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Dominant-party system

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A dominant-party system, or one party dominant system, is a party system where only one political party can realistically become the government, by itself or in a coalition government. Under what has been referred to as "electoralism" or "soft authoritarianism", opposition parties are legally allowed to operate, but are too weak or ineffective to seriously challenge power, perhaps through various forms of corruption, constitutional quirks that intentionally undermine the ability for an effective opposition to thrive, institutional and/or organizational conventions that support the status quo, or finally, and most controversially, inherent cultural values averse to change.

Not all dominant-party systems are undemocratic. In many cases, such as the government of Tommy Douglas in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, sheer populism can keep the momentum of a government going for quite some time. In other cases, sheer inertia preserves the dominant party, as with the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan, where some argue the Japanese people as well as Japanese special interests have gotten so accustomed to LDP rule that until quite recently they might have found it hard to imagine it any other way. However, others point out that until 1993 Japanese electoral districts suffered quite severe malapportionment, ranging from a 1:2 ratio to an extreme 1:6 ratio vote per candidate which favour LDP. In Canada, the federal government has been dominated by the Liberal Party of Canada since 1896, with governments of the Conservative Party of Canada and its predecessors forming a number of short-lived governments in comparison to the longer periods of Liberal Party rule.

Thus in contrast to single-party systems, which are almost always authoritarian, dominant-party systems can occur within a context of a democratic system. In a single-party system other parties are banned, but in dominant-party systems other political parties are tolerated, and (in democratic dominant-party systems) operate without any impediment, but do not have a realistic chance of winning; the dominant party genuinely wins the votes of the vast majority of voters every time (or, in authoritarian systems, claims to).

In some states opposition parties are subject to varying degrees of official harassment and most often deal with restrictions on free speech (such as press clubs), lawsuits against the opposition, rules or electoral systems (such as gerrymandering of electoral districts) designed to put them at a disadvantage. In some cases outright electoral fraud keep the opposition from power. On the other hand, some dominant-party system occur in countries that are widely seen, both by their citizens and outside observers, to be textbook examples of democracy. The reasons why a dominant-party system may form in such a country are often debated: Supporters of the dominant party tend to argue that their party is simply doing a good job in government and the opposition continuously proposes unrealistic or unpopular changes, while supporters of the opposition tend to argue that the electoral system disfavors them (for example because it is based on the principle of first past the post), or that the dominant party receives a disproportionate amount of funding from various sources and is therefore able to mount more persuasive campaigns.

Examples

Current dominant-party systems

The following countries appear to be run by dominant-party systems:

Africa

Angola

Botswana

Burkina Faso

Cameroon

Chad

Congo-Brazzaville

Djibouti

  • Popular Rally for Progress
  • Rassemblement populaire pour le Progrès (RPP)
  • Led by President Ismail Omar Guelleh, in office since 8 May 1999
  • In power since its formation in 1979
  • Sole legal party, 1979–92
  • Presidential election, 2005: Ismail Omar Guelleh (RPP) re-elected unopposed
  • Parliamentary election, 2003: RPP in coalition, 62.4% and 65 of 65 seats

Egypt

Equatorial Guinea

  • Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
  • Partido Democrático de Guinea Ecuatorial (PDGE)
  • Led by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, in office since 3 August 1979
  • In power since its formation in 1987
  • Sole legal party, 1987–91
  • Presidential election, 2002: Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo (PDGE) 97.1%
  • Parliamentary election, 2004: PDGE 47.5% and 68 of 100 seats (91.9% and 98 of 100 seats including allies)

Ethiopia

Gabon

The Gambia

Guinea

  • Party of Unity and Progress
  • Parti de l'Unité et du Progrès (PUP)
  • Led by President Lansana Conté, in office since 3 April 1984
  • In power since its formation in 1991
  • Presidential election, 2003: Lansana Conté (PUP) 95.6%
  • Parliamentary election, 2002: PUP 61.6% and 47 of 76 seats

Lesotho

Mozambique

Namibia

Nigeria

Rwanda

Seychelles

South Africa

Sudan

Tanzania

Togo

Tunisia

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Western Saharas Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

Americas

Canada

  • Liberal Party of Canada
    • Has ruled Canada for long, uninterrupted periods of time such as from 1896 to 1911, 1935 to 1957 (this being the longest period of time in office for the Liberal Party at 22 years in total), 1963 to 1979 (followed by less than a year of rule by the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and then another Liberal government from 1980 to 1984), and 1993 to 2006. Has been out of office since 2006.
  • The Canadian province of Alberta has been ruled continuously by the Progressive Conservatives since August 30, 1971. Prior to that, the Social Credit Party held power for 36 years starting on August 22, 1935.

El Salvador

United States

  • The Mayor of Chicago has been held by a member of the Democratic Party since 1927. The City Council is composed entirely of members of the Democratic Party except for one member.


Venezuela

Asia

Cambodia (KPK)

Japan

Kazakhstan (OTAN)

Malaysia

Philippines

Samoa

Singapore

Tajikistan (PDPT)

Yemen

Europe

Azerbaijan

Georgia

Germany

Republic of Ireland

  • Fianna Fáil have been the dominant government party since 1987, except for a 30-month period in 1994-1997. The next election is scheduled for 2012, by which time the party will have held power for 23 of 25 years. Fianna Fáil have taken the largest number of seats in all Dáil Éireann elections since 1932. However they have not always formed a government, with coalition governments of other parties common throughout Irish history.

Malta

  • The Partit Nazzjonalista has democratically been the sole governing party in Malta since 1987, except for a brief 22-month period between 1996 and 1998. It won elections held in 1987, 1992, 1998, 2003 and 2008, each time defeating the left-of-centre Malta Labour Party. Since 1966 there have only been these two parties represented in the Maltese Parliament.

Montenegro

Russia

Sweden

In Sweden, the Social Democrats have been the ruling party almost constantly since World War II. All party leaders since 1907 have served as Prime Minister at some point. In 2006 a right-wing government was elected, but only after its component parties moved their policies significantly to the left.

Former dominant-party systems

Countries which have since lost their one party dominance include:

See also

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