right or privilege granted by the state to members of a community to participate in an election or a referendum. This means that anyone who has this right can vote in an election or take part in a referendum.