Particracy
What is Particracy?
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"A de facto form of government where one or more political parties dominate the political process, rather than citizens and/or individual politicians." (Wiki)
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Particracy in the Real World
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According to Wikipedia particracy can be defined as a form of government in which one or more political parties dominate the political process. A few examples of this have been shown throughout history. A very good example of particracy in history would be in regards to the Italian government during 1945, the government and everything else was run by those who strongly believed in patronage. This meant that patronage and clientelism took over every part of the political, cultural, and social life. Which meant that Southern Italy predominately took over power and control all over Italy. Another example of this would be The Republic of Ireland, it could be considered a particracy. Since the beginning of the state only two parties have been in control. Finna Fial and Fine Gael, they have either been in head positions or have been in correlation with those who are. From March 9, 1932 till the election in 2011, Finna Fial has been in the position of power for 61 of the 79 years. Which means the country would be ruled by the same two parties even if the people of Ireland did not want them in power. The Untied States could also be considered a particracy, it is a broad comparison but it could be said for the fact that only Republican and Democratic parties have been in power since before the civil war.
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Clark, Martin, and John Larner. “Italy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 4 Apr. 2018, www.britannica.com/place/Italy/The-Cold-War-political-order#ref27773.
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"Particracy." The Free Dictionary , encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/particracybib.
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“Particracy.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Mar. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particracy.
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Irish Flag
Italian Flag
Particracy in Fiction
When looking for particracy in fiction it may be a little bit more difficult for the fact that some times one may not even know that it is going on. With that being said I do feel like there are some very good examples hiding in plain sight. For instance, House of Cards is a very good example of a leader who is in power to solely exact revenge on those who have done him wrong. "Majority House Whip Francis Underwood takes you on a long journey as he exacts his vengeance on those he feels wronged him - that is, his own cabinet members including the President of the United States himself." This may be an example of how those in power do not act in a manner that is positive towards helping the citizens but using his or her own power to forward their own agenda. Another example may be the movie The Lion, The Witch, and The wardrobe. This movie shows how a leader "the witch" is in complete control and does as she wishes with Narnia. Instead of allowing the people to live freely and as they wanted she trapped them in a world of fear. She used her own motivation to determine how she ruled instead of listening to the people of Narnia.
“House of Cards (TV Series 2013– ).” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt1856010/.
Annotated Bibliography
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Clark, Martin, and John Larner. “Italy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 4 Apr. 2018, www.britannica.com/place/Italy/The-Cold-War-political-order#ref27773.
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Encyclopedia Britannican is a neutral source and has no bias towards the topic in which it is discussing. This description of Italy it discusses how the Italian national party was in complete control of those in the country and how the politicians used patronage to essentially bribe others and to do whatever they could to ensure power over all of those in Italy.
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"Define Particracy." The Free Dictionary , encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/particracybib.
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Free dictionary is a website in which you can look up words and their meaning, I do not believe that this website has any bias and therefore I believe it is a reliable source of information. Free dictionary goes on to describe that particracy is a form of government in which the heads of a poltical state care more about the political process then the individuals in which they are in charge of.
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“Mauro Calise Personal Web Site.” Mauro Calise Personal Web Site, www.maurocalise.it/.
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Mauro Calise is an Italian professor of political science at the University of Naples. The reason I chose this website is because his job is to study the different forms of government that has been used in Italy to rule. This website essentially breaks down everything you need to know about particracy in Italy. It also allows access to books that Mr. Calise has written. I do not believe he is biased on this topic, and I do believe he would be a reliable source of information regrading particracy
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“Particracy.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Mar. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particracy.
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Wikipedia defines particracy as a de facto form of government where one or more political parties dominate the political process, rather than citizens and/or individual politicians.This definition and use of examples is very similar to those found on other websites. I do not believe wikipedia is slanted in any way and would be considered a reliable source on this topic.