3.7  About Political Systems

If you had the opportunity to organize a society, how would you do it? What sort of government would you create?


Schools, clubs, families, and other social organizations must each have some way of making decisions—just like a larger society (a country).

Think for a moment about the school you attend or you once attended. Could a school operate if who has the final say about how things run was unclear? Or would a family unit function well if family members were unclear about how choices are made?


Political systems are the way societies organize themselves to make, carry out, and interpret laws and rules. How does society go about making decisions on issues?

As a part of society, the political system is an organized model for making, carrying out, and interpreting laws and rules.

This diagram is a political model that summarizes how societies organize their political systems for making, carrying out, and interpreting laws and rules. In this model of a political system, you will see the essential features of any political system:



The above model demonstrates how a society organizes its political system, but the direction the political system takes will be based on one of the following ideologies or perhaps a combination of both:

  • Individualism: Rules are made by government to maintain law and order in society, but individual rights and freedoms are guaranteed-which benefits the common good. Self-interest comes before collective interest.

  • Collectivism: Individual rights and freedoms are limited by the government to control people in society for the common good. Collective interest comes before self-interest

A Political System

  • Is an organized way to make decisions about the issues that face a society
  • Includes the political leaders and decision makers
  • Includes a process for making political decisions
  • Includes political institutions
  • Includes a political culture
  • Includes the citizens of the society

The Relationship between Political and Economic Systems

Although political and economic systems seem to be independent from one another, they are not. Depending on a society's individualistic and/or collectivist values, some degree of overlap exists between the two systems.

Decisions...

  • Decisions that deal with the conduct of society are made by the political system.

  • Decisions about issues that are related to how limited resources should be distributed are made by the economic system.

  • Decisions that affect both economics and politics are made jointly by both systems.



Watch this presentation that illustrates a conversation between two people about The Relationship between Political and Economic Systems

  • How much overlap between political and economic systems occurs in Canada?