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. While opposition parties are legally allowed to operate, they are considered too weak or ineffective to seriously take power. In contrast to single-party systems, which tend to be authoritarian, dominant-party systems can occur within a context of a democratic system. Dominant-party systems have been criticized because corruption and insensitivity to public demands tend to arise for lack of an effective opposition.

A further distinction from a single-party system is that under the latter, other parties cannot compete to become the government because they are banned. Dominant-party systems exist only in states where other political parties are tolerated, but do not receive enough votes to have a realistic chance of winning. However, in some dominant-party systems, opposition parties are subject to varying degrees of official harassment and most often deal with rules and electoral systems designed to put them at a disadvantage or in some cases outright electoral fraud.

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.

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Examples

Examples of dominant-party systems include the National Democratic Party in Egypt, the Partido Revolucionario Institucional in Mexico from the 1920s until 2000, the People's Action Party in Singapore since 1959, the Democratic Party in the southern United States from about 1880 until the 1960s, Democrazia Cristiana in Italy from 1948 to 1992, and the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan from the 1950s until the present.

Ireland can also be classified as a dominant-party system, with Fianna Fáil ruling more than two-thirds of the time since independence. All six of Fianna Fáil's leaders have served as taoiseach (prime minister) at some point in time.

Dominant-party systems can occur temporarily. This can often occur when a two-party system is the norm, but one of the two parties sees a massive drop in support, often due to scandal or similar massive upset. An example of this is, arguably, the United Kingdom between 1979 and 1997 (18 years) where the Conservative Party won all four elections in that period. Previously, in the post-war period, the government had rotated from the Labour Party to the Conservative Party five times. This was also the case in Canada between 1993 and 2004, where the demise of the Progressive Conservative Party in the 1993 election meant that opposition to the Liberal Party was divided. This, in part, allowed the Liberals to win three consecutive majority governments. The Canadian province of Alberta has exhibited a dominant-party system for the whole of its history, from 1905 to the present. While the dominant party has changed on three occasions, each governing party has been entirely dominant until its replacement.

Though the United States as a whole is characterized by a competitive two-party system, some individual states, currently and in the past, qualify as a dominant-party system, and some periods in federal election history have also seen dominant-party characteristics, such as the Republican Party from the American Civil War in 1860 through 1932, or the Democratic Party during and after the Great Depression, especially in the South. The state of Georgia, for example was ruled by the Democratic Party for over 130 straight years, from 1872 to 2003.

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Current dominant-party systems

The following countries are claimed by many to be dominant-party systems:

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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, 1979-1992
  • 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

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

Mozambique

Namibia

Nigeria

Rwanda

Seychelles

South Africa

Sudan

Tanzania

Togo

Tunisia

Zambia

Zimbabwe

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Americas

El Salvador

Paraguay

United States

Venezuela

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Asia

Cambodia (KPK)

East Timor

Japan

Kazakhstan (OTAN)

Malaysia

Samoa (HRPP)

Singapore

Syria (Ba'ath)

Tajikistan (PDPT)

Uzbekistan (FID)

Yemen (GPC)

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Europe

Andorra (PLA)

Armenia (RPA)

Azerbaijan (YAP)

Republic of Ireland

Republic of Georgia (NM-D)

Russia

Sweden

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See also

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