Who governs? Forms of state, democracy and dictatorship

Imagine your class has to decide where to go on a school trip. Option A: Everyone votes, the majority decides, and those who disagreed can say so openly and try to win a different majority next time. Option B: One person decides, no disagreement is allowed – and anyone who objects anyway gets into trouble.

States work in a similar way, but with far greater consequences. To compare states, you need to keep two questions separate that are often confused:

1. Who is at the top? Is there a head of state who inherits the office (monarchy), or is there no monarch and instead a head of state who serves for a limited term (republic)?
2. Who holds power – and who keeps it in check? Do the people decide through free elections, with power divided and kept in check (democracy), or does power lie with one person or party that nobody is allowed to hold in check (dictatorship)?

Many people think that monarchy means a lack of freedom and republic means freedom. That is not true. Liechtenstein has a prince and is also a democracy. And the German Reich had no emperor after 1918, so it was a republic – yet it became a dictatorship from 1933 onwards.

In “Weimarer Republik, Weltwirtschaftskrise und der Aufstieg des Nationalsozialismus”, you saw how Germany’s first democracy fell into crisis and how Hitler became Chancellor of the Reich on 30 January 1933. This series of modules tells the story of what followed: how a democracy became a dictatorship within a year and a half, how the Nazi state worked, what it planned for young people and how it excluded, persecuted and murdered people. First, though, we need to understand the terms – otherwise we will be talking at cross purposes.

In a monarchy, the head of state is a person who gains the office through inheritance and usually holds it for life: a king or queen, a prince or princess, an emperor or empress. However, monarchies vary greatly:

• Absolute monarchy: The rulers hold all the power. Neither a constitution nor a parliament can bind them. Examples include France under Ludwig XIV in the 17th century and Saudi Arabia today.
• Constitutional monarchy: A constitution (from the Latin constitutio) limits the monarch’s power. If the government also depends on the elected parliament, this is called a parliamentary monarchy – for example, in the United Kingdom, where the king represents the state but does not govern.

In a republic, there is no monarch. The head of state is usually elected and holds office only for a fixed term. In Austria, this is the Federal President (six years). In Switzerland, the entire Federal Council, with its seven members, acts as head of state; a different member chairs the council as President of the Confederation each year. In the Weimar Republic, the people elected the President of the Reich for seven years.

And Liechtenstein? Article 2 of the 1921 constitution describes the state as follows:

‘The Principality is a constitutional hereditary monarchy on a democratic and parliamentary basis (Art. 79 and 80); the power of the State is vested in the Prince and in the People and is exercised by both in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.’

— Verfassung des Fürstentums Liechtenstein, 5. Oktober 1921, Art. 2

This means that the Prince inherits his office (hereditary monarchy), the constitution limits his power (constitutional), and a parliament elected by the people, the Landtag, takes part in making laws (democratic and parliamentary). A law can only be passed if the Landtag approves it and the Prince gives his assent, or formal approval – neither can make laws alone. That is why the constitution says that the power of the state is vested in the Prince and in the people.

Remember: Knowing who the head of state is does not yet tell you how free the people in a country are. For that, you need the second question.

The word democracy comes from Greek and means ‘rule by the people’. You can recognise a democracy by these features:

1. Popular sovereignty: Power comes from the people – through free, secret and regular elections.
2. Separation of powers: Parliament (which makes laws), the government (which puts them into practice) and the courts (which pass judgement independently) are separate and keep one another in check.
3. Fundamental rights and the rule of law: Freedom of expression, the press and assembly apply to everyone; the state itself is bound by the law, and nobody is imprisoned without a trial.
4. Opposition and protection of minorities: Those who oppose the government are allowed to say so, organise and win the next election. The majority decides, but it must not strip minorities of their rights.

Liechtenstein has a distinctive feature: according to its constitution, the power of the state is vested in the Prince and in the people, so the first feature takes a particular form here. Nevertheless, Liechtenstein is a democracy: the people elect the Landtag in free, secret elections, the Prince cannot pass laws alone, the constitution binds everyone, and referendums are possible.

In a dictatorship (from the Latin dictare = to command, to prescribe), the opposite applies:

1. Power lies with one person or one party – without limits or checks.
2. No separation of powers: The government, parliament and courts all follow the same will.
3. No free elections – or only sham elections without a genuine choice.
4. Censorship: Newspapers, radio and books may only publish or broadcast what is permitted.
5. Persecution of opponents by the police and secret police, often without a trial.

Remember: What matters is not whether there are elections, courts or newspapers – almost every dictatorship has them. What matters is whether they are free and independent.

You may already have explored what these features look like today in “Authoritarian systems today”. Now we will combine the two questions – giving us four cells.

Not all dictatorships are the same. Authoritarian dictatorships mainly demand political obedience and persecute those who disagree with them; they are less concerned with what people think and do in private. A totalitarian dictatorship (from the Latin totus = whole) wants more: it wants to control every area of life and change people from within – at school, in their leisure time, in the family and even in their thoughts. You can recognise totalitarian dictatorships by five features:

1. An ideology that claims to explain everything and tolerates no disagreement.
2. One party that merges with the state.
3. Mass organisations for children, young people, workers and women – nobody is meant to remain outside them.
4. Propaganda across all media, from posters to radio.
5. Terror: secret police, camps and fear as tools of rule.

Remember: An authoritarian dictatorship demands obedience. A totalitarian dictatorship demands enthusiasm – and punishes anyone who fails to show it.

Nazi Germany was a totalitarian dictatorship. In the next modules in this series, you will see how it brought schools, young people and leisure activities under its control.

Where the word comes from

In ancient Rome, senior officials had a bundle of rods with an axe, known as the fasces, carried before them. It was a symbol of their official authority: this official had the right to punish. The Italian word fascio means ‘bundle’ or ‘league’. After the First World War, Benito Mussolini called his fighting leagues Fasci di combattimento – this gave rise to the name fascism.

Italy: the model

In October 1922, Mussolini ordered his uniformed supporters to march on the capital (the ‘March on Rome’). The Italian king gave in to the threat and appointed Mussolini head of government. The appointment was formally lawful – but it only happened because the fascists threatened violence. From 1925/26 onwards, Mussolini stripped parliament, political parties and the press of their power and ruled as a dictator; the king remained in office as head of state. Remember this pattern: the head of state formally and lawfully appoints the leader of a movement as head of government – who then dismantles democracy. You will encounter it again in Germany in 1933.

What fascists have in common

• Extreme nationalism: Their own nation comes above everything else; other nations are enemies or prey.
• A cult of the leader: One leader embodies the nation and is followed unconditionally.
• Rejection of democracy, liberalism and communism alike – they dismissed parliaments as ‘talking shops’ and saw freedom as weakness. (Liberalism is the political movement that puts individual freedom and rights first. Communism is the ideology that factories and land should belong to everyone collectively and that social classes should no longer exist.)
• Violence as a political tool: Gangs of thugs, street fighting and intimidation.
• Militarisation: Uniforms, parades and war as a test of strength.
• A one-party state and a ‘national community’ instead of classes: Everyone is supposed to feel part of a whole – those who do not belong are excluded.

National Socialism

National Socialism adopted these features and was the German form of fascism. However, there is a crucial additional distinction: at the heart of Nazi ideology were a racial ideology (the claim that human beings could be divided into superior and inferior ‘races’) and racist antisemitism – hatred of Jewish people, which the Nazis made state policy and which ultimately led to genocide. Later modules in this series explore this.

(Extension) A look at historical research: Historians disagree about whether National Socialism should be called ‘German fascism’. One argument in favour is that almost all the features listed above apply. One argument against is that racial ideology and racist antisemitism were central to National Socialism and led to state-organised genocide – unique in its scale, even though other fascist movements were also antisemitic. Both views are represented in academic research. In everyday life, ‘fascist’ is often used simply as an insult; in history lessons, we use the term precisely.