Single-party state

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A single-party state or one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system government in which a single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election. In most cases, parties other than the one in power are banned, although some systems guarantee a majority for one favored party that ensures the impotence of any parties relegated by law or practice (including rigged elections) to a permanent status as a miniscule and impotent minority. Even if some debate appears in the parliament, real power ordinarily lies in the unelected leadership of the dominant Party, as was the norm in the former German Democratic Republic.

Although other political parties are sometimes allowed under a single-party system, these other parties must subordinate themselves to the dominant party and cannot function as an opposition. Also, some one-party states may allow non-party members to run for legislative seats, as was the case with Taiwan's Tangwai movement in the 1970s and 1980s.

A one-party system should not be confused with a dominant-party system in which an opposition is not officially prohibited, but it is largely ineffective (has no realistic chance of becoming the government), nor should it be confused with a non-partisan democracy which prohibits all political parties.

In most cases, single-party states have arisen from fascist, Stalinist, or nationalist ideologies, particularly in the wake of independence from colonial rule. One-party systems often arise from decolonization because one party has had an overwhelmingly dominant role in liberation or in independence struggles.

Where the ruling party subscribes to a form of Marxism-Leninism or even Stalinism, the one-party system is usually called a Socialist or Communist state.

1 Examples
2 Notes
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Examples

[edit] Constitutionally-defined single party states

The following list includes the countries that are legally constituted as single-party states as of 2006 and the name of the single party in power:

People's Republic of China (Communist Party of China leads the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference)
Cuba (Communist Party of Cuba)
North Korea (Korean Workers' Party leads the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland)
Laos (Lao People's Revolutionary Party leads the Lao Front for National Construction)
Syria (Ba'ath Party leads the National Progressive Front)
Turkmenistan (Democratic Party of Turkmenistan)
Vietnam (Communist Party of Vietnam leads the Vietnamese Fatherland Front)

[edit] Effective single-party states today

Various legal or military measures make these effectively (de facto) single-party states as of 2006:

Burma/Myanmar <ref>The Burmese / Myanmar military, which has ruled the country since 1988, created a "National Unity Party" to give the régime a civilian façade. An election held in 1990 was nullified. The legal status of the winner of that election, the National League for Democracy (NLD), is in flux.</ref>
Egypt (National Democratic Party) (other parties exist but face various restrictions)
Eritrea (People's Front for Democracy and Justice)
Western Sahara's Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is composed entirely of Polisario Front members. Elections are held every three years with no opposition. In 2004, a splinter group, the Front Polisario Khat al-Shahid was announced.