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A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of state in which one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties are either outlawed or allowed to take only a limited and controlled participation in elections. Sometimes the term de facto one-party state is used to describe a dominant-party system that, unlike the one-party state, allows (at least nominally) democratic multiparty elections, but the existing practices or balance of political power effectively prevent the opposition from winning the elections.

Concept

One-party states explain themselves through various methods. Most often, proponents of a one-party state argue that the existence of separate parties runs counter to national unity. Others argue that the one party is the vanguard of the people, and therefore its right to rule cannot be legitimately questioned. The Soviet government argued that multiple parties represented the class struggle, which was absent in Soviet society, and so the Soviet Union only had one party, namely the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Some one-party states only outlaw opposition parties, while allowing allied parties to exist as part of a permanent coalition such as a popular front. However, these parties are largely or completely subservient to the ruling party and must accept the ruling party's monopoly of power as a condition of their existence. Examples of this are the People's Republic of China under the United Front, the National Front in former East Germany and the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland in North Korea. Others may allow non-party members to run for legislative seats, as was the case with Taiwan's Tangwai movement in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the elections in the former Soviet Union.

Within their own countries, dominant parties ruling over one-party states are often referred to simply as the Party. For example, in reference to the Soviet Union, the Party meant the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; in reference to the pre-1991 Republic of Zambia, it referred to the United National Independence Party.

Most one-party states have been ruled either by parties following the ideology of Marxism–Leninism and international solidarity (such as the Soviet Union for most of its existence), or by parties following some type of nationalist or fascist ideology (such as Italy under Benito Mussolini), or by parties that came to power in the wake of independence from colonial rule. One-party systems often arise from decolonization because one party has had an overwhelmingly dominant role in liberation or in independence struggles.

One-party states are usually considered to be authoritarian, to the extent that they are politically totalitarian. On the other hand, not all authoritarian or totalitarian states operate based on the one-party rule. But very few, especially absolute monarchies and certain military dictatorships, have no need for a ruling party, and they make all political parties illegal.

The term "communist state" is often used in the West to apply to states in which the ruling party subscribes to a form of Marxism–Leninism. However, such states do not use that term themselves, seeing communism as a phase to develop after the full maturation of socialism, and instead often use the titles of "people's republic", "socialist republic", or "democratic republic". One peculiar example is Cuba. While the role of the Communist Party is enshrined in the constitution, no party is permitted to campaign or run candidates for election, including the Communists. Candidates are elected on an individual referendum basis without formal party involvement, though elected assemblies predominantly consist of members of the Communist Party alongside non-affiliated candidates.^[1]

Examples

Countries by their form of government:

  Presidential republics with a full presidential system

  Presidential republics with a semi-presidential system

  Parliamentary republics with an executive president chosen by the parliament

  Parliamentary republics with a ceremonial president where the prime minister is the executive

  Constitutional monarchies where executive power is vested in a prime minister

  Constitutional monarchies which have a separate head of government but where royalty hold political power

  Absolute monarchies

  Military dictatorships

  One-party states

  Countries that do not fit in any of the above listed systems (other systems or in transition)

  No government

Current one-party states

As of 2018^[update] the following countries are legally constituted as one-party states:

Country	Head of party	Party	Head of popular front	Popular Front	Date of establishment	Duration
Democratic People's Republic of Korea	Kim Jong-un, Chairman	Workers' Party of Korea		Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland	October 10, 1945	7004267320000000000♠73 years, 69 days
Lao People's Democratic Republic	Bounnhang Vorachith, General Secretary	Lao People's Revolutionary Party	Xaysomphone Phomvihane, President of the Standing Committee	Lao Front for National Construction	December 2, 1975	7004157220000000000♠43 years, 16 days
People's Republic of China	Xi Jinping, General Secretary	Communist Party of China	Wang Yang, Chairman of National CPPCC You Quan, Head of the Department	United Front	October 1, 1949	7004252800000000000♠69 years, 78 days
Republic of Cuba	Raúl Castro, First Secretary	Communist Party of Cuba			January 1, 1959	7004219010000000000♠59 years, 351 days
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	Brahim Ghali, Secretary General	Polisario Front			February 27, 1976	7004156350000000000♠42 years, 294 days
Socialist Republic of Vietnam	Nguyễn Phú Trọng, General Secretary	Communist Party of Vietnam	Trần Thanh Mẫn, Chairman	Vietnamese Fatherland Front	April 30, 1975	7004159380000000000♠43 years, 232 days
State of Eritrea	Isaias Afwerki, Chairperson	People's Front for Democracy and Justice			February 10, 1994	7003907700000000000♠24 years, 311 days

Former one-party states

Country	Party	Date of establishment	Date of dissolution
Hawaii	Reform Party of Hawaii	1894	1898

Former big tent one-party states

Country	Party	Date of establishment	Date of dissolution
Turkey	Republican People's Party	1923 1925 1930	1924 1930 1945
Cameroon	Cameroon People's Democratic Movement	1975	1990

Former left-wing one-party states

Country	Party	Front	Date of establishment	Date of dissolution
Algeria	National Liberation Front		1962	1989
Angola	People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola		1975	1991
Bangladesh	Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League		1974	1975
Burma	Burma Socialist Programme Party		1962	1988
Cape Verde	African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde		1975	1980
	African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde		1980	1990
Central African Republic	Movement for the Social Evolution of Black Africa		1962	1980
Republic of China (Nationalist government) Xinjiang	People's Anti-Imperialist Association		1925 1935	1948 1942
Djibouti	People's Rally for Progress		1977	1992
Egypt	Arab Socialist Union		1962	1976
Eritrea	Eritrean People's Liberation Front		1993	1994
Ethiopia Eritrea	Eritrean People's Liberation Front		1991	1993
Ghana	Convention People's Party		1964	1966
Guinea	Democratic Party of Guinea – African Democratic Rally		1958	1984
Guinea-Bissau	African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde		1974	1991
Indonesia	Indonesian National Party		1945	1945
Iraq	Iraqi Arab Socialist Union		1964	1968
Iraq	Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party	National Progressive Front	1968	2003
Libya	Libyan Arab Socialist Union		1971	1977
Democratic Republic of Madagascar	National Front for the Defense of the Revolution		1976	1989
Mali	Democratic Union of the Malian People		1976	05/04/1991[2]
Mauritania	Mauritanian People's Party		1961	1978
São Tomé and Príncipe	Movement for the Liberation of São Tomé and Príncipe/Social Democratic Party		1975	1990
Senegal	Socialist Party of Senegal		1966	1974
Seychelles	Seychelles People's Progressive Front		1977	1991
Sierra Leone	All People's Congress		1978	1991
Democratic Republic of the Sudan	Sudanese Socialist Union		1971	1985
Syria	Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party	National Progressive Front	1963	2011
Tanzania	Chama Cha Mapinduzi		1977	1992
Tanganyika	Tanganyika African National Union		1961	1977
Tunisia	Neo Destour		1963	1964
	Socialist Destourian Party		1964	1981
Uganda	Uganda People's Congress		1969	1971
United Arab Republic	National Union		1958	1961
Zambia	United National Independence Party		1972	1990
Zanzibar	Afro-Shirazi Party		1964	1977

Former Marxist–Leninist one-party countries

Country	Party	Popular Front	Date of establishment	Date of dissolution
Afghanistan	People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan	National Fatherland Front	24/12/1980	27/06/1990
Democratic Government of Albania	Party of Labour of Albania	National Liberation Movement	20/10/1944	05/08/1945
		Democratic Front	05/08/1945	11/01/1946
People's Republic of Albania People's Socialist Republic of Albania	Party of Labour of Albania	Democratic Front	11/01/1946	11/12/1990
People's Republic of Angola	People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola		11/11/1975	10/12/1977
	People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party		10/12/1977	31/05/1991
Armenia	Communist Party of Armenia		1920	1922
Azerbaijan	Communist Party of Azerbaijan		1920	1922
Benin	People's Revolutionary Party of Benin		1975	1990
Bulgaria	Bulgarian Communist Party	Fatherland Front	1946	1990
Byelorussia	Communist Party of Byelorussia		1920	1922
Chinese Soviet Republic	Communist Party of China		1930	1937
Czechoslovakia	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia	National Front	1948	1989
Democratic People's Republic of Korea	Workers' Party of Korea	Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland	30/06/1949	19/02/1992
East Germany	Socialist Unity Party of Germany	Democratic Bloc	1949	1950
		National Front of Democratic Germany	1950	1973
		National Front of the German Democratic Republic	1973	1989
Estonia	Russian Communist Party (Central Committee of the Estonian Sections)		1918	1919
Estonia	Communist Party of Estonia		1940	1940
Ethiopia	Workers' Party of Ethiopia		1984	1987
Ethiopia	Workers' Party of Ethiopia		1987	1991
Finland	Communist Party of Finland		1939	1940
Georgia	Communist Party of Georgia		1921	1922
Grenada	New Jewel Movement		1979	1983
Guangzhou	Communist Party of China		1927	1927
Hunan	Communist Party of China		1927	1927
Hungary	Hungarian Working People's Party		1949	1956
	Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party		1956	1989
Jinggang	Communist Party of China		1927	1928
Kampuchea	Communist Party of Kampuchea		1975	1982
Kampuchea	Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Party		1979	1991
Latvia	Communist Party of Latvia		1918	1920
Latvia	Communist Party of Latvia		1940	1940
Mongolia	Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party		1921	1990
Mozambique	FRELIMO		1975	1990
North Vietnam	Workers' Party of North Vietnam	League for the Independence of Vietnam	1945	1946
		Vietnamese National Popular Front	1951	1955
		Vietnamese Fatherland Front	1955	1976
Lithuania	Communist Party of Lithuania		1940	1940
Lithuania–Byelorussia	Communist Party of Lithuania and Belorussia		1919	1919
People's Republic of the Congo	Congolese Party of Labour		1969	1990
Persia	Communist Party of Persia		1920	1921
Poland	Polish United Workers' Party	Front of National Unity	1947	1983
		Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth	1983	1989
Romania	Romanian Communist Party	People's Democratic Front	1948	1968
		Front of Socialist Unity	1968	1980
		Front of Socialist Unity and Democracy	1980	1989
Russia Soviet Russian Republic Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic	Russian Social Democratic Labour Party		19/01/1918	08/03/1918[3]
	Russian Communist Party		08/03/1918[3]	30/12/1922
Somalia	Somali Revolutionary Socialist Party		1976	1991
South Yemen	Yemeni Socialist Party		1978	1990
Southwest Jiangxi	Communist Party of China		1930	1931
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics	Russian Communist Party		30/12/1922	31/12/1925[3]
	All-Union Communist Party		31/12/1925[3]	13/10/1952[3]
	Communist Party of the Soviet Union		13/10/1952[3]	09/10/1990[4]
Transcaucasia	Communist Part of Armenia		1922	1922
	Communist Party of Azerbaijan		1922	1922
	Communist Party of Georgia		1922	1922
Tuvan	Tuvan People's Revolutionary Party		1921	1944
Ukraine	Communist Party of Ukraine		1919	1922
Yan'an	Communist Party of China		1937	1949
Yemen	Yemeni Socialist Party		1994	1994
Yugoslavia	League of Communists of Yugoslavia	Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia	1945	1990

Former right-wing one-party states

Country	Party	Date of establishment	Date of dissolution
Republic of China	Kuomintang	1925	1996
Gabon	Gabonese Democratic Party	1968	1990
Iran	Islamic Republican Party	1981	1987
Malawi	Malawi Congress Party	1964	1993
Niger	National Movement for the Development of Society	1989	1991
Rwanda	National Republican Movement for Democracy and Development	1978	1991

Former fascist or nationalist one-party states

Country	Party	National front	Date of establishment	Date of dissolution
Republic of Afghanistan	National Revolutionary Party		24/02/1977[5][6]	28/04/1978
Albanian Kingdom	Albanian Fascist Party		02/06/1939	27/07/1943
	Guard of Greater Albania		27/07/1943	08/09/1943
Albanian Kingdom	National Front		14/09/1943	29/11/1944
Federal State of Austria	Fatherland Front		01/05/1934	13/03/1938
Republic of Burundi	Union for National Progress		11/07/1974	13/03/1992
Republic of Cameroon	Cameroonian National Union		01/09/1966[7]	24/03/1985
Central African Republic	Central African Democratic Union		01/03/1980	02/09/1981
	Central African Democratic Rally		06/02/1987	22/04/1991[8]
Republic of Chad	Chadian Progressive Party		16/04/1962	06/04/1973
	National Movement for the Cultural and Social Revolution		06/04/1973	13/04/1975
	National Union for Independence and Revolution		1984	1990
Comoros	Comorian Union for Progress		1982	1990
Independent State of Croatia	Ustaša – Croatian Revolutionary Movement		10/04/1941	08/05/1945
Dahomey	Dahomeyan Unity Party		1961	1963
	Dahomeyan Democratic Party		1963	1965
Dominican Republic	Dominican Party		1931	1961
Egypt	National Democratic Party		1956	1958
			1961	1962
El Salvador	National Pro Patria Party		1931	1944
Equatorial Guinea	United National Workers Party		1970	1979
	Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea		1987	1991
Republic of Estonia	Patriotic League	National Front for the Implementation of the Constitution	09/03/1935	21/07/1940
German Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Greater German Reich Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia	National Socialist German Workers' Party National Partnership		14/07/1933 21/03/1939	23/05/1945 09/05/1945
Guatemala	Progressive Liberal Party		1931	1944
Haiti	National Unity Party		1957	1985
Hungary Government of National Unity	Arrow Cross Party		16/10/1944	07/05/1945
India	Azad Hind Dal		21/10/1943	18/08/1945
Imperial State of Iran	Rastakhiz Party		1975	1978
Kingdom of Italy Cyrenaica East Africa Eritrea Fezzan Islands of the Aegean Libya Somaliland Tientsin Tripolitania	National Fascist Party Muslim Association of the Lictor		17/05/1928[9] 09/01/1939	27/07/1943 27/07/1943
Italian Social Republic Islands of the Aegean Tientsin	Republican Fascist Party		13/09/1943	28/04/1945
Ivory Coast	Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire – African Democratic Rally		1960	1990
Kenya	Kenya African National Union		1982	1991
Lithuania	Lithuanian Nationalist Union		1927	1940
Manchukuo	Concordia Association		01/04/1932[10]	01/05/1934[10]
Empire of Manchuria	Concordia Association		01/05/1934[10]	25/07/1934[10]
	Manchurian Empire Concordia Association		25/07/1934[10]	15/08/1945[10]
Reich Commissariat for the Occupied Dutch Territories	National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands		14/12/1941	06/05/1945
Niger	Nigerien Progressive Party – African Democratic Rally		1960	1974
North Yemen	General People's Congress		1982	1988
Norway National Government	National Gathering		01/02/1942	09/05/1945
Ottoman Empire	Committee of Union and Progress		1913	1918
Paraguay	Colorado Party		1947	1962
Philippine Executive Commission	Association for Service to the New Philippines		08/12/1942	14/10/1943
Republic of the Philippines	Association for Service to the New Philippines		14/10/1943	17/08/1945
Portugal Angola Congo Guinea India Macau Mozambique São João Baptista de Ajudá São Tomé and Príncipe Timor	National Union		30/07/1930[11]	08/10/1945[11]
			31/01/1948[12]	25/04/1974
Romania National Legionary State	National Renaissance Front		16/12/1938	21/06/1940
	Party of the Nation		21/06/1940	06/09/1940
	Iron Guard		14/09/1940	23/01/1941
Rwanda	Parmehutu		1965	1973
San Marino	Sammarinese Fascist Party		1926	1943
	Republican Fascist Party of San Marino		1943	1944
Slovak Republic	Hlinka's Slovak People's Party – Party of Slovak National Unity		14/03/1939	08/05/1945
Kingdom of Spain Guinea Morocco Sahara Sidi Ifni	Spanish Patriotic Union		14/04/1924	30/01/1930
Spanish State Guinea Ifni Morocco Sahara Sidi Ifni West Africa	FET y de las JONS		19/04/1937	06/07/1976[13]
Sudan	National Congress Party		1989	2005
Syrian Republic	Arab Liberation Movement		1953	1954
Togo	Party of Togolese Unity		1962	1963
	Rally of the Togolese People		1969	1991
Turkmenistan	Democratic Party of Turkmenistan		1992	2008
Upper Volta	Voltaic Democratic Union-African Democratic Rally		1960	1966
Yugoslavia	Yugoslav National Party		1929	1931
Zaire	Popular Movement of the Revolution		1970	1990

See also

• Ban on factions in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union


• Political organisation


• Dominant-party system


• Political factionalism


• Outline of democracy


• Multi-party system


• Two-party system


• List of political party songs

Notes

References

External links

• Map of One Party States, 1945-95


• 
  One-party states in Africa BBC


• List of One-Party Regimes