Discover

(Redirected from Single party)

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. Sometimes 'de facto single-party state' is used about a dominant-party system where unfair laws or practices prevent the opposition from legally getting power. Some single party states only outlaw ''opposition'' parties, subordinate allied parties can exist as part of a popular front. Such dominant parties are usually referred to in their specific contexts as ''the Party''.
A one-party system should not be confused with a non-partisan democracy which prohibits all political parties. 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.
In most cases, single-party states have arisen from fascist, socialist, 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, the one-party state system is usually called a Socialist republic. Such nations are also described as communist states, though they do not use that term to describe themselves. In socialist republics such as Cuba, the role of the Communist Party is enshrined in the constitution, and no party is permitted to campaign or run candidates for election, including the Communist party. Candidates are elected on an individual referendum basis without formal party involvement, though elected assemblies predominantly consist of members of the dominant party alongside non-affiliated candidates.^[1]

Contents

Examples

Current single party states

Former single-party states

Notes

See also

External links

Examples

Current single party states

The following list includes the countries that are legally constituted as single-party states as of 2007 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) - excluding Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions.

★ Republic of Cuba (Communist Party of Cuba)

★ State of Eritrea (People's Front for Democracy and Justice)

★ Democratic People's Republic of Korea (Korean Workers' Party leads the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland)

★ Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao People's Revolutionary Party leads the Lao Front for National Construction)

★ Syrian Arab Republic (Baath Party leads the National Progressive Front)

★ Turkmenistan (Democratic Party of Turkmenistan)

★ Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Communist Party of Vietnam leads the Vietnamese Fatherland Front)

Former single-party states

Examples include:

★ many governments in Sub-Saharan Africa after independence, although all except Eritrea have converted to a multi-party system.

★
★ Angola (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola-Labour Party) 1975-1991

★
★ Benin (People's Revolutionary Party of Benin) 1975-1990

★
★ Burundi (Union for National Progress) 1966-1976, 1979-1992

★
★ Cameroon (Cameroon National Union 1966-1985/Cameroon People's Democratic Movement 1985-1990)

★
★ Cape Verde (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde 1975-1981/African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde 1981-1990)

★
★ Central African Republic (Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa) 1962-1979, (Central African Democratic Union) 1980-1981, (Central African Democratic Rally) 1987-1991

★
★ Chad (Chadian Progressive Party 1962-1973/National Movement for the Cultural and Social Revolution 1973-1975), (National Union for Independence and Revolution) 1989-1990

★
★ Comoros (Comorian Union for Progress) 1982-1990

★
★ Congo-Brazzaville (National Revolutionary Movement) 1964-1968, (Congolese Labour Party) 1969-1990

★
★ Côte d'Ivoire (Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire-African Democratic Rally) 1960-1990

★
★ Djibouti (People's Rally for Progress) 1981-1992

★
★ Equatorial Guinea (Worker's National United Party) 1970-1979, (Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea) 1987-1991

★
★ Ethiopia (Worker's Party of Ethiopia) 1987-1991

★
★ Gabon (Gabonese Democratic Party) 1968-1990

★
★ Ghana (Convention People's Party) 1964-1966

★
★ Guinea (Democratic Party of Guinea) 1958-1984

★
★ Guinea-Bissau (African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde) 1974-1991

★
★ Kenya (Kenya African National Union) 1982-1990

★
★ Liberia (True Whig Party) 1878-1980

★
★ Madagascar (National Front for the Defence of the Revolution) 1976-1989

★
★ Malawi (Malawi Congress Party) 1966-1993

★
★ Mali (Sudanese Union-African Democratic Rally) 1960-1968, (Democratic Union of the Malian People) 1979-1991

★
★ Mauritania (Mauritanian People's Party) 1961-1978

★
★ Mozambique (Mozambique Liberation Front) 1975-1990

★
★ Niger (Nigerien Progressive Party-African Democratic Rally) 1960-1974, (National Movement for a Developing Society) 1989-1991

★
★ Rwanda (Democratic Republican Party-Party of the Hutu Emancipation Movement) 1965-1973, (National Revolutionary Movement for Development) 1978-1991

★
★ São Tomé and Príncipe (Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe) 1975-1990

★
★ Senegal (Socialist Party) 1966-1974

★
★ Seychelles (Seychelles People's Progressive Front) 1979-1991

★
★ Sierra Leone (All People's Congress) 1978-1991

★
★ Somalia (Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party) 1976-1991

★
★ Sudan (Sudanese Socialist Union) 1971-1985

★
★ Tanzania (Tanganyika African National Union) 1965-1975; Zanzibar (Afro-Shirazi Party 1965-1992; TANU and ASP merged to form (Chama Cha Mapinduzi) 1975-1992

★
★ Togo (Rally of the Togolese People) 1969-1991

★
★ Uganda (National Resistance Movement/Party) 1987-2005

★
★ Upper Volta (Voltaic Democratic Union-African Democratic Rally) 1960-1966

★
★ Zambia (United National Independence Party) 1972-1990

★
★ Zaire (Popular Movement of the Revolution) 1967-1990

★ many Middle Eastern and North African governments such as:

★
★ Algeria (National Liberation Front) 1962-1988

★
★ Iran (Rastakhiz Party) 1975-1978

★
★ Iraq (Ba'ath Party) 1968-2003

★
★ South Yemen (Yemeni Socialist Party) 1978-1990

★
★ Syria (Arab Liberation Movement) 1952-1954

★
★ Tunisia (Constitutional Democratic Rally) 1957-1981

★ the former Soviet Union, the Warsaw Pact, and some of its neighbors were ruled by Communist parties.

★
★ Afghanistan (People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan) 1978-1992

★
★ Albania (Albanian Party of Labour) 1945-1991

★
★ Bulgaria (Bulgarian Communist Party) 1946-1990

★
★ Czechoslovakia (Communist Party of Czechoslovakia) 1948-1989

★
★ East Germany (Socialist Unity Party of Germany) 1949-1989

★
★ Hungary (Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party) 1948-1989

★
★ Mongolia (Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party) 1921-1996

★
★ Poland (Polish United Workers' Party with two minor allied parties SD and ZSL) 1948-1989

★
★ Romania (Romanian Communist Party) 1947-1989

★
★ Soviet Union (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) 1922-1991

★
★ Yugoslavia (League of Communists of Yugoslavia) 1945-1990

★ Afghanistan (National Revolutionary Party) 1975-1978

★ Cambodia (Communist Party of Kampuchea) 1975-79 (not official until September 1977)

★ Republic of China (Nationalist Party of China), on Mainland China 1928-1949, on Taiwan 1949-1987

★ Germany (National Socialist German Workers Party) 1933-1945

★ Grenada (New Jewel Movement) 1979-1983

★ Hungary (Arrow Cross Party) 1944-1945

★ Italy (National Fascist Party) 1928-1943

★ Paraguay (Colorado Party) 1947-1962

★ Portugal (National Union) 1930-1974

★ Romania (National Renaissance Front) 1938-1940, (Iron Guard) 1940-1944

★ Spain (Spanish Patriotic Union), 1923-1930, and the (National Movement), 1939-1977.

★ Turkey (Republican People’s Party),1923-1946.

Notes

1. Cuba: Elections and Events 1991-2001 Latin American Election Statistics Home

See also

★ List of democracy and elections-related topics

★ Multi-Party System

★ Two-Party System

★ Dominant Party System

External links

★ Map of One Party States, 1945-95

★ Single party states in Africa

★ List of One-Party Regimes

★ When the State is Ultimate

★ Totalitarian Daydreams and Christian Humanism