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Form of government
The form of government describes who exercises power in a society and in what form, and thus determines politics in a society. Rule can be exercised by the entire people, by a small group of individuals or by individuals. Furthermore, the ruler may or may not be legitimate, based on Aristotle's scheme of forms of government in his work ‘Politika’, 4th century BC.
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| Systematic classification of forms of government |
In a democracy, there are representatives who are elected by the people and therefore legitimised. If no one rules, i.e. no one is legitimised to rule, then the people must govern themselves and anarchy reigns. If there is a single person who rules by hereditary succession or election by an elite and who is recognised by the people as a ruler legitimised by divine right, this is called monarchy. If there is a single person who rules because they have overthrown the previous government or otherwise seized power unlawfully, then there is a dictatorship.
Legitimacy according to Max Weber
The concept of legitimacy was once again decisively influenced by Max Weber. For him, any rule is legitimate if it is recognised by the population. Any population that submits to a ruler demonstrates its recognition of his rule. This does not mean that the population also considers the ruler's rule to be legitimately acquired. According to Weber, illegitimacy, i.e. the rejection of rule by the population, leads directly to the overthrow of the ruler because obedience will be refused. Thus, every rule is legitimate and illegitimate rulers do not exist.
Weber says: Rule means the chance of finding obedience to a command of a certain content from specified persons.
(‘Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft’ [‘Economy and Society’], Max Weber, 1921).
Legitimacy of a dictator
Shortly after seizing power, a dictator initially has the legitimacy to rule over the people. Such a situation can arise legally through the application of emergency rules in times of crisis. Most democracies have rules in place whereby a small circle of responsible individuals may take over the affairs of government without the involvement of parliament and without elections having to be held. Of course, parliament can also pass a change in the law to establish a dictatorship. In most cases, however, the existing government is overthrown and replaced by a rebel leader. Provided the population does not revolt against this, the rebel leader is initially legitimised to take over the government.
However, such self-legitimisation is rarely supported by the population for long, because legitimacy among the population usually results from the expulsion of the predecessor and the expectation of a transition to a better government. If the transition, for example through the organisation of elections, fails to materialise, legitimacy regularly disappears and the dictator is overthrown, in case of doubt by the next rebel leader.
This is where the difference to a monarchy lies, in which legitimacy is normally derived from God. The role of king can then be passed on to one of the children, for example, because divine right is rarely questioned.
