Comparison of 3 Different Types of Regimes and Ways how legitimacy is Derived
The system of governance is critical to citizens of a country. People desire a legitimate government that is bound by the constitution. Power is sweet as most leaders do not like to hand over power when their ruling term expires (Heywood, 2013). Leaders become dictators and use force to rule instead of abiding by the majority rule of the people. Leaders obtain authority to order by the people who are governed. According to sociologists and philosophers, leaders can be classified as born leaders and made leaders (Heywood, 2013). Some people are born with characteristics that make them influence decisions to make people obey them unconditionally. Leaders get the power to rule from the traditional authority, charismatic authority, and legal-rational authority (Heywood, 2013).
As from the past, the traditional system of governance has been existing and has been considered legitimate. The communities and different tribes have had customs and cultural activities that govern their way of life. The system of governance is hereditary within the royal family according to the ways the traditions stipulate. People who are born as leaders are charismatic and possess the attributes of a good leader after the death of the prophet Muhammad in 632 AD. The leadership of the Islamic religion faced challenges on who should lead them. Islamic faith split into factions as some Muslims believed that leadership is based on the qualities of an individual and not hereditary as others proposed. Another form of leadership is by legal authority, where leaders are voted into power. Legitimacy is exhibited when a country has an established system of governance that is accepted by the majority of the people. There must be a mutual agreement between the government and the governed that they will abide by the constitution. The governed have an expression that the system of governance is legitimate. The paper analyzes the extent of legitimacy in Islamic, military, and new democracies regimes.
New democracies’ regime is simplified in the modern society where the people vote the leaders in a free and fair election. The free economic market, determine demand and supply of goods and services determine the price (Heywood, 2013). The legitimacy of the new democracies regimes is compared against the constitution and electioneering process. Some leaders purport to have exercised a free and fair election while they bribe the electoral commission to declare them winners and impose themselves against the people. There have been frequent revolutions and rebellions in new democracies whereby the legitimate government disobeys the constitution and starts embezzling funds. Elected leaders turn into dictators, whereby people are imprisoned without a fair trial in the courts. The opposition leaders are subjected to frustration and home arrests (Heywood, 2013). The dictatorial leaders use force and coercion that results in the kidnapping and killing of the opposition leaders. Multiparty has led to overthrowing of dictators from power who refuses to hand over power when the term ends or when they are defeated in an election. The new democracies system of governance to be accountable to its citizens in providing quality essential services and fulfilling the manifestos.
Since the introduction of the Islamic religion in the 6th century, religion has dominated politically and economically in different parts of the world. The Islamic regime has dominated parts of the middle east like Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and parts of North Africa, for instance, Sudan, Libya, Algeria, and Tunisia. In these countries, the Islamic regime has developed over decades (Heywood, 2013). The Islamic regime has led to fundamentalism and pluralism, where people are subjected to follow the rules, and the majority do not accept laws. Historians argue that Islamic is not a religion, but it is a system of governance (Heywood, 2013). Islamic leaders develop an anarchy system of governance that denies people the freedom of expression. Leaders in the Islamic countries have caused religious conflicts as they have developed the Islamic laws that are enforced to everybody. The impact of dictatorship in the Islamic regime is rebellion and revolutions. In the last decade, most Islamic states have been facing Islamic revolutions where most prominent leaders have been overthrown from power.
The military regime has dominated in other countries, where legitimate governments have been overthrown by illegitimate military coups (Heywood, 2013). The citizens of the country to express the feelings but adhere to the dictatorial leadership of these regimes. There are no established constitution and freedom of expression by the governed. The military regime governments apply force and coercion to the citizens. Governance is not justified as it is illegal.
In conclusion, most regimes have been illegitimate as the core principles of legitimacy are not adhered to. The constitution appears to be a piece of paper that is enforced on the poor. A legitimate government should conform to the legitimacy process, follow the law, freedom of expression, and justified.
References
Heywood, A. (2013). Politics, society, and identity. Politics, 151-170. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-27244-7_7
Heywood, A. (2013). Politics. Palgrave Macmillan.