1. After the war, the complete defeat of the fascists and Nazis began. Trials were held, fascist parties and movements were dissolved and banned everywhere, and participants were arrested. Propaganda of Nazism and racism was prohibited. Therefore, the main centers of the party-political current became the communist parties, the Comintern, and the liberal parties, under the auspices of the USA and England. This was largely determined by the system of “divided world” - all of Eastern Europe, the Baltic states, the USSR, China, North Korea, then Vietnam, part of the third world countries - became the camp of socialism, and Western and Central Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan, South Korea and some third world countries have become a camp of capitalism.2. In many countries, thanks to the victory of the USSR in World War II, the popularity of communism and communist parties began to grow wildly. In many countries, in the formed coalition governments, communist social parties came to power, not without the help of the USSR, but nevertheless, the arrival of these parties was carried out through fair elections - such countries were called the Countries of People's Democracy (Korea, for example - the Democratic People's Republic of Korea ). The communist movement became the second most powerful and widespread in the world, its echo even reached the United States, where a witch hunt soon began. The communist movement was controlled for the most part by Moscow.3. In the 1920-30s, the USSR was just gaining strength, but it was in a certain exile. Europe was ruled by the USA, England, France and Germany. Fascism, Nazism and revanchist sentiments developed rapidly. After the war - the final and complete defeat of fascism and Nazism, the destruction of Germany as a single state, in fact - the world was ruled by the USSR and the USA, which had become a superpower. Regarding state groups, if I understand correctly, they mean types. According to the modern bourgeois classification - totalitarian and democratic, as well as authoritarian. The most common in the world at the end of the twentieth century were democratic countries of the Western model (European as well) and “totalitarian” states like the USSR; there were also softer communist regimes in the countries of People's Democracy. After the 80-90s, the United States and NATO won the Cold War, and the bloc of socialist countries collapsed, the USSR collapsed, Russia paid a large “tribute” to the United States. The most common countries are Western democracies. The countries of people's democracy either reorganized into countries like Western democracy, or turned into completely autarkic and super-totalitarian countries, such as the DPRK, or transformed into a more flexible model of totalitarianism - like the PRC (China), where the power of the Communist Party and the leading role of the state in the economy, ideology were preserved and propaganda, a course towards the worldwide victory of the communist system (in particular, China), or were destroyed - Yugoslavia. Over time, the country of the Socialist Jamahiriya, Libya, was destroyed.
ABSTRACT
Political ideas of Western European social democracy
Introduction
1. Ideological origins and emergence of social democracy in Western Europe
2. Western European social democracy in the XX-XXI centuries
Conclusion
Bibliography
Introduction
Social democracy played a big role in the formation of both the modern socio-political system and the ideological and political situation in the modern world in general, and in Western Europe in particular. Well-known researchers and political figures who did not belong to social democracy itself called the 20th century the social democratic century, not without reason. Now let’s try to find out what social democracy is, what its political ideas are, and what place it occupies in the general spectrum of socio-political trends in the industrialized countries of Western Europe.
Social democracy, as a rule, is understood as the theory and practice of all parties included in the socialist international, and it includes those social and political forces that make up these parties. Social democracy can be defined both as a socio-political movement and as an ideological and political movement. Moreover, within this movement there are various directions: socio-philosophical, ideological and political.
For example, for the socialist parties of France, Italy, Spain, Greece and Portugal, the concept of “social democracy” coincides with the activities of the party itself. In relation to them, the concepts of “socialism”, “Latin socialism” or “Mediterranean socialism” are used. They differ from the social democratic parties of Scandinavia, Great Britain, Germany, and Austria by some bias to the right. Apparently, this happened under the burden of the experience of a long stay in power. There are “Scandinavian” or “Swedish” models, “integral socialism”, based on Austro-Marxism. There are “Fabian socialism”, “guild socialism”, etc. The German, French, and Spanish versions of social democracy also have specifics. It should also be noted that social democracy has a rich historical tradition.
1. Ideological origins and emergence of social democracy in Western Europe
Historically, social democracy arose and acquired political weight as a representative and defender of the interests of the industrial group of hired workers, which emerged in the process of rapid industrial growth in a number of Western European countries in the middle and second half of the 19th century. Industrial workers and people from this environment formed the backbone of the party activists, formed the bulk of the membership, and then, as the electoral law was democratized, the electorate. One of the main pillars of the Social Democratic parties at that time was the trade unions. Moreover, some of the parties directly grew out of the trade union movement. The ideological origins of social democracy date back to the times of the Great french revolution 1789 and the ideas of utopian socialists K.A. Saint-Simon, C. Fourier, R. Owen.
But there is no doubt that it received impetus from Marxist theory and under its influence. At the same time, the main incentive for the establishment and institutionalization of social democracy was the formation and growth in late XIX- early 20th century the role and influence of the labor movement in Western European countries with developed capitalism. Initially, almost all social democratic parties in Western Europe arose as extra-parliamentary parties designed to defend the interests of the working class in the political sphere. This is evidenced by the fact that in a number of countries in Western Europe (for example, in the UK and Scandinavian countries) trade unions are still collective members of these parties.
Social democracy initially shared the most important guidelines of Marxism for the elimination of capitalism and a radical reorganization of society on the basis of the dictatorship of the proletariat, the socialization of the means of production, universal equality, etc. Some members of these parties supported the Marxist idea of a revolutionary path to the elimination of capitalism and the transition to socialism. But in real life, it turned out that social democracy as a whole recognized the existing socio-political institutions and generally accepted rules of the political game. Parties with a social democratic orientation became institutionalized and became parliamentary parties. From this point of view, the entire subsequent history of social democracy can also be viewed as a history of a gradual departure from Marxism.
Real practice forced the leaders of Social Democracy to become convinced of the futility of a revolutionary transition from the old social system to a new one, and of the need to transform and improve it.
The concept of “democratic socialism” was apparently first used in 1888 by B. Shaw to designate social democratic reformism. Later it was used by E. Bernstein, but R. Hilferding contributed to its final consolidation. The original concept of democratic socialism was based on the concept developed in the mid-19th century. L. von Stein's program for the political, economic and cultural integration of the labor movement into the existing system. From the very beginning, representatives of this tradition were characterized by the recognition of the rule of law as a positive factor in the gradual reform and transformation of capitalist society.
The development of the fundamental principles of democratic socialism, oriented towards the gradual reform of society, was proposed by E. Bernstein. In the sense of recognizing the idea of integrating the working class into the existing system and its gradual transformation in an evolutionary way, most modern social democrats are the heirs of E. Bernstein. His main merit was the rejection of those destructive principles of Marxism, the implementation of which in Russia and a number of other countries led to the establishment of totalitarian regimes. We are talking, first of all, about plans to destroy the old world in the form of capitalism to the foundations, establish the dictatorship of the proletariat, an irreconcilable class struggle, social revolution as the only possible way overthrow of the old order, etc. Rejecting the idea of the dictatorship of the proletariat, E. Bernstein substantiated the need for the transition of social democracy “to the basis of parliamentary activity, numerical popular representation and popular legislation, which contradict the idea of dictatorship.” Social democracy refuses violent, convulsive forms of transition to a more perfect social structure.
This determines the moderation of demands and gradual transformation. E. Bernstein persistently emphasized that “democracy is a means and an end at the same time. It is a means of conquering socialism and a form of implementing socialism.” As Bernstein believed, in political life only democracy is a form of existence of society suitable for the implementation of socialist principles. In his opinion, the realization of full political equality is a guarantee of the implementation of basic liberal principles. And in this he saw the essence of socialism. In this socialist interpretation of liberal principles, Bernstein identified three main ideas: freedom, equality, and solidarity.
Moreover, Bernstein put worker solidarity in the first place, believing that without it, freedom and equality under capitalism for the majority of workers will remain only good wishes. Here the question arose before social democracy: how to ensure that a socialist society becomes a society of the greatest economic efficiency and greatest freedom, without at the same time renouncing the equality of all members of society? Bernstein saw the main task of social democracy as resolving this contradiction. The entire subsequent history of social democracy, in essence, is the history of the search for ways to resolve it. It is obvious that priority in developing the theory of democratic socialism belongs to E. Bernstein and, through him, to German social democracy. An important contribution was made by representatives of Fabian and Guild socialism, possibilism and other reformist movements in French socialism. Austro-Marxism should also be mentioned, especially its ideological leaders O. Bauer, M. Adler, K. Renner, who actively opposed Bolshevism and Leninism.
In Western Europe there were also national social democratic movements that from the very beginning developed on purely reformist principles and experienced only a slight influence of Marxism. These include, in particular, English Laborism and Scandinavian Social Democracy. Rejecting the revolutionary path of replacing capitalism with socialism, they at the same time declared the goal of building a just society. At the same time, they proceeded from the thesis that, having eliminated the exploitation of man by man, it was necessary to leave the basic liberal democratic institutions and freedoms intact. It is significant that in the program documents of the British Labor Party (LPP) socialism as a socio-political system is not designated at all. Swedish Social Democrats back in the 20s. of our century formulated the concepts of so-called “functional socialism” and “industrial democracy”, which did not provide for the elimination or nationalization of private property.
2. Western European social democracy in XX - XXI centuries
After the Second World War, a new stage began in the development of democratic socialism in Western Europe. Immediately after the war, the leaders of most social democratic parties in Western Europe, known for their reformist orientations, pragmatism and opportunism, invariably expressed their commitment to Marxism.
But, nevertheless, after the Second World War, in the light of the experience of fascism and the Bolshevik dictatorship in the USSR, Western European social democracy made a decisive break with Marxism and recognized the enduring value of the rule of law, democratic pluralism, and democratic socialism itself. In 1951 The Socialist International adopted its program of principles - the Frankfurt Declaration. It formulated the “core values of democratic socialism.” It also contained a provision on the possibility of a pluralistic justification by the Social Democrats of the socialist goal. The final point on this issue was first made in the Vienna Program of the Socialist Party of Austria (1958) and the Godesberg Program of the SPD (1959), which decisively rejected the fundamental postulates of the dictatorship of the proletariat, class struggle, the destruction of private property and the socialization of the means of production, etc. . Subsequently, the rest of the national detachments of Social Democracy followed the same path - some earlier, others later (some in the 80s).
At the same time, the leaders of Social Democracy more and more openly emphasized the diversity of their ideological sources, the pluralism of their values, attitudes, and orientations.
From this point of view, the arguments of P. Glotz in materials dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of K. Marx are of interest: “What will remain of his [Marx’s] work for German Social Democracy?” or “How does the history of this party develop after the Second World War - against Marx?” In answer to these questions, he argued that the SPD after 1945 follows the path leading from W. Eichler, L. Nelson, G. de Vries and K. Marx to I. Kant. As a result, the place of historical-materialist and historical-theological justification is taken by the ethical justification of democratic socialism. At the same time, the leaders of German Social Democracy recognize the critical rationalism of K. Popper as the philosophical basis of their political platform.
The picture is similar in other social democratic parties. Thus, in the formation of the ideological and political positions of English Laborism, according to a number of researchers, an important role was played by ideas gleaned from such political scientists as Charles, Dickens, J. Ruskin, Lloyd George, C. Hardy and others. Even such a leftist in his views The leader of the Labor Party, like T. Benn, recognizing Marxism as one of the sources of Laborism, along with it, named Christian socialism, Fabianism, the teachings of Owen, trade unionism and even radical liberalism in the same capacity.
What is the essence of modern social democracy in general and democratic socialism in particular? Perhaps this essence is most succinctly and succinctly expressed in the Godesberg Program of the SPD in 1959, in which freedom, justice and solidarity were proclaimed as the “main goals of socialist aspirations”. These three points in various modifications with the addition of the values of “equality”, “democracy”, etc. in one form or another are present in the programs of most social democratic parties in Western Europe.
Freedom occupies a central place in the construction of democratic socialism. In the interpretation of the Godesberg program, freedom means the self-determination of each person. Freedom that ignores equal rights for all people degenerates into arbitrariness. Equality gives meaning to freedom, which is valid for all people. The equal rights of an individual to self-determination, to recognition of his dignity and interests constitute the content of justice. As for justice, which does not respect these rights, it inevitably turns into leveling, which crushes real justice. In other words, freedom and equality condition each other. The expression of this conditionality is justice. Justice is nothing more than equal freedom for everyone.
According to adherents of democratic socialism, freedom for self-expression is achievable only if it is understood not only as individual, but also as social freedom. The freedom of an individual can only be realized in a free society and, conversely, there cannot be a free society without the freedom of an individual. As M. Shlyai and I. Wagner wrote, “freedom does not provide the individual with unlimited autonomy, but it does not require unconditional submission to the commandments of society. Rather, it is located in a field of tension between the freedom of the individual and his social responsibility."
It should be noted that, having based its political platforms on the idea of positive freedom, in the implementation of which the state was assigned a key role, Western European social democracy achieved impressive success in the post-war decades. Having found themselves at the helm of government in a number of countries or having become a serious parliamentary force, social democratic parties and the trade unions supporting them became the initiators of many reforms (nationalization of a number of sectors of the economy, unprecedented expansion of state social programs, reduction of working hours, etc.) that made up that the foundation that ensured the rapid economic development of industrial countries. They also have great merit in the creation and institutionalization of the welfare state, without which the socio-political system of the modern industrialized world is unthinkable.
The processes of European integration gave impetus to the integration of European social democracy. In 1974, the Union of Social Democratic Parties of the European Community was formed. The reason for this unification was direct elections to the European Parliament. In this parliament, the Social Democratic parties united into an independent faction, which included parliamentarians - Social Democrats from all member countries of the EEC. European social democracy played an important role in achieving a detente between East and West, in the development of the Helsinki process, and other important processes that contributed to the improvement of the international climate in recent decades. An invaluable role in all these aspects was played by such outstanding figures of social democracy of the 20th century as W. Brandt, W. Palme, B. Kreisky, F. Mitterrand and others.
How great the positive role of social democracy is in determining the priorities of internal political development at the country level can be clearly illustrated by the example of Sweden. In this regard, we should talk, first of all, about the so-called “Scandinavian model” or “Swedish model” of democratic socialism. This model refers to the form of the welfare state that developed in Denmark, Norway and Sweden in the post-war decades. Its emergence, as a rule, is associated with the coming to power of the first social democratic governments: in Denmark - in 1929, in Sweden and Norway - in 1932. Since the transformation of capitalism was implemented in its most complete form in Sweden, the “Scandinavian model "better known as the "Swedish model".
Favorable for the formation and approval of the “Swedish model” was that Sweden did not participate in two world wars and the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Sweden (SDLP) from the early 30s to the mid-70s. remained in power forever. These circumstances made it possible to more or less consistently implement far-reaching socio-economic reforms. By the mid-70s. Swedish Social Democrats have achieved significant success in implementing social programs of the welfare state. In particular, the share of national income spent on social purposes has increased from about 10% in the early 50s. up to 13% in the 70s. The level of workers' wages and, accordingly, their standard of living has risen. Impressive progress has been made in the areas of social welfare, health, education, vocational training, housing, etc.
Main characteristic features The Swedish model is generally considered to be: the reconstruction in a relatively short period of a highly efficient economy; ensuring employment of almost the entire working population; eradication of poverty; creation of the most developed social security system in the world; achieving a high level of literacy and culture. This model is sometimes called "functional socialism" on the grounds that a democratic state performs the functions of redistributing national income in order to ensure greater social justice. The basis mixed economy in this model constitutes an organic combination of private capitalist market economy and a socially oriented system of redistribution of the produced product. State policy is aimed at raising the standard of living of the poor to the standard of living of the wealthy. The state is obliged to provide conditions for full employment and maintain a developed social security system. Ideally, the goal is to reduce social inequalities by providing social services in critical areas of life. These services include: a system of family benefits for children; free school education; provision in old age; unemployment benefit; provision of housing, etc.
In the last one and a half to two decades, in the general context of further liberation from the remnants of the Marxist legacy in social democracy, there has been a tendency to increase emphasis on the revision of the positive role of the state, on individual freedom, private property, market relations and other associated values and attitudes. Moreover, this emphasis is placed in the context of more decisive support by the parties of democratic socialism of the institutions, values and norms of liberal democracy. It is significant that in the 70-80s. most of them adopted new policy documents. All of them base their programs on a number of basic principles, such as political pluralism, private capitalist market principles of the economy, state regulation of the economy based on Keynesian recommendations, social assistance to the poor, ensuring maximum employment, etc. There is a tendency to strengthen ethical argumentation in social democratic programs.
Against the backdrop of what unfolded in the 70s and 80s. conservative wave with its characteristic demands for decentralization, denationalization, reduction of government regulation, market stimulation, etc. in social democracy there is growing sentiment in favor of abandoning the slogans of nationalization, socialization or socialization and other traditional guidelines of democratic socialism. The positions of those right-wing circles that have always maintained a commitment to private ownership of the means of production are strengthening. These sentiments are characteristic of most parties of democratic socialism in Western Europe, especially those that in the 80s and early 90s. were in power. This, in particular, was expressed in the fact that these parties implemented, in essence, a neoconservative economic policy of denationalization, denationalization, and decentralization. It should be noted that these changes in social democracy took place in the context of the growing crisis of the totalitarian system in the USSR and Eastern Europe with its total stateization, planning and destruction of private ownership of the means of production. The experience of “real socialism” has demonstrated to the whole world that these attributes not only do not put an end to alienation, but also strengthen it many times over, not only do not ensure freedom, but also infinitely expand and strengthen the tyranny of the state over the overwhelming mass of the population. The state's monopoly on the means of production results in monopoly control over human lives.
IN last years In social democracy, theses are gaining increasing popularity, according to which the welfare state has already fulfilled its tasks and needs to be replaced by a “welfare society.” Its essence is the recognition of the need to decentralize the functions and prerogatives of the state to implement social functions and their transfer to local authorities and public institutions. Thus, the leaders of the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Sweden, for example, announced the completion of the creation of the welfare state and the need to move to a new stage of its development. Thus, the minister in the Social Democratic government B. Holmberg in 1986 came up with the thesis that the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Sweden should take a course towards creating a “new Swedish model”. As important element This new model proposes to change the point of view on the role of the state and municipal authorities. “The main task of today,” Holmberg emphasized, is the elimination of “petty” government regulation. The state should be assigned the function of a general regulatory body, solving global external and internal problems, and municipalities should be completely delegated to resolve issues related to healthcare, education, housing, and recreation.”
The central place in democratic socialism is occupied by the question of the relationship between the goals and means of reforming society.
The position of the French Socialist Party is of considerable interest. The party’s program document “Proposals for France” (1988), in particular, said: “Socialist society is not so much a desire for the end of history as a movement towards socialism, increasing reforms and transformation social relations, and changing the behavior of people and their relationships with each other.” The Swedish and Swiss Social Democrats understand the progress towards socialism in the same spirit. Their leader H. Huber, in particular, emphasized: “Socialism is not a model that we can accept, but a process during which we learn to determine our own history.”
Therefore, it is not surprising that for most socialist and social democratic parties the general direction of policy is determined by relatively short-term program documents containing a list of measures to be implemented in the event of victory in the next elections. This explains the ease with which the leaders of the Social Democrats make compromises and concessions both within and outside their parties. It is significant that when assessing this feature of the French Socialist Party, publicists, as a rule, characterize it as “fundamentally unprincipled.” In justifying this thesis, some observers argue that it is neither dirigiste, nor liberal, nor religious, nor anti-clerical, nor pro-nuclear, nor pro-environmental. The famous conservative publicist J.-F. Revel noted in this regard that, under certain conditions, the Socialist Party was able to resolve all contradictions: to be simultaneously Marxist and non-Marxist; defend unity with the communists and the exclusivity of their role; adhere to a pro-European and anti-European position; oppose social democracy in France and for social democracy in Europe.
One more point should be noted. The right and left in social democracy are so at odds with each other that they could easily be separated into different parties. This is what happened, for example, in Italy, where in the mid-50s. the right wing of the socialist party separated from it and formed an independent Social Democratic Party. This happened in England in the early 80s, where a group that separated from the Labor Party also created an independent Social Democratic Party. The French Socialist Party was constantly exposed to the temptation of social democracy. It is known that there are quite serious differences between the left and right wings of this party. This applies to most parties of democratic socialism in Western Europe.
Therefore, it is not surprising that these parties quite painlessly enter into coalitions with others, even conservative and liberal parties. The most obvious example is provided by the SPD, which first in 1966 entered into a government coalition with the CDU/CSU, and from 1969 to 1982 with the Free Democratic Party of Germany. Similar coalitions systematically include socialist and social democratic parties in Belgium, Austria, Italy, Finland, Denmark, Portugal, etc. As A. Pelinka, professor of political science and the University of Innsbruck (Austria), notes, four fundamental options can be traced in the politics of alliances and coalitions of social democratic parties:
· the British version, which excludes in principle any kind of alliances, allowing them only in exceptional cases, for example in conditions of war;
· Scandinavian version, recognizing the equivalence of alliances with both left and right forces;
· Central European option (Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria), allowing blocking only with conservatives and liberals and excluding an alliance with communists;
· Southern European option, providing for an alliance with any parties. The most significant example of this is the government bloc of socialists and communists in the early 80s.
Now, at the turn of the millennium, it is very difficult to draw any clearly defined differences between social democratic parties and parties of other ideological and political orientations. The fact is that many principles, attitudes, values, and norms of political democracy, which were previously the field of fierce struggle between them, have become, as indicated above, common property. But the question of the limits of democracy remains debatable and controversial. Conservatives and liberals tend to insist that democracy is a purely political phenomenon and therefore should not extend to other spheres, in particular the economic sphere. Social democrats, on the contrary, adhere to the position that democracy, freedom, equality are substantial values and therefore should not be limited to the political sphere. Thus, in both cases we are talking not about democracy itself, but about the spheres and limits of its spread.
Conclusion
Within Western Europe, social democracy, once on the margins of the political process, has become one of the most influential mass movements and is represented in one form or another in 12 of the 15 governments of the European Union.
Initially, Western European social democracy placed its main emphasis on solving acute problems of labor relations. However, as practical experience accumulated, political aspects began to dominate its activities, since it became obvious that a fundamental solution social problems requires efforts at the political level. At this stage, an important political goal of all Western European parties was to significantly expand their electoral base, so as not to remain in the role of a political minority, capable of only proposing, but not implementing, solutions to pressing economic and social problems. Most social democratic parties in economically developed countries of Western Europe It was possible, without alienating the majority of the traditional electorate, to expand influence on some of the new groups of wage workers and mass layers of the intelligentsia. However, gradually the focus on maximizing the expansion of the electoral base at the expense of various interest groups led to the erosion of the type and content of political ideas.
The political ideas of the Social Democrats influence the social and economic development of Western European countries.
IN economic field Western Europe, the struggle of leftist values oriented public organizations, with the most active participation of social democratic parties, for the normal reproduction of the labor force, not only prevented the demographic catastrophe that loomed over many countries at the early stage of the development of capitalism, but also ensured a sharp increase in the quality of living labor, as the most important condition for the rapid growth of social production.
In the social sphere, intolerable inequality between the top and bottom in the areas of consumption, housing conditions, health care and education was limited. And although this inequality in various forms not only persists, but also in some cases increases, it, as far as at least economically developed countries are concerned, has not threatened social foundations for many decades.
Social democratic parties played a vital role in transforming the original model of a reduced elitist, qualified democracy that masked the dominance of a few into a modern mass democracy based on universal, equal and secret suffrage. And despite all the shortcomings that are characteristic of the political system that has developed on the basis of this law, it so far represents the most acceptable form of government tried in practice.
Bibliography
1. Bernstein E. Problems of socialism and tasks of liberal democracy. –M., 1901;
2. Gadzhiev K.S. Political science // Manual for teachers, graduate students and students of humanities faculties
3. Djilas M. The present and future of the socialist idea//Working class and modern world, 1990.,№ 5;
4. Djilas M. Western European Social Democracy: the search for renewal. – M., 1989;
5. Sorman G. Quit socialism. – M., 1991;
6. Sorman G. Liberal decision. – M., 1992;
7. Struve P.B. Marx's theory of social development. – Kyiv, 1906.
8. Orlov B.S. Ethics as the political basis of the philosophy of social democracy - M.: INION RAS, 2001.
Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below
Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.
Posted on http://www.allbest.ru/
Introduction
1 British political system
1.2 Monarchy
1.3 Legislative branch
1.4 Executive branch
1.5 Civil service
1.6 Local control
2 Political system of France
2.2 President
2.4 Parliament
2.5 Local control
2.6 Political parties
3 German political system
3.2 Federal President
3.3 Federal Chancellor
3.4 Bundestag
3.5 Bundesrat
3.6 Electoral system
3.8 Political parties
4 Italian political system
4.1 Constitution
4.2 Legislative branch
4.3 Executive branch
4.4 Local control
4.5 Tips
4.6 Commissions
4.8 Prefect
Conclusion
List of used literature
Introduction
The mechanism by which political power is exercised is called the political system of society. Political system is a set of state and public associations, legal and political norms, principles, organization and exercise of political power.
The political system of any modern society includes several subsystems:
Institutional, consisting of various socio-political institutions and institutions (state, political parties, social movements, organizations, associations, various bodies of representative and direct democracy, church, etc.);
Functional, consisting of the totality of those roles and functions that are carried out both by individual socio-political institutions and their groups (forms and directions of political activity, ways and methods of exercising power, means of influencing public life, etc.);
Regulatory, acting as a set of political and legal norms and other means of regulating the relationships between the subjects of the political system (constitution, laws, customs, traditions, political principles, views, etc.);
Communicative, which is a set of various relations between subjects of the political system related to the development and implementation of policy;
Ideological, including a set of political ideas, theories, concepts (political consciousness, political and legal culture, political socialization).
Stability acts as the highest value in society.
In this work I present the topic of the political systems of Western European countries. For consideration, I chose the UK, France, Germany and Italy, because... I consider these countries to be the most stable and progressive in terms of structure and political development. These countries have a great influence on the political development of countries around the world.
1. British political system
political system state power Western European
The United Kingdom is a multinational state. It was created gradually: in 1543 England annexed Wales, in 1707 - Scotland, and in 1800 - Ireland. After nearly a century of heated debate, most of Ireland seceded from Great Britain in 1921. 6 counties in the north of the country remained part of Great Britain, forming Northern Ireland. For a long time Britain owned vast overseas territories, but after 1945 it gradually abandoned its rights to most of these territories, and by the early 1990s only 14 small possessions remained under its control. The largest and most important of these possessions, Hong Kong (Hong Kong), was transferred to the jurisdiction of China in 1997. However, at the end of the 20th century. Great Britain was still the center of a voluntary association of 50 former colonies and dominions known as the British Commonwealth of Nations. The official head of the Commonwealth is the monarch, who presides over six-month meetings of the heads of government of the countries that are members of the Commonwealth.
The British Parliament is often called the progenitor of all parliaments, although the Icelandic Althing, created in 930 AD, is much older than the British one, which developed during the 13th and 14th centuries. Universal suffrage was established in Britain gradually and quite late as a result of a series of legislative reforms from 1832 to 1928, when women and men received equal voting rights. There is traditionally no written constitution in Britain, in the sense that its basic rules are not set out in a specific document, but it is based on statutes, legal decisions, parliamentary laws, traditions and customs. After the country's accession to the European Economic Community in 1973, some aspects of the European Constitution were partially combined with the "unwritten" British model of the constitution.
The British Parliament passed a number of pieces of legislation, including the Single European Act 1987 and the European Communities (Amendment) Act in 1993, harmonizing English and European law and providing for a closer economic, financial and political union of European countries.
The supremacy of the laws of the European Union (which the UK, like all EU countries, has the right to veto) in relation to parliamentary statutes and powers was confirmed in 1990 by the House of Lords, the highest court of the United Kingdom. Every four years, the 87 constituencies (previously 81) in the United Kingdom hold elections to the non-legislative European Parliament.
The UK government has a long tradition of secrecy. Senior politicians and civil servants keep decision-making processes secret under the pretext that declassifying official documents affects the public interest. The UK has official secrets laws, but at the same time there are no national laws on freedom of information to counterbalance this provision. Official documents, available to citizens upon request in other democratic countries, in England are transferred to open collections only after 30 years and can be hidden from the public for another 20 years or more. Under Prime Minister John Major, a gradual relaxation of secrecy began in the early 1990s.
1.1 National government
The key point of the British constitution is the supreme power of the “crown in parliament” - the joint rule of the monarch, the House of Lords and the House of Commons, which together make up parliament. This body has almost unlimited legal power over all matters, people and territories within its jurisdiction. Its decisions may be revised by the next parliament, which may pass laws that will repeal laws passed by previous parliaments. Substantial changes of a constitutional nature are made through the normal legislative process and cannot be challenged in the British courts. Only two European legal bodies can limit the supremacy of parliamentary decisions. The European Court monitors compliance with the provisions of treaties and laws of the European Union. The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg (France) protects political and civil rights as defined in the European Convention on Human Rights (to which the United Kingdom signed in 1993).
1.2 Monarchy
The order of succession to the throne is determined by the Act of Succession to the Throne (1701). The sons of the sovereign succeed to the throne according to seniority; in the absence of sons, the throne passes to the eldest daughter. Only Protestants have the right to the throne. The current sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II, who came to the throne in 1953. The monarch is considered the head of state, commander-in-chief, head of administration and secular head of the established Church of England. The monarch is an important symbol of national unity. Oaths of allegiance to the crown are pronounced by ministers, civil servants, police and armed forces; government is carried out in the name of Her Majesty. Since Victorian times, the monarch "reigns" but does not rule, having only two, usually formal, prerogatives: the power to dissolve Parliament and appoint a new prime minister, or head of government. The ritual of consultative meetings on Tuesday evenings between the monarch and the prime minister has been preserved.
1.3 Legislative branch
Britain has a bicameral legislature; one of the houses, the House of Commons, is elected by the population, and the upper house, unique among modern representative democracies, the House of Lords, is formed mainly on a hereditary basis. The House of Commons is the center of political life in Great Britain, and its members (Members of Parliament) constitute its class of politicians. Almost all ministers are elected from among their ranks, and traditionally the prime minister and senior cabinet members must also be members of parliament. Until 1911, both houses were formally equal, although traditionally the House of Commons was considered the main one. In 1911, the Liberal government, by an Act of Parliament, secured the supremacy of the House of Commons and significantly reduced the power of the House of Lords.
The House of Commons is elected by universal suffrage for a term of 5 years, but can be dissolved early by the Prime Minister with the consent of the monarch. (It may also extend its existence, as happened during World War II.) The dissolution of the House is followed by a general election. The right to vote is available to persons of both sexes who have reached the age of 18, are subjects of the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland, are registered in an electoral district and are on the electoral register. British nationals who have lived abroad permanently for less than 20 years and homeless people can also vote. Voters in Northern Ireland must have lived in their constituency for at least three months to vote. Members of the royal family who are able to vote do not exercise this right, as in practice it would be considered unconstitutional. In total, more than 44 million people have the right to vote.
Persons who have reached the age of 21 and are nationals of the United Kingdom, the Irish Republic or a Commonwealth country can be elected to the House of Commons. According to the law, the following cannot be elected to the lower house of parliament: members of the House of Lords, the clergy, the mentally ill, unrecovered bankrupts and persons convicted of certain types of crimes (including prisoners serving a sentence of more than 1 year and those convicted of high treason) , persons found guilty of electoral irregularities within the last 10 years, certain categories of persons holding paid positions in the public service (including civil servants, judges, military or police), members of the legislature of any non-Commonwealth country.
Voting is secret and takes place in single-mandate electoral districts formed on a territorial basis. During parliamentary elections, the UK is divided into 659 constituencies: 529 in England, 72 in Scotland, 40 in Wales and 18 in Northern Ireland. Each constituency elects one member of parliament. A candidate requires a simple majority of votes to win. The voting system usually gives extra seats to the party that wins the most votes in an election to give it a clear majority in the House of Commons to implement its agenda. The party that wins the largest number of seats in parliament forms the government. At the end of the 20th century. the number of deputies in the House of Commons increased from 651 members (1991) to 659 members (1997), each of whom represented his own constituency with the number of voters from 23,000 to 99,000. About 2/3 of parliamentarians have additional income, in addition to cash benefits received from states. They are rather modestly provided with premises; more than half of parliamentarians share their offices with colleagues. About 4/5 of parliamentarians have some kind of professional training or management experience. Women are very poorly represented in the House of Commons, and even less so in government.
1.4 Executive branch
The principle of parliamentary supremacy does not correspond to the realities of political power in Britain. When the monarchy stepped down from power, only formally retaining the crown, the executive functions and powers of the sovereign, the “royal prerogatives,” passed not to parliament, but to the royal ministers - i.e. to the Prime Minister and a cabinet of about 20 chief ministers. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet enter and are members of Parliament; this is the basis of their political legitimacy and legislative powers. But the royal prerogatives give the prime minister and cabinet members discretionary powers to sign international agreements, declare war, manage security forces, regulate the civil service, and make appointments without approval and sometimes even without informing parliament. These powers are much more powerful in the United Kingdom than in other modern democracies because the British system does not provide for a separation of executive and legislative powers. State governance is exercised from the center, which is not constrained by countervailing elected authorities at the regional or local levels. The prime minister and cabinet members preside over the civil service and its 18 or 20 ministries (the number varies). Government officials are accountable to parliament not directly, but indirectly, through their ministers.
Cabinet members determine government policy and are responsible for it to parliament. Cabinet ministers are also the political heads of major government departments. They are assisted by teams of junior ministers. The Prime Minister, although formally considered first among his equal-ranking cabinet colleagues, actually wields most of his formal power. Not the least important role in this distribution of power is played by the fact that the prime minister can invite or dismiss members of the cabinet. Premiers preside over cabinet meetings, they control agendas, appoint and dismiss cabinet members and about 80 junior non-cabinet ministers; they also determine the composition and agendas of the 25 to 30 standing and temporary committees through which most of the government's most important decisions are made. They lead the majority party in the House of Commons and in the provinces and represent Britain abroad. Prime ministers also have the right to appoint officials to various government positions, and also influence various other appointments and directly control the system of privileges and honorary titles (peerage, knighthood, etc.). I also contribute to the expansion of the Prime Minister’s powers modern means mass media, which attach special importance to the personal factor of power.
1.5 Civil service
In modern Britain there is another center of power - the administrative elite, often called "Whitehall". It gets its name from the area around the Houses of Parliament and the Prime Minister's residence in Downing Street, where key government offices such as the Treasury and the Foreign Office are located. In Britain, high-ranking officials - permanent deputy ministers who directly manage the activities of ministries, and their senior colleagues - do not change with the change of government, but retain their posts regardless of which party comes to power. These administrators are often called the "permanent government", distinguished from the transitory parade of political figures. Continuity is maintained by keeping the British civil service formally separate from the struggle political parties(although the responsibilities of the apparatus include the implementation of the adopted political course). Civil servants are recruited through open competition, yet many are graduates of Britain's elite private schools (incorrectly called "public" schools), as well as Oxford and Cambridge universities. The majority are men. Civil servants have many responsibilities - they advise ministers on policy issues, draft speeches and draft responses to requests from members of parliament. By tradition, they treat ministers with unwavering respect, but their deference usually hides an established political position. The Treasury is traditionally the most powerful ministry, but all ministries retain a high degree of autonomy, and there are often fierce battles within the government over policy decisions.
Under Conservative governments in the 1980s and 1990s, many civil servant functions were transferred to independent public agencies (departments). These agencies are accountable to ministers, who assign them the tasks that these agencies must carry out. By 1991, 56 such agencies had been created; it was planned to open 34 more. Along with public agencies, there were 369 non-elected organizations supported by the government and led by its appointees. These organizations are called “quango” (initial letters - quasi-autonomous, non-state organizations), and in 1992 they accounted for 1/5 of all the costs of maintaining the apparatus. Public agencies and executive organizations manage the British social security system, health care, university and technical education systems, most of the municipal housing stock, urban development, economic development, etc.
1.6 Local control
The only elected tier of government below Parliament and Whitehall that has the levers of executive power is the complex system of local government. In the early 1990s, there were 516 local authorities in Britain, performing a variety of functions and fully subordinate to the central government, which has the right to liquidate and reorganize them. In 1945 local governments became an important force in the welfare state program. Thirty years later, the national government began to look for ways to control local government spending and, under the Conservatives, to increasingly limit their powers, transfer their functions to private parties or merge them with local quangos. Even then, in the early 1990s, local government spending accounted for almost a quarter of all government spending.
1.7 Political parties and elections
The history of political parties in Great Britain dates back to the mid-17th century. The parliamentary opposition that existed during this period took shape into the Whig party, and the king’s supporters were called Tories. Initially, both names were offensive. The word "Tory" in Gaelic meant "bandits" and "robbers", and "Whig" - Scottish Presbyterian preachers. Neither group was a political party in the modern sense of the word. For almost a century and a half, the Tories acted from conservative positions, supporting royal power and the Anglican Church, and reflecting mainly the interests of the landed aristocracy. On the contrary, the Whigs were considered supporters of a strong parliament and relied on layers of the commercial and industrial bourgeoisie and the nobility.
By the middle of the 19th century, the Conservative Party arose from the Tories (Conservatives are still often called Tories), and from the Whigs - the Liberal Party. These two forces subsequently dominated the political scene until the 1920s, when internal divisions caused the demise of the Liberal Party. It was replaced by the Labor Party, representing the interests of the working class.
The two main parties of the post-war period - Conservative and Labor - are relatively cohesive and disciplined coalitions. Their main purpose is to present competing programs or plans to voters and to implement these plans if they win the House of Commons. However, in recent decades, the influence of third parties has increasingly increased, especially the Liberal Democrats, formed in 1988 as a result of the merger of the Liberal Party and the Social Democratic Party.
2. Political system of France
2.1 Government
The Constitution of the Fifth Republic, developed under the leadership of General Charles de Gaulle, was approved in a referendum held on September 28, 1958 in France itself and in its overseas departments. The Constitution was approved by 82.5% of those who took part in the vote. The vote was simultaneously a form of condemnation of the parliamentary regime of the Fourth Republic (1946-1958).
According to the constitution, the President of the Republic is the central political figure. A referendum held on October 28, 1962 approved a constitutional amendment providing for the election of the president by direct universal suffrage rather than by an electoral college.
2.2 President
In France, according to the 1958 Constitution, the president is the head of the executive branch. He is elected for a term of seven years. The President appoints the Prime Minister and individual ministers. He presides over cabinet meetings. With the consent of the cabinet of ministers, the president has the right, bypassing parliament, to put to a referendum any law or treaty that changes the nature of state institutions. However, even the founder and first president of the Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle, rarely used this right. The president has the right to dissolve the lower house of parliament - the National Assembly - and call new elections. The newly elected National Assembly cannot be dissolved within a year after the elections. Article 16 of the constitution allows the president to declare a state of emergency in the country and take full power into his own hands. During this time, the National Assembly cannot be dissolved.
2.3 Prime Minister and Cabinet
The Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers are responsible to Parliament. The government is obliged to resign if the question of confidence is raised by the prime minister himself or the so-called. a resolution of censure coming from parliament will gather a certain number of votes from deputies. According to the constitution, a minister cannot simultaneously be a member of parliament. The Cabinet of Ministers bears full responsibility for its activities. Senior government officials are appointed by the cabinet on the proposal of the prime minister or president.
The main problem in the work of the executive branch of government is the unconstitutionally defined relationship between the president and the prime minister. When the president enjoys personal authority and has solid support from the parliamentary majority (as, for example, during de Gaulle's presidency and during the first five years of François Mitterrand's presidency), the prime minister is the president's deputy. When the president lacks such authority, and the government is based on a coalition of parties that includes the party led by the president, the prime minister and president work as coalition partners. At the same time, the president often imposes restrictions on the powers of the prime minister. This type of relationship between the president and the prime minister existed during the presidencies of Georges Pompidou (1969-1974) and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1974-1981). However, when there is a parliamentary majority that is in opposition to the presidential party, such as, for example, After the elections of 1986 and 1993, it was the prime minister representing the opposition who mainly determined the government's foreign and domestic policies.
2.4 Parliament
Parliament consists of two chambers - the National Assembly and the Senate. In 1995, the National Assembly had 577 seats, 555 of which were reserved for mainland France, 16 for overseas departments, 5 for overseas territories and 1 for Mayotte (Maore). Members of the National Assembly are elected through direct universal elections. The electoral system has been revised several times. In 1986, parliamentary elections were held according to the system of proportional representation; Each constituency elected five deputies nominated by the main parties in approximate proportion to their share of the vote in that constituency. After these elections, the system was again changed to provide for the election of deputies based on the majority of votes cast for them in single-member constituencies.
There are 321 seats in the Senate. Senators are elected by an electoral college consisting of members of the National Assembly, delegates from departmental councils and delegates from municipal councils. Senators are elected for a term of 9 years. One third of the Senate is renewed every three years.
There are six standing committees in each house. These committees often function through subcommittees. The powers of committees and subcommittees, very broad during the Third and Fourth Republics, are now significantly limited.
The Constitution requires two annual parliamentary sessions. The first of them lasts from the beginning of October to the second half of December, the second - in April and cannot last more than three months. At any time, at the request of the Prime Minister or at the request of the majority of deputies of the National Assembly, a special session of parliament may be convened.
Bills are passed by both houses, then signed by the president and become laws (unless he vetoes them). When both houses fail to pass a bill, it returns for rehearing. If still no agreement is reached, the Prime Minister may demand the convening of a meeting of committees consisting of an equal number of members of both houses. The text of the bill, with amendments and additions made at this meeting, is again submitted by the government for approval by both chambers. If the meeting fails to reach agreement on the text or the amended text is subsequently not approved by both houses, the government may request a third reading in both houses. If after this procedure no agreement is reached, the Cabinet of Ministers may turn to the National Assembly with a request to finally decide the fate of the project.
2.5 Local control
The territory of France is divided into 22 regions and 96 departments. The departments are in turn divided into 327 districts, 3,828 cantons and 36,551 communes. Local administrative units at each level are governed in similar ways, with minor differences, regardless of size or importance. In March 1982, a major reorganization of local government institutions was carried out, as a result of which local autonomy was significantly strengthened and control by the national government was reduced.
The first steps towards decentralization were taken in 1956. The departments were then grouped into 21 regions (or economic planning areas) in order to facilitate economic planning and development at the local level. These regions roughly corresponded to the historical regions of France. Paris and surrounding departments were formed into one region in 1976. Each region is governed by an elected regional council, which is responsible for economic, social, cultural and environmental issues and controls local spending. A national government representative, appointed by cabinet, oversees the activities of the Regional Council, speaks on behalf of the national government at council meetings, and directs national government agencies in the region. Until March 1982, each region was governed by a regional prefect, appointed by the national government and assisted by an advisory regional council.
Each department is governed by a general council. This council is elected for a six-year term by direct universal suffrage - one representative from each canton. The regional council is headed by a chairman who is elected by the council members. The Regional Council is responsible for the overall management of the department. A representative of the national government, appointed by the cabinet, speaks on behalf of the national government at council meetings and has powers to ensure public order, security and social protection if they are violated within an area larger than one commune. Until 1982, each department was governed by a prefect appointed by the national government, with the help of a general council that had limited powers. The prefect had broad power within the department and, as a representative of the state, played a key role in decision-making by the national government.
Communes are important units of local government. Each is governed by a directly elected communal (municipal) council and a mayor, who is elected by the members of that council. The council adopts the budget, determines the amount of local taxes and resolves issues related to community service and other local problems. The mayor himself develops the draft budget. The local police are subordinate to him. The mayor is the representative of the national government: he enforces laws, registers marriages and is responsible for conducting statistical research. Until 1982, the prefect of the department was more responsible for monitoring the affairs of the commune.
2.6 Political parties
Both during the Third Republic before World War II, and during the Fourth Republic from 1946 to 1958, the largest parties (the only exception was the French Communist Party - PCF) were broad, internally heterogeneous coalitions. They united around authoritative politicians and represented the interests of local and regional blocs of voters. There were also a large number of small parties, especially on the right flank. Governments, as a rule, were formed on the basis of a coalition of several parties.
During the early period of the Third Republic, three main political coalitions, or parties, came to the fore. The Socialist Party was the dominant left-wing political force and advocated revolutionary changes, in particular the nationalization of industry. In practice, it placed particular emphasis on anti-clericalism, anti-militarism (except during the First World War) and radical social reform. In 1920, the left wing, the French Communist Party, which was a section of the Communist International, broke away from the Socialist Party.
Centrist and moderate leftists were part of the party of radicals and radical socialists. Its ranks included people of liberal professions, small businessmen, intellectuals (mainly school teachers) and some peasants.
The main conservative groups - Catholics, nationalists, supporters of authoritarian rule and monarchists - formed a strong parliamentary coalition called the Democratic Alliance between 1901 and 1939. His supporters had influence in such rural and Catholic areas as Normandy, Brittany, and after 1918 in Alsace and Lorraine.
After World War II, the PCF became the leading political force on the left, its prestige greatly increased due to the active role of the Communists in the Resistance movement. The right-wing parties were replaced by the Christian Democratic People's Republican Movement (MRP) and the party of General de Gaulle's supporters - the Rally of the French People (RPF). The PCF and RPF represented more than a third of the electorate. However, they did not enter into coalitions with other political associations. The remaining parties - from the socialists on the left wing to the "independents" on the right - formed unstable coalitions that often replaced each other.
A serious political crisis caused by the war in Algeria led to the establishment in 1958 of the Fifth Republic led by General Charles de Gaulle. His supporters immediately after the approval of the new constitution united into the Union for a New Republic (UNR) party. At the very first parliamentary elections of the Fifth Republic, the UNR took a leading place in the National Assembly.
In 1967, when the third elections of the Fifth Republic took place, the Gaullists, whose party was renamed the Union of Democrats for the Republic (UDR), and their allies, the party of "independent republicans", received a majority in the National Assembly.
In June 1968, following student unrest and a general strike, new elections were held. The Gaullists, who acted under the banner of the “party of order,” won a complete victory. In the parliamentary elections of 1973, the Gaullists with their allies (“independent republicans” and centrists) received only a slight majority of votes. In the 1974 presidential elections that followed the death of President Pompidou, the Gaullists were unable to present a united front, and their official candidate came in third place in the first round of elections. In the second round, the candidate of the “independent republicans” Valéry Giscard d'Estaing narrowly defeated the socialist Francois Mitterrand.
On the eve of the 1978 parliamentary elections, the alliance of leftist forces collapsed. As a result, the ruling parties won - the Gaullists, whose party became known as the Rally for the Republic (RUF), the Republicans and the centrists, united in the Union for French Democracy (UDF). However, in 1981 the left achieved success. In the presidential elections in May, F. Mitterrand defeated Giscard d'Estaing. The parliamentary elections that followed in June brought the Socialists an absolute majority of votes.
The next parliamentary elections in 1986 led to the victory of the right. The OPR and UDF received a slight majority in the National Assembly. Gaullist leader Jacques Chirac became prime minister. The Socialists remained the largest single party. The influence of the communists decreased significantly. On the far right, the National Front received widespread support.
The period of “coexistence” between Mitterrand and Chirac significantly strengthened the authority of the socialists, and in May 1988 Mitterrand was re-elected to the presidency. In parliamentary elections the following month, the Socialists again won a majority. Socialist Michel Rocard was appointed as the new prime minister.
In May 1991, the Rocard government resigned. Edith Cresson was appointed the next prime minister, whose cabinet remained in power until April 1992. Cresson was replaced as prime minister by Pierre Beregovois. In March 1993, right-wing parties again won the new parliamentary elections. OPR representative Edouard Balladur became the new prime minister. In 1995, both Balladur and Chirac ran for the presidency. In the first round of voting, Chirac was ahead of Balladur, but the Socialist candidate Lionel Jospin came out on top. In the second round, Chirac beat Jospin, won 52% of the votes and became the fifth president of the Fifth Republic. OPR representative Alain Juppé was appointed Prime Minister.
In the spring of 1997, Chirac exercised his right to dissolve the National Assembly and called early elections, which were won by the socialists. Lionel Jospin was appointed prime minister.
3. German political system
At the end of World War II, in May 1945, Germany was occupied by the troops of the four victorious Allied powers - the USA, USSR, Great Britain and France. During the period of military occupation, supreme power in Germany was exercised by the Control Council, consisting of the commanders-in-chief of the troops in the four zones of occupation. The territory of the country and its capital, Berlin, were divided into four sectors (zones) of occupation. The USSR withdrew from the inter-union governing bodies in 1948. In 1949, on the site of the three western occupation zones, the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) was created with its capital in Bonn. The Soviet zone of occupation was shortly thereafter transformed into the German Democratic Republic (GDR), with its capital in East Berlin.
At the end of the 1980s, the position of the ruling communist parties in Eastern European countries weakened and the leadership of the GDR was forced to allow free movement of citizens across the GDR border with West Berlin. The fall of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989 caused a mass exodus of citizens from the GDR.
The Basic Law (Constitution) of the Federal Republic of Germany allowed two conditions under which its constitutional system could be extended to East Germany. Article 23 of the Basic Law provided for its extension to any other German territory that voluntarily decided to join the Federal Republic of Germany. Article 146 provided for the possibility of termination of the old Basic Law and the adoption of a new constitution that would gain legal force in all regions (lands) that signed the Constitutional Act. When the GDR joined the Federal Republic of Germany, Article 23 was used, mainly for two reasons. Firstly, the extension of the already existing legislation of the Federal Republic of Germany to the East German lands, in contrast to the option of reconstituting a new state, implied the automatic preservation of a united Germany’s place in the European Community and NATO. Secondly, it was necessary to take into account the complete bankruptcy and discredit of the leadership of the GDR in the eyes of the population of the republic. From October 3, 1990, i.e. After the reunification of Germany, the competence of the state structures of the Federal Republic of Germany was extended to the entire territory of Germany. The four former occupying powers refused to perform all control functions in relation to Germany (although the period of stay of Soviet troops on the territory of the former GDR, in accordance with the agreements, was determined for the period until 1994).
In fact, East and West Germany became a single country on July 1, 1990, when the East German mark was withdrawn from circulation, replaced on the territory of the GDR by the national currency of the Federal Republic of Germany - the West German mark (at the rate of 1: 1 for amounts to be exchanged up to 4000 East German marks per person and the exchange rate 2:1 for amounts exceeding this value). In total, approximately 180 billion West German marks (approximately $108 billion) of currency were exchanged.
3.1 Government authorities
According to the form of government, Germany is a parliamentary republic. According to the Basic Law, the power of the president is limited; significantly more powers are granted to the chancellor (prime minister). The legislative branch is represented by a bicameral parliament: its upper (weaker) house is the Bundesrat, and its lower (stronger) house is the Bundestag. The federal government, or cabinet, consists of the federal chancellor and federal ministers. Its competence includes the implementation of policies in the field of international relations, defense, finance and communications. The Central Bank exercises control over monetary policy, although since January 1, 1999 it has been subordinate to the European Central Bank. In 1999 there were 15 federal ministers in the government. The capital of Germany is Berlin, although some government institutions remain in Bonn.
3.2 Federal President (Bundespresident)
The Federal President (Bundespresident) is considered the head of state and can only be elected for one five-year term or two consecutive five-year terms. He is elected by the Federal Assembly, consisting of members of the Bundestag and an equal number of members delegated by the state parliaments (landtags) in accordance with the representation of political parties. Among the powers of the president, the most important are the submission of the chancellor's candidacy to the Bundestag for approval, as well as the dissolution of the lower house of parliament at the proposal of the chancellor if he loses the vote of confidence. The president has the authority to appoint senior officers of the armed forces, although they are commanded by the minister of defense. The president has the power to pardon convicted criminals.
3.3 Federal Chancellor (Bundeschancellor)
The Federal Chancellor (Bundeschancellor) is the head of the executive branch. As a rule, the chancellor becomes the predetermined leader of the political party that received the largest number of votes in national elections. The Chancellor nominates members of the Cabinet of Ministers for their formal approval by the President of the country and determines the main directions of domestic and foreign policy. While many parliamentary systems allow the resignation of the government through the mechanism of a vote of confidence, in this case, in this case, an alternative candidacy for the post of chancellor acceptable to the majority of parliamentarians must be simultaneously proposed (by the legislature). This restriction in the Basic Law, called a “constructive vote of no confidence,” is intended to maintain political stability. Only once (in 1982) was a chancellor removed in this way.
3.4 Bundestag
The Bundestag is the main chamber of the German parliament. The government remains in power only as long as it is supported by a majority in the Bundestag. Deputies are elected by voting in two rounds for a term of four years. In most cases, a member of the cabinet is also a member of the Bundestag. Before the unification of Germany, 520 deputies sat in the Bundestag. In the elections in December 1990, with the entry of new lands into the Federal Republic of Germany, the number of deputy mandates was increased to 662, and in the 1994 elections - to 672, in the 1998 elections this number decreased to 669.
The bill can be introduced by any deputy, the Bundesrat or the federal government. A simple majority vote is required to pass a bill. The main work on complex bills is carried out not in plenary sessions, but in committees and commissions of the Bundestag. The distribution of seats in committees and commissions between representatives of different parties is carried out depending on the size of a particular party faction.
3.5 Bundesrat
If a law passed through the Bundestag affects the interests of the 16 German states, it must be approved by the Bundesrat. Issues concerning the sovereign rights of the federal states, especially financial and administrative ones, are usually the subject of debate and controversy, and therefore on average just over half of all bills pass through the upper house of parliament. In addition, the Bundesrat has the right to issue a negative opinion on any of the bills, but very few of them do not receive approval in the upper house. Members of the Bundesrat are not elected by the population, but are delegated by each of the state parliaments. The delegation representing a particular federal state votes in the Bundesrat in accordance with the instructions of the state government. Meetings of the chamber are held once a month.
The Bundesrat of the Federal Republic of Germany (before its unification with the GDR) included 45 delegates from ten West German states, as well as observers from West Berlin who did not participate in the voting. In December 1990, after the unification of the country, the number of seats in the Bundesrat was increased to 68. Federal states with a population of more than 7 million people send 6 delegates each to the Bundesrat; lands with a population of 6 to 7 million people - 5 delegates each; with a population of 2 to 4 million people - 4 delegates each, and with a population of less than 2 million people - 3 delegates each.
In case of disagreements on a bill between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat, they are resolved in joint committees (joint commissions) of the two chambers. Since state elections do not coincide in time with national elections, the balance of power between political parties in the Bundestag and Bundesrat may be different. For example, the Christian Democrats - a party that had a majority in both chambers for many years - have remained in the Bundesrat since 1991 in a minority relative to the Social Democrats.
3.6 Electoral system
Every citizen who has reached the age of 18 has the right to vote and stand as a candidate in elections to government bodies. The electoral system of the Federal Republic of Germany is a form of proportional representation, in which each voter has two votes: one to elect a member of the Bundestag in his territorial constituency and one to vote on party lists; thus the voter can split his vote between the two parties. One half of the Bundestag members are elected by a simple majority in territorial constituencies; the other half is formed by the political parties in accordance with the results of the state party list elections, so that in general the composition of the Bundestag reflects the balance of power between the parties on a national scale, determined by the results of the party list vote. This mechanism for forming the Bundestag provides the leaders of the largest political parties with a parliamentary mandate even if they are defeated in territorial electoral districts. No political party can be represented in the Bundestag unless it receives at least 5% of the national vote or 3 parliamentary seats in the constituencies. However, in the 1990 elections, an exception was made in order to give more chances to less organized parties in the eastern states, and therefore more opportunities to voters living there, since they constituted only 20% of the total electorate of a united Germany. The 5% threshold rule was applied this time separately to the territories of the former GDR and West Germany, and two parties in the east of the country gained seats in parliament only thanks to this clause in the electoral regulations. Subsequently, the previous norm was restored.
Political parties receive financial support from the state. To qualify for subsidies, a party must collect at least 0.5% of the votes during list voting. Voter participation in elections was 89.1% in 1983 and 84.3% in 1987 in Germany, 77.8% in united Germany in 1990, 79% in 1994, 82.3% in 1998.
3.7 Local and regional self-government
The constitutions of the 11 “old” states came into force at different times, between 1946 and 1957. The development of the constitutions of the 5 “new” states began after their re-establishment, in July 1990. The Constitution of West Berlin was extended to East Berlin in 1991. For with the exception of Bavaria, all states have popularly elected unicameral parliaments (landtags); in Bavaria there was also a Senate, which was abolished on the basis of the law of January 1, 2000. Everywhere heads of government (in Hamburg - the first burgomaster, in Bremen - the burgomaster, in Berlin - the ruling burgomaster, in the 13 other states - prime ministers) depend on majority in the Landtags.
The federal states are responsible for policy issues in the field of culture and public education, law enforcement and environment. Federal legislation is applied in the Länder, taking into account their broad autonomy. At the same time, the distribution of federal assistance between the regions of the country is coordinated with the leadership European Union(EU) in Brussels.
Administrative districts act as the main territorial unit of local self-government. Within several hundred districts, there are city, municipal and rural local governments, elected by the population on the basis of proportional representation. Property and manufacturing taxes, as well as income taxes, go to various local government operations, but most communities and municipalities receive additional subsidies from the federal government.
3.8 Political parties
In Germany, before the unification of the country, there were three largest political parties, and they also survived in the united Germany. This is the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD); the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which forms a bloc in the Bundestag with the Christian Social Union (CSU), active only in Bavaria; Free Democratic Party (FDP). In the 1980s, a fourth significant party, the Greens, entered the political scene. In the GDR, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED) and the four small parties it controlled completely determined the social, economic and political life of the country. The collapse of the SED's power at the end of 1989 stimulated the creation of various non-communist groups, including the New Forum reform movement. By the time of the first general German elections in December 1990, none of the significant new parties had survived, and members of the SED, who remained loyal to the party, renounced their communist past and renamed their association the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS). The parties of the former Federal Republic of Germany extended their activities, organizational structure and finances to the eastern lands.
4. Italian political system
Italy became a republic in June 1946 and is governed by a constitution that came into effect on January 1, 1948. The system of government is parliamentary with a large number political parties, none of which has a majority of the popular vote.
4.1 Constitution
Since 1946 Italy has been a republic. Constitution Italian Republic adopted by the Constituent Assembly in 1948. The 1948 Constitution pays more attention to economic and social issues and reflects an uneasy combination of liberal, Marxist and Catholic traditions.
The constitution can be amended either by the legislature or by referendum. The legislative process requires that an amendment bill be passed in two successive sittings of Parliament, at least three months apart, and be approved by an absolute majority in the second sitting. If the proposal receives two-thirds of the vote, the amendment is adopted immediately, and if the vote does not reach two-thirds, then a referendum can be held within three months (this requires support from deputies, voters or local authorities).
4.2 Legislative branch
The Italian Parliament consists of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Although both chambers are legally equal, the Chamber of Deputies has greater political power and its members include the country's leading political figures. The Senate consists of 315 senators elected by popular vote by territorial districts for a five-year term; the five most famous citizens appointed by the President of Italy for life; and everyone former presidents who wished to retain their seat in the Senate. The Chamber of Deputies consists of 630 members elected for a five-year term. The President may dissolve the House before the end of its five-year term. Citizens at least 18 years of age are elected to the Chamber of Deputies, and citizens at least 25 years of age are elected to the Senate. Until 1993, elections to both houses were held on the basis of proportional representation, and political parties received seats in parliament according to the share of the vote they received. As a result of a referendum held in April 1993, the procedure for electing members of both chambers was changed so that in subsequent elections 75% of the seats in each chamber are given to deputies elected in single-mandate constituencies under the majoritarian system, and 25% under the proportional system.
Similar documents
Study of the main components of the political systems of European countries. Legislative and executive authorities of Germany. Form of government and administrative division of France. Studying the nature of the distribution of prerogatives in the Italian power system.
abstract, added 04/15/2015
The concept of power and the essence of the political system. Basic values and characteristics of democracy, typology of political regimes. The state and its functions. Political parties and movements. State authorities and federal structure in Russia.
presentation, added 02/01/2013
Tension between the state and the political regime. Efficient political structure. Political system and regime. Political regimes of the Soviet state. Legitimacy of state power. Undemocratic tendencies in the political regime.
course work, added 04/04/2009
Power as an important phenomenon in the life of society. Structure and resources of power. The essence and bodies of legislative power. Determining the main and most significant features of the executive authority. Judicial power as a type of state power.
abstract, added 01/20/2011
A fundamentally new political system created by the Bolsheviks. The formation of Soviet power, the formation of a new state machine. Organization of the Cheka, creation of the Red Army. Social and political revolutions. Stages of the revolutionary cycle.
article, added 05/29/2009
Concept, structure and characteristics of power. Politics and power: definitions of the essence and dominant role of one of the concepts. The concept of political power, its functions and features. Correlation and delimitation of political and state power.
course work, added 01/16/2011
The principle of technological attitude to the world. Political power as a type of technology. Political life is like a game with a predetermined result. Possibilities and limits of power sharing. Modern political system. Political ethics.
training manual, added 06/13/2012
The political system of society as a set of relations of political subjects, organized on a single normative and value basis, associated with the exercise of power and management of society. Structure and functions of the political system of the Republic of Belarus.
test, added 01/27/2010
The essence of the concept of "political power". Political power as an object of political science analysis. Characteristics of the main signs of power. Typology of political power. Characteristics of political regimes. Social purpose of political power.
test, added 07/04/2010
The concept of a political system. Executive, legislative and judicial branch. Electoral system of Russia. Ensuring respect for the rights and legitimate interests of political parties. Development and implementation of decisions in the field of government-government relations.
3.1.Ideological and political movements and parties.Conservatism, liberalism, socialist movements and nationalism
3.2.International communist movement: rise and decline.
The growing influence of communist parties in European countries and the world in the first post-war years. Contradictions within communist parties in Eastern European countries. Creation of the Information Bureau of Communist Parties (COMINFORM). International meetings of communist parties in 1957, 1960 and 1969.
3.3.Socialist International: shift to the right.
3.4.International trade union movement.
(World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICTU), International Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (since 1968 - International Confederation of Labor (ILC), International Confederation of Arab Trade Unions, All-African Federation of Trade Unions, Congress of Trade Union Unity of Latin American Workers, International organization Labor (ILO)).
3.5.New constitutions and changes in the government structure.
3.6.Formation of supranational institutions(Council of Europe, Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), legal acts on human rights - Universal Declaration of Human Rights).
3.7.Features of political development in the world. Two models- liberal democratic and totalitarian.
New social mass movements.
Peace movement. Pacifism and anti-militarism. “New left movements” of youth and students. Alternative, environmental movements. Green Party. Feminism. New religious movements. National, ethnic and linguistic movements.
5. Development of Western European countries (Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy).
Japanese development model
Questions and tasks for self-control
1. What international and domestic conditions ensured the relatively rapid economic recovery of Western European countries?
2. What caused the processes economic integration in Western Europe?
3. What is the role of state regulation and state social policy and the features of the “welfare state”?
4. What are the main features of a mature industrial society?
5. What are the causes and features of the economic crises of 1974-1975 and 1980-1982?
6.What caused the structural crises of the 70s? Why did they influence the transition from extensive to intensive type of production?
7. Do you agree with the fact that scientific and technological revolution has created a sufficient material and technical base for an intensive type of production? What is the role of human factor?
8. What caused the crisis of the “welfare state”?
9.Name the main party and political trends in Western European countries after the war.
10.Explain why Christian Democratic parties have gained significant influence.
11. Compare the role of socialist and social democratic parties in the pre- and post-war periods. Has she grown?
12. What new provisions were included in the post-war constitutions of Western European countries?
13. How do you explain the general reasons for the development of new social movements?
Topic 3. Soviet Union and the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe in the second half of the 20th century.
Book: Lecture notes World History of the 20th Century
8. The main ideological and political trends of the first half of the 20th century.
The main ideological and political trends in the countries of Europe and North America were conservatism, liberalism, socialism, which developed in the 18th-19th centuries, and fascism, which arose in the second decade of the 20th century.
Conservatives (from the Latin "conservation" - preservation) sought to preserve the old traditional orders and institutions. While not denying the possibility of reforms in general, they still tried to avoid them. Reforms, according to their beliefs, should not affect traditional social relations and institutions. Conservative parties advocated the preservation and strengthening of the foundations of society: family, social hierarchy, orders, traditions. Conservative parties were supported mainly by peasants, landowners, officials, some industrialists, bankers, etc. Conservative parties are traditionally called right-wing.
Liberals (from the Latin "liberalis" - free) defended individual freedom and the right to private property. They advocated freedom of speech, press, religion, freedom of political activity, freedom of trade and entrepreneurship. One of the main points of the liberal doctrine was the condemnation of government intervention in trade and industry. In their opinion, the state should maintain order and protect the country (“night guard”). Liberals enjoyed significant influence in the USA, Great Britain and some Western European countries. they were supported by traders, entrepreneurs, part of the intelligentsia, workers, and office workers. Liberals, realizing that in the conditions of deterioration of the situation of wage workers, a possible social explosion (uprising, revolution, etc.), sought to reduce social tension by improving the situation of the population. This policy, which was called bourgeois reformism, began to be actively pursued by liberals at the beginning of the 20th century.
In the 20-30s, the influence of liberals steadily declined. In the political arena they were actively supplanted by the socialists, who proposed a broader program of social reforms.
At the same time, the liberal doctrine was transformed into neoliberalism under the influence of Keynes's ideas about the regulated market. Thus, they abandoned their leading idea of state non-interference in the economic life of society. A striking example of neoliberalism was the “new course” of F. Roosevelt in the USA.
Liberal parties are traditionally considered centrist, or center-right.
Socialists (from the Latin "socialis" - public, comradely) sought to replace the capitalist society based on profit and private property with a new, fairer social system - socialism, where public ownership of the means of production would dominate, power would belong to the workers, exploitation would be abolished person by person.
Socialist teaching found its support among workers, intellectuals, small owners, entrepreneurs, and office workers. In the 20th century it has changed significantly.
The widespread socialist doctrine was Marxism. Marxists were guided by the theory that the main driving force of social progress is class struggle, and that the working class is called upon to end capitalism and build a classless society.
The Marxist movement was not homogeneous: it was divided into left and right, supporters of revolution and reform.
Supporters of revolutionary methods of struggle (communists) believed that the transition to socialism is possible only as a result of a worldwide socialist revolution(Russian communists subsequently began to defend the idea of the possibility of building socialism in a single country) and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat.
Supporters of reforms (social reformists) believed that socialism could be achieved as a result of gradual reforms.
A striking example of the introduction of communist ideas into life was the revolution in Russia and the further social experiments of the Bolsheviks.
The reforms of the Swedish Social Democrats in the 30s and subsequent years became an example of the implementation of social reformist ideas.
Outside the Marxist teaching were the English supporters of the gradual peaceful transformation of capitalism into socialism - the Fabians (named after the Roman commander Fabius Maximus, who successfully used wait-and-see tactics). The Fabians placed their main hope in the propaganda of socialist ideas. They believed that society would subsequently be convinced of the advantages of socialism and, with the help of the state, would carry out the necessary reforms.
Close to socialism was anarchism, founded by the Russian revolutionary Bakunin, who, unlike the socialists, denied the need for state power. In the labor movement, anarchism existed in the form of anarcho-syndicalism.
The support of anarchism was the marginal strata of society, workers of small enterprises. Anarchism was widespread in Russia, Spain, France, Switzerland, Latin America, and the USA.
Socialist (social democratic, communist, workers), anarchist parties are traditionally called left.
Fascism is primarily a European political movement of the 20th century. And special shape government
The word “fascism” itself is of Italian origin. At first it was used only in relation to the Italian reality of the 20s. Subsequently, similar movements in other countries began to be called it. German fascists called themselves "Nazis", "Nazis".
Fascism as a political movement has a number of features that determine its specificity.
The first is nationalism, turning into chauvinism and racism. For fascists, the interests of the nation are higher than individual, group, and class ones. The latter must certainly be sacrificed first. Fascism seemed to have absorbed the entire wave of chauvinism and nationalism during the First World War. In addition, the greatest scope of this movement in Germany and Italy is explained by the insult to the national feelings of the peoples of these countries, who completed their unification later than others and emerged from the First World War not only weakened, but also humiliated: Germany - by the conditions of the Versailles Peace, Italy - by the fact that its interests were neglected at the Paris Peace Conference.
For fascists, democracy is synonymous with chaos, to which they consider order and discipline to be an alternative.
What brought the fascists closer to the traditional right was the exaltation of the state: both saw in it the concentration of the national spirit, the basis of stability and order.
Both of them were against any modernization; they called for a mechanical return to origins, roots, and national shrines.
In addition to the views of the right, fascism also absorbed new features that were not inherent in the old conservatism of the right.
The fascists put forward and sought to put into practice not just the idea of a strong state, but a totalitarian state that absorbs civil society. In Germany, the implementation of this idea gave rise to a conflict between the fascists and the church, which sought to maintain its autonomy. The traditional right would not allow such a conflict due to its commitment to the church. In addition, they were, unlike the fascists, a small elite (family aristocrats, major financiers and industrialists). Fascism is a mass movement in which artisans, peasants, small traders and entrepreneurs, office workers, and war veterans took part.
The ugly feature of the fascists is their penchant for violence, which they claimed made a cult out of it. They sought to build a new world order through violence. The understanding of violence as a necessary attribute of political struggle pitted fascism against orthodox socialists and communists.
Fascism also came out with anti-capitalist slogans. Unlike socialists and communists, free competition and individualism were seen as a threat to national unity.
Having borrowed a number of slogans and ideas from the socialists, fascism considered socialists and communists its main enemies. Anti-communist slogans contributed to the unification of Italian fascists, German Nazis and Japanese militarists into the Anti-Comintern Pact. They did not perceive the socialists as their “guilt” for the defeat in the First World War.
IN different countries The fascist movement had its own specific features. Being nationalists, his supporters made no effort to develop a joint program.
In German fascism, nationalism took on extreme forms. This was not the case in Italian. According to the German fascists, human history was an eternal struggle for the existence of different races and peoples. In this fight, the strongest wins. The loser must die or submit. They considered the Aryan Nordic race, to which they considered themselves, to be the most viable. its historical mission is to achieve world domination.
Italian fascism considered the Roman Empire as a role model and sought to turn the Mediterranean Sea into an “Italian lake.”
Spanish fascism was largely a reaction to the revolutionary uprisings of the population and the penetration of communism. It was based on monarchism, clericalism and anti-communism.
| 1. | Lecture notes World History of the 20th Century |
| 2. | 2. First World War |
| 3. | 3. Revolutionary events in the Russian Empire in 1917. Bolshevik revolution |
| 4. | 4. Revolutionary movement in Europe in 1918-1923. |
| 5. | 5. Establishment of the Bolshevik dictatorship. National liberation movement and civil war in Russia |
| 6. | 6. Education of the foundations of the post-war world. Versailles-Washington system |
| 7. | 7. Attempts to revise post-war treaties in the 20s |
| 8. | 8. The main ideological and political trends of the first half of the 20th century. |
| 9. | 9. National liberation movements |
| 10. | 10. Stabilization and “prosperity” in Europe and the USA in the 20s |
| 11. | 11. World economic crisis (1929-1933) |
| 12. | 12. F. Roosevelt's "New Deal" |
| 13. | 13. Great Britain in the 30s. Economic crisis. "National Government" |
| 14. | 14. "Popular Front" in France |
| 15. | 15. The establishment of the Nazi dictatorship in Germany. A. Hitler |
| 16. | 16. Fascist dictatorship b. Mussolini in Italy |
| 17. | 17. Revolution of 1931 in Spain. |
| 18. | 18. Czechoslovakia in the 20-30s |
| 19. | 19. Countries of Eastern and South-Eastern Europe in the 20-30s |
| 20. | 20. Proclamation of the USSR and the establishment of the Stalinist regime |
| 21. | 21. Soviet modernization of the USSR |
| 22. | 22. Japan between the two world wars |
| 23. | 23. National revolution in China. Chiang Kai-shek. Domestic and foreign policy of the Kuomintang |
| 24. | 24. Civil war in China. Proclamation of the People's Republic of China |
| 25. | 25. India in the 20-30s |
| 26. | 26. National movements and revolutions in Arab countries, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan. The origins of the Palestinian problem. K. Ataturk, Rezahan |
| 27. | 27. National movements in the countries of Shvdenko-East Asia (Burma, Indochina, Indonesia) |
| 28. | 28. Africa between the two world wars |
| 29. | 29. Development of Latin American countries in the 20-30s |
| 30. | 30. Education, science and technology |
| 31. | 31. Development of literature of the 20-30s |
| 32. | 32. Art of the 20-30s |
| 33. | 33. Formation of hotbeds of the Second World War. Creation of the Berlin-Rome-Tokyo bloc |
| 34. | 34. Policy of “appeasement” of the aggressor |
| 35. | 35. USSR in the system of international relations |
| 36. | 36. Causes, nature, periodization of the Second World War |
| 37. | 37. Germany's attack on Poland and the beginning of World War II. Fighting in Europe in 1939-1941. |
| 38. | 38. Attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR. Defensive battles in the summer and autumn of 1941. Battle of Moscow |
| 39. | 39. Military operations on the Eastern Front in 1942-1943. A radical turning point during the Second World War. Liberation of the territory of the USSR |
| 40. | 40. Formation of the anti-Hitler coalition. International relations during the Second World War |
| 41. | 41. The situation in warring and occupied countries. Resistance movement in Europe and Asia during the Second World War |
| 42. | 42. Main events of the Second World War in Africa, in the Pacific Ocean (1940-1945) |
| 43. | 43. Liberation of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe (1944-1945) |
| 44. | 44. Landing of allied troops in Normandy. Liberation of Western European countries. Surrender of Germany and Japan |
| 45. | 45. Results of World War II |
| 46. | 46. Creation of the United Nations |
| 47. | 47. Signing peace treaties. Occupation policy of Germany and Japan. Nuremberg and Tokyo trials |
| 48. | 48. The Marshall Plan and its significance for the recovery of Europe |
| 49. | 49. Main trends in the socio-economic and political development of Western countries in 1945-1998. |
| 50. | 50. United States of America |
| 51. | 51. Canada |
| 52. | 52. UK |
| 53. |
