I found this chart particularly helpful because it defines by example. These labels or types of government are thrown around like confetti by news outlets and pundits everywhere. However, I’m often unsure what they are trying to say because the precise definitions are rarely front of mind.
Furthermore, I suspect some people who use these labels are skewing the definitions, intentionally or otherwise. After all, it adds gravitas if one says with conviction, “She’s a communist” or “He’s a fascist.” Or they may be fear-mongering or mud-slinging. Or they may simply not know what they are talking about.
As you might expect, Wikipedia has a lengthy, detailed discussion of the many different forms of government.
It sure do open the eyes ! [grin]
It’s helpful for those careful to make distinctions. Not so helpful for those wanting to blur the lines.
The chart is useful. By the same token, I would say the names “Republican” and “Democrat” have the same problem as forms of government. I have sometimes termed myself as a Democrat only to regret it after hearing pronouncements from the progressive parts of the party, as in “. . .. defund the police . . ” for example. I am much closer to Joe Scarborough than to AOC. But, to say I’m an Independent is rather unsatisfying.
The reply I originally typed here disappeared, perhaps because I didn’t save it before launching into the reply below. Suffice it to say that here in Colorado I’m registered as “Unaffiliated” and think of myself as a moderate centrist.
I just typed a paragraph in reply, PT, only to have it disappear into to the void. This problem appears to be unique to your site.
Oops, the comment just popped up.
Sorry, Jim. I’ve never figured out why this sometimes happens. It did seem once that if one’s comment didn’t appear immediately, refreshing the page would make it appear. Same problem sometimes with Likes; they won’t appear until I refresh the page. Or maybe your comment was slow to appear because I was typing one at the same time. WordPress works in mysterious ways …
Most of the time I see these terms used without any knowledge of what it really means. Mostly as a insult, slur, or fear mongering.
Yep, I agree. I’d fail a pop quiz on these terms.
….I don’t know, I think the examples given for the political systems were written by someone with zero knowledge as to what Socialism actually is, especially the brand used in Canada, most of Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and others. Under ‘Ownership’, for example, Canada does not have state ownership over the Internet, but it is regulated by an independent agency. We also have a Constitutional right to property ownership, so there’s no “may” about it.
There is no ‘redistribution of income’ on a personnel level. We do have something called ‘Equalization’, which pools a certain amount of tax money from all Provinces, then is redistributed so that the “have not” Provinces receive money from the “have” provinces (money collected from Ontario, would end up in PEI, for example). It just means that federal tax revenue from California, I believe, is sent to poorer States such as Arkansas, not the other way around.
“Prices” are not managed by the State in Canada. They’re set by market conditions. If there’s collusion / price fixing, like there was a few years ago when Canada’s major grocery chains came together to secretly set the prices of bread higher than the market would have allowed, then there is an investigative response by the State and the Courts, and penalties are levied out to the offending parties.
When it comes to tax collecting, and spending, the largest expenditure for each Province is Health Care. However, by capita, the US government spends more on Health Care for its citizens than Canada. Canada’s federal tax rate is quite close to what American company’s pay… we also have the benefit of the ‘Health Care For All’ system, which reduces the need for SME companies to pay for health care for its workers.
Friedrich Engels is not a Socialist, he’s a Communist… he actually co-wrote the Communist Manifesto. César Chávez would have been welcomed in modern Canada, and his work did influence our early union organizers here — our government was vehemently anti-union for most of our early years.
…I’m not a big fan of the other descriptions of ‘political systems’ either. I think political systems are more nuanced. Like, Zohran Mamdani would be a member of the Canadian ‘New Democrat Party’ (along with AOC and Bernie), a left-of-centre Party. Someone like Speaker Mike Johnson would have a home in the ‘People’s Party of Canada’ (a fringe ultra-right rump party), but most Americans would have a home in either the Conservative Party of Canada, or the Liberal Party of Canada.
I believe some less Fox-like American media are now referring to people like Zohran and James Talarico as ‘Democratic Socialists’. I’m still on the fence about that description, but I kind of like it.
“Democratic Socialist” is the identity Sen. Bernie Sanders has used for many years. I suspect that’s why others have adopted it; it’s familiar and he’s well liked by many people. I’ve no idea how it differs from just plain “Socialist.” (I thought Mamdani expressed some great ideas during his campaign … but at the same time wondered how he expected to actually pay for them.) Nor do I know, when people start throwing these designations around, what they mean or are trying to convey, or even if they themselves know what the terms actually mean.
I asked Google who Friedrich Engels was and it started by saying he was a socialist, who then joined with Marx, etc., … so maybe there’s not a clear distinction. That may be true of much of what’s included in the chart. Many shades of meaning, many subtypes, etc.
In any case, I’m certainly not as well informed as you are. (And by now I’ve likely forgotten much of what I might have known in the past!) Certainly I wouldn’t try to describe what’s going on in the US right now. Depends on who you ask, and when.