A typical community in early Greece was called a polis (city-state) and consisted of a walled urban center that was built on a natural acropolis with a surrounding territory of land under its control. Each polis was an independent state from other poleis in terms of political, judicial, legal, religious, social institutions, and practices. City-states were involved in international affairs with other poleis and non-Greek states in areas that covered trade, political alliances, and wars.

The first well- documented city-state appeared in southern Mesopotamia in Sumer around 5000 BCE. The format of the city-state has been with us and developed in every part of the world since then.

Geographically, the city-states consisted of a walled city or body of water with an outlying area that provided the necessary goods for existence such as food for those within the boundaries of the walls. The citystates each shared the same culture, traditions, language, and history. In addition, they were essentially selfgoverning.

City-states and nation states were similar in the sense that they both had a mutual history, language, and traditions. On the other hand, nation states differed from city-states because nation states often consisted of several city-states and lacked some of the homogeneous features of the city-state. Nation states were, despite the term “nation,” somewhat less ardently nationalistic in outlook. Sometimes conflicts arose between the city-states themselves within nations

The basic aim of the city-state was to live in intimate safe communities that are free from foreign domination.

One of the main reasons that ended the development of city-states was the conflicts between them. Wars broke out between many city-states. An example of this happened in Athens and Sparta. Moreover, religious differences brought about a lack of homogeneity, and also the changes in class and caste weakened many of the city-states. This, combined with the growing power of states surrounding the city-state, led to the end of citystates eventually.

Citizenship is the privilege of membership of a political community. Citizenship includes the right to participate in the democratic process. Thisi for example, includes participating in elections and freedom to speak out if the need arises.

Characteristics which define citizenship include:

• Membership of the democratic political community

• Having access to the collective benefits and rights associated with membership

• Participating in the community’s political, social and economic process

In general, individuals become part of the political process that affects the lives of citizens in a political community with the right to vote. In specific, the ability to vote allows citizens to:

• participate in the process of instituting a stable and political framework that will regulate social and economic life

• define how the political institutions such as bureaucracy, the legal system, the courts, the police force, and the army are formulated

• be active participants in deciding the regulations guiding both policy issues and government institutions 

We can divide the theories of citizenship into two as described below:

• Normative Theories: These theories set the rights and duties that should ideally be performed by a citizen. They examine the attributes and advantages of a good citizen. The arguments that support this view are based on historical facts. Attributes that are no longer tenable are usually abandoned for the new. For example, the view that good citizenship depends on one’s ability to contribute to his/her country through military service is gradually no longer rational.

• Empirical Theories: These theories explain how citizens came about having those rights and duties associated with citizenship. Empirical theories explore the social, economic, and political processes that have fashioned the emergence of citizenship in different times and places. They also explore the different ways through which different groups of people have been able to access such citizenship. As such, the objectives of empirical theories are to understand how and why citizenship came about as well as to expound the forms of citizenship. 

Government can be defined as a system through which a state or an entity is controlled. In the same way, government may be considered as the group of people exercising executive authority over a state. The components of a government include legislators, administrators, and arbitrators. Its function is to enforce state authority.

Most nation states have three branches of government:

• The executive

• The legislative

• The judiciary

In theory, these branches of government are expected to be independent of one another. In this way, the different divisions create a system with checks and balances one another. This system guarantees that none of the branches of government abuses its power. The powers of each of these branches of government are outlined in the constitution of the state.

A president or a prime minister may head the Executive branch of government and enforces the laws of the country with the constitution empowering him/her to.

The legislative branch of government makes the laws.

The legislative branch of a government can be in two forms:

• The unicameral legislature: This type of legislature is made up of only one house. Unicameral systems may be found in countries such as Turkey, China, New Zealand, Norway, and Hungary.

• The bicameral legislature: This type of legislature is divided into two parts. In the United States, the Congress consists of the ‘Senate’ (100 senators) and the ‘House of Representatives’ (435 members). Other examples of bicameral systems are the United Kingdom, France, Canada, and Italy.

The judicial branch of government may constitute the court system with the Supreme Court (the constitutional court) at the top. If this is the case, the Supreme Court is the highest court in that country. Judges in this court system interpret laws according to the constitution and only hear cases that apply to issues related to the constitution

A unitary system of government is a political arrangement where a large proportion of power resides with the central government. The central administration arrives at decisions and channels them to sub-national units for implementation. In a unitary system, there is a central government that controls sub-national units. Power is not shared between the different states, counties, or provinces, as may be the case in a federal system.

Federalism is a political system that brings together separate states within a larger political set-up, but allows each entity to maintain its own fundamental political integrity. In other words, power is shared between a powerful central government and states or provinces in a Federal System of Government. The states are given considerable self-rule, and they have their own legislatures.

The features of a federal system are the following:

• A federal system is established through a convenient union, where power is divided between a strong national government and smaller local states.

• The authority of exercising political power cannot be taken away from the general government or the state governments without common consent.

• ‘Areal division’ safeguards neutrality and equality in the process of representing the political interests of different groups. The divisions are used to secure local autonomy and the representation of different groups within the civil society.

A confederal system is one where loose states agree to abide by the dictates of a powerful central government. Nations that constitute the confederacy are not obliged to follow the lead of a weak central government. In other words, a confederacy can be described as a temporary league of independent states that have come together for the purpose of achieving welldefined objectives.

In a parliamentary system of government, the executive branch of government derives democratic legitimacy from, and it is accountable to, the legislature. This means that the executive branch and the legislature work closely together. In this system, the head of state is usually different from the head of government. A parliamentary system may be bicameral or unicameral.

There are two parliamentary systems of governance:

• The Westminster system: It is found in the Commonwealth of Nations and has a more adversarial approach to debates during plenary sessions. The parliament in this system is relatively more important than the committees. The parliament is elected using a plurality voting system (as in the United Kingdom, India, and Canada) or proportional representation (as in Ireland and New Zealand).

• The consensus system: This system, which is the case of the Western European parliamentary model, is used in Spain and Germany. There is relatively more consensus characterized by semicircular debating chambers. This system uses proportional representation with an open list system. The committees in the parliament are more important than the plenary chamber.

A parliamentary system may have several advantages.

• It is easier and faster to pass legislation.

• It is an attractive governmental system for countries that are racially, ethnically, or ideologically diverse.

• Power is evenly spread out in a parliamentary system in such a way that no one can monopolize the state power.

In a presidential system, the president acts as both the head of government and the head of state. As such, the president is fully responsible for the executive branch of government. An example for a presidential system is the United States

There are four main characteristics of a presidential system:

• The executive branch can veto legislature acts and similarly a supermajority of lawmakers can override such a veto.

• Presidential systems have fixed terms of office. Elections are held regularly and cannot be triggered by a vote of no confidence or a parliamentary procedure except the president has broken the law.

• The executive branch is one individual. Members of cabinet are answerable to the president. In case of nominations to cabinet, the judiciary and lower positions in government, approval is required from the legislative branch. The president is expected to direct members of cabinet and the military but cannot dismiss judges at random.

• Presidents can often forgive or commute sentences of convicted criminals.

The advantages of a presidential system includes the following.

• Elections are direct. Thus, the president’s powers are more legitimate than those of a leader appointed indirectly.

• There is separation of powers. That is, the presidency (the executive) and the legislature are parallel. They allow each structure to monitor the other, thus preventing the abuse of power.

• A president is also thought to have strong powers and can enact change quickly if needed, provided that the separation of powers does not become an obstacle.

• Since presidential systems have fixed terms, they may be more stable than the parliamentary system, where a prime minister can be dismissed at any time.

Pluralism is a system where there exists no single source of authority within a state. Pluralism can be seen as the opposite of a monistic theory of state, which is usually thought to be endowed with supreme and unlimited power. In a pluralistic system, sovereignty is considered as resting not only with the state, but also with many other institutions. The state is only one of the institutions among social, political, cultural, and economic institutions within the society. For example, the United States can be considered as a pluralistic society.

These are:

• Monarchy

• Dictatorship

• Democracy

• Oligarchy

• Autocracy

• Authoritarianism 

 • Totalitarianism

• Theocracy

• Anarchy

• Republic 

A monarchy is a form of government where the sovereignty of the state is embodied in one or a few individuals who are expected to remain in power until death or until they decide to abdicate power. A monarch is the head of a monarchy.

Monarchy can be in these forms:

• An absolute monarchy

• A constitutional monarchy

• An elective monarchy

• A hereditary monarchy

Dictatorship describes a form of government where political power is concentrated in the hands of a single entity and exercised through a diversity of mechanisms which ensure that the entity’s power remains absolute. Dictatorships are authoritarian in the sense that politicians attempt to regulate every aspect of the public life and private life of normal people. Absolute monarchies were forms of dictatorship, for example.

Democracy is a system of government in which citizens of a state take part in decision-making processes of state affairs. This is done through electing representatives to a parliament or an assembly. Democracy is a system where there are free elections and where the people are vested with supreme power exercised directly or indirectly in a system of representation.

Democracy can be in these forms:

• Representative democracy

• Direct democracy

• Parliamentary democracy

• Presidential democracy

In an oligarchy (government by a few), power effectively remains in the hands of small number of individuals. These could be individuals of the same royalty, class, wealth, family ties, education, corporate, or religious or military class who control state affairs. Oligarchies have a history of tyranny. They often utilize oppression as a method of control.

An autocracy is a system of government in which one person controls supreme power over the citizens with little legal restraints on how much power that an individual can exercise. Absolute monarchy and dictatorship are clear examples of autocracy. Totalitarianism and military juntas are other examples of autocracy.

In this form of government, there is little selfrestraint exercised in controlling the opponents or the mass public. This form of government has formally illdefined executive powers. This means that power may often be vague or shift. There are four characteristics of this government type:

• It has constraints on political institutions and groups (the legislature, political parties, and interest groups).

• Its basis for legitimacy is based on emotion.

• The regime is viewed as a necessary evil that must solve an existing social problem.

• It does not have an extensive system of political mobilization.

Totalitarianism is a system of government where the state has total control of the society and all aspects of both public and private life.

In a theocracy, the god or deity is recognized as the immediate ruler of the state. The priests are required to implement God’s law drawn from the statute book of the kingdom. A king in some religions was considered a son of God, and the messages in the holy book are considered to have come directly from God

Anarchy is described as a situation in society where a group of people or a single person does not recognize authority. It originally means “no leader.” Anarchy comes from an Ancient Greek word meaning “not, without” and “ruler, leader, authority.” Therefore, anarchy means “a person or society without rulers or leaders.”

A republic is a form of government in which power rests with an elected group of individuals who act on behalf of the citizens. The exercise of power is determined by the rule of law. In the modern sense of the word, a republic does not constitute a monarchy. In modern republics, the legitimacy of the executive is derived from the constitution and citizens’ right to vote.

The Federal Republic of Germany is a federal parliamentary republic with 16 states. The federal capital is in Berlin. The German legal system is the civil law system. The executive branch of government is made up of the chief of state (who is the president) and the head of government (who is the chancellor). The cabinet or Bundesminister (Federal Ministers) are recommended by the chancellor, and then appointed by the president. 

The United Kingdom of Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales, and the Northern Ireland) is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Its capital is London. The executive branch is made up of the chief of state who is a monarch (and this position is hereditary). The head of government, however, is the prime minister. Members of cabinet are appointed by the prime minister, who in turn is elected from the majority party or majority coalition after legislative elections. The legislative branch of government consists of a bicameral parliament that consists of the House of Lords and the House of Commons.

The United States of America is a constitutional federal republic. Its capital is Washington, D.C. The legal system at the federal level is based on English common law. At the state level, legal systems are also based on common law. The executive branch is made up of the chief of state who is the president. The president is assisted by a vice president. The cabinet is appointed by the president and approved by the Senate.

France is a semi-presidential republic. It is made up of 18 regions. Its capital is Paris. France has a legal system of civil law. The executive branch of government is made up of the chief of state (who is the president) and the prime minister (who is the head of government). The president appoints the members of the Council of Ministers. The president is elected directly by absolute majority popular vote in a two-round system, for a five-year term. He/she is eligible for a second term. The legislative branch is bicameral and consists of the Senate and the National Assembly.

 The emergence of nation states began from what was called the city-states. The first welldocumented city-state appeared in southern Mesopotamia in Sumer around 5000 BCE. The format of the city-state has been with us and developed in every part of the world since then. 

 Nation states differed from city-states in the sense that even though city states and nation states may have shared commonalities such as a mutual history, language, and traditions, nation states often consisted of several city-states and lacked some of the homogeneous features of the city state. They were, despite the term “nation,” somewhat less ardently nationalistic in outlook. Sometimes conflicts arose within nations between the city-states themselves. 50

City-states arose at different times in different parts of the world. Important city-states encompassed Venice, Genoa, Florence, Siena, and Lucca. These were well known city-states and were thought of as significant Italian city-states. The Lydians had city-state in the period of 540-360 BCE. in southwest Anatolia. 

 Wars erupted between many city-states. An example of this happened in Athens and Sparta. Over time, religious differences brought about a lack of homogeneity; changes in class and caste weakened many of the city-states. This, combined with the growing power of states surrounding the city-state, ended the development of city-states. 

Characteristics which defines citizenship include: a. Membership of the democratic political community, b. Having access to the collective benefits and rights associated with membership, and c. Participating in your community’s political, social and economic process.

Citizenship is the privilege of membership of a political community. The political community in this context means a community to which one owes certain duties. 

Normative Theories set the rights and duties that should ideally be performed by a citizen. They examine the attributes and advantages of a good citizen. The arguments that support this view are based on historical facts. Usually, attributes that are no longer tenable are abandoned for the new. For example, the view that good citizenship depends on one’s ability to contribute to his/her country through military service is gradually no longer rational.

Empirical Theories, on their part, explains how citizens came about having those rights and duties associated with citizenship. Empirical theories explore the social, economic, and political processes that have fashioned the emergence of citizenship in different times and places. They also explore the different ways through which different groups of people have been able to access such citizenship. As such, the objectives of empirical theories are to understand how and why citizenship came about as well as to expound the forms of citizenship. 

Government is defined as a system through which a state or an entity is controlled. In the same way, government may be considered as the group of people exercising executive authority over a state. 

A president or a prime minister may head the Executive branch of government, and this will depend on whether the country is practicing a parliamentary or a presidential system of governance. For example, in a presidential system the president is the head of the executive branch with the constitution empowering him/her to enforce the laws of the country. In most countries, citizens of the country elect the president. This is particularly true in democracies. 

The legislative branch of government makes the laws. In the United States, the legislative branch of government is the Congress and it is bicameral, or divided into two parts. The “Senate” is made up of 100 senators and the “House of Representatives” is made up of 435 members. 

A unitary system of government is a political arrangement where a large proportion of power resides with the central government. The central administration arrives at decisions and channels them to sub-national units for implementation. 

Federalism is a political system that brings together separate states within a larger political set-up, but allows for each entity to maintain its own fundamental political integrity. In a federal system, basic policies are implemented through some form of negotiation while ensuring that members share in decision-making processes that impact their citizens. 

 A confederal system is one where loose states agree to abide by the dictates of a powerful central government.  Nations that constitute the confederacy are not obliged to follow the lead of a weak central government. Examples of confederacies include the former Soviet Union, the Confederate States of the United States (1861-1865), and Switzerland’s Canton system. A confederation can be described as a union of sovereign states whereby each constituent party maintains its autonomy. Another example of a confederation is the German Confederation.

 A typical federal state is characterized by the existence of a rigid constitution that guarantees the intermediate governments to have a degree of autonomy that is permanent and that has access to legislative, executive, and judicial powers. Sub-national governments are represented at the national level on equal footing with each other and will have to consent in case of changes in the national constitution, especially since such changes may impact power distribution that may consequently affect their functioning.

Parliamentary systems have certain advantages. In parliamentary systems, it is easier and faster to pass legislation. This is true because the executive branch of government is formed through the direct or indirect support of the legislature. It is an attractive governmental system for countries that are racially, ethnically, or ideologically diverse. Power is also evenly spread out in a parliamentary system in such a way that no one person can monopolize state power. Some have argued that a parliamentary system tends not to have a high level of corruption, as may be the case in a presidential system. 

• The executive branch can veto legislature acts and similarly a supermajority of lawmakers can override such a veto.• Presidential systems have fixed terms of office. Elections are held regularly and  cannot be triggered by a vote of no confidence or a parliamentary procedure except the president has broken the law. • In a presidential system, the executive branch is one individual. Members of cabinet are answerable to the president. In case of nominations to cabinet, the judiciary and lower positions in government, approval is required from the legislative branch. The president is expected to direct members of cabinet and the   military but cannot dismiss judges at random. • Presidents can often pardon or commute sentences of convicted criminals. 

Pluralism is a system whereby there exists no single source of authority within a state. Pluralism is viewed as the opposite of a monistic theory of state, which is usually thought to be endowed with supreme and unlimited power. In a pluralistic system, sovereignty is considered as resting not only with the state, but also with many other institutions. The state is only one of the institutions among social, political, cultural, and economic institutions within the society.

A monarchy is a form of government where the sovereignty of the state is embodied in one or a few individuals who are expected to remain in power until death or until they decide to abdicate power. 

Absolute monarchy: An absolute monarchy has few or no legal restraints on political matters. It can be described as a form of autocracy. Absolute monarchies are habitually hereditary. They are assumed to exercise total control over the land; Constitutional monarchy: The monarch may exercise limited discretion. This may also be called a crown republic, a limited monarchy, or a parliamentary monarchy; Elective monarchy: In an elective monarchy, the monarch is elected. This type of monarchy differs from a hereditary monarchy where office is automatically conferred to a family member based on inheritance. 

Dictatorship describes a form of government where political power is concentrated in the hands of a single entity and exercised through a diversity of mechanisms which ensure that the entity’s power remains absolute. Dictatorships are authoritarian in the sense that politicians attempt to regulate every aspect of the public life and private life of normal people. These forms of government utilize political propaganda to subdue alternative governing systems. 

Democracy is a system of government in which citizens of a state partake in decisionmaking processes of state affairs. This is done through electing representatives to a parliament or an assembly. 

 There are several variations of democracy. The two main ones include direct democracy and representative democracy. In direct democracies, citizens actively participate in political decision-making. In representative democracy, sovereignty remains with the people. Political power is exercised indirectly through elected representatives. 

 In an oligarchy (rule by a few), power effectively remains in the hands of small number of individuals. These could be individuals of the same royalty, class, wealth, family ties, education, corporate, religious or military class who control state affairs. Oligarchies have a history of tyranny. 

 a) it has constraints on political institutions and groups (the legislature, political parties, and interest groups), b) its basis for legitimacy is based on emotion, c) the regime is viewed as a necessary evil that must solve an existing social problem, d) it does not have an extensive system of political mobilization.