In the modern world, the republican form of government is perhaps the most popular in the state system of the countries of the globe. But what exactly is it like? What are the types of republics? Let's try to figure it out.
Types of republics: an excursion into history
The term itself comes from the Latin words res (deed) and publica (general). I.e
literally, it means a common (social) business. In ancient Greece and Rome, at a certain stage of their existence, there was just such a form of government. Actually, even then it appeared in practice that the republican concept can have different forms, designed into specific types of republics. So, in the Greek policies there was a democratic version of it. This meant that all full-fledged citizens of the policy (men who have reached maturity and have lived from birth on its territory) have the right to vote at public meetings (ecclesias), where issues of special importance were decided and a governing body was elected - the council of archons.
In the Roman state, there was a so-called aristocratic republic in which only aristocrats (patricians) ruled the ball. After the fall of ancient civilization and the formation of barbarian kingdoms, this form of power did not at all leave the stage of history, although it was far removed by feudal and, later, absolute
the monarchy.
Various types of republics existed in Venice, Genoa, some German lands. In Novgorod Rus, the boyars who concluded an agreement with the princes had significant levers of power. Zaporizhzhya Sich is also often called the Cossack Republic. However, a truly full-fledged revival of the republican form of government took place after the Renaissance.
Modern ideas were formed under the influence of the ideas of prominent enlighteners: Locke, Russo, Hobbes. An important place here was occupied by the idea of the so-called social contract, which expressed the idea that once upon a time people voluntarily renounced part of their rights in favor of state power. However, this entailed the obligation of the state itself to the people and the latter’s right to revolt, if power passes the legal framework. The 19th and 20th centuries were the time of the fall of monarchical regimes and the establishment of a democratic system - first in European countries, and then around the world.
Modern republic: concept, signs, types
In the modern world, such a device involves the following fundamental properties:
- The principle of separation of powers implies the creation of several branches of government (independent of each other and with different powers). This principle is necessary.
as an additional measure of protection against possible usurpation of power by one person or a group of like-minded people. Most often, there are three branches: legislative (parliament), executive (president and cabinet) and judicial (in fact, the court system), but in some countries there are additional (supervisory, examination, and so on).
- Mandatory regular election of the highest authorities: the president and parliament (in some cases, the president can be elected indirectly, through parliament).
- The supremacy of the Constitution in the legal system of the state. Legal responsibility before the law of government representatives.
Republics can be parliamentary and presidential, depending on the balance of powers between these institutions. For example, the United States is a classic presidential, where the initiative to form a government belongs to the head of state. Various types of presidential republics are represented in many countries of Latin America and Africa. In Italy (and almost everywhere in Europe), on the contrary, the president himself is elected by parliament, which means that the latter has more leverage.
