FEATURES, ATTRIBUTES AND CRITERIA OF DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL REGIMES (COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS)

Abstract

In the context of the continual and sustainable development of social order and civil society, the comprehension of the features, signs, and criteria of a democratic political regime is transforming and necessitates reconsideration, rendering this work pertinent. The objective of this article is to delineate the substance of the array of features and characteristics inherent to a democratic political regime, contrasting them with those of an authoritarian and totalitarian political regime. Additionally, it aims to elucidate the criterion by which distinctions between various types of political regimes can be made. The present publication employs analytical, synthetic, scientific generalization, theoretical comparison, and formal logical methods. The article explicates the contentious nature of the concept of "political regime" and presents diverse scientific approaches to its comprehension. It posits that the criterion for categorizing political regimes into democratic, authoritarian, and totalitarian forms hinges on "the peculiarities of interaction between civil society and the State, the degree of permeation of private life of citizens, and various spheres of the social reality of State power." The author provides a comparative analysis not only of democratic political regimes but also of authoritarian and totalitarian ones. The author conducts a detailed examination of the content associated with political science categories such as "features," "signs," and "criteria" of a political regime. Furthermore, the author introduces a personalized understanding of these concepts and offers insights into the interrelations among the terms under consideration. The article delineates an approach wherein the fundamental classification of political regimes is proposed to be nuanced. According to the author, political regimes ought to be categorized into democratic and non-democratic, with the latter further subcategorized into authoritarian and totalitarian. The author delineates the conventional features of a democratic political regime from the perspective of political science and expounds upon additional features which, in the author's estimation, might signify the presence of a democratic political regime in a given state. The assertion is made that a direct correlation between the form of government and the political regime in the state does not exist, and illustrative examples supporting this perspective are provided.