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How did Guglielmo Ferrero distinguish legitimate governments from revolutionary governments?
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political system
Delegates attending a League of Nations meeting, c. 1930.
Guglielmo Ferrero, an Italian theorist and contemporary of Gaetano Mosca, proposed a classification system for governments based on a sociopsychological analysis of the relationship between rulers and the ruled.1
He distinguished between the two types as follows:
- Legitimate governments: These are defined by a relationship of mutual trust and voluntary acceptance. In such a system, citizens freely offer their loyalty to the government, and the government rules with the consent of the governed.1
- Revolutionary governments: In these systems, the relationship is characterized by mutual fear. The government fears the people, and the people, in turn, fear the government.1
By focusing on these psychological dynamics rather than just formal structures, Ferrero sought to identify the underlying realities of political power and stability.1