One-Party State: GCSE History Definition

What is a one-party state?

In GCSE History, a one-party state is a country where only one political party runs the government. This means that other political parties are banned or cannot gain power. 

Many examples of one-party states are dictatorships. This is the opposite of a democracy, meaning people lose their right to vote in elections. An extreme one-party state will go so far as to remove all of people's basic human rights, such as freedom of speech. To enforce these rules, one-party states are sometimes called ‘police states’ or ‘military dictatorships.’ These states use a secret police force or the Army, to keep the leader of the government in power.

There have been many one-party states in history. Some examples are:

• Nazi Germany (1933-1945)

• Fascist Italy (1922-1946)

• Communist Russia (1917-1991)

• Communist China (1948-present)

As the examples above show, one-party states usually have either Communist or Fascist political beliefs. 

One-Party State Revision Resources to Ace Your Exams

Explore our revision notes for Edexcel GCSE, AQA GCSE and CIE IGCSE to see where one-party states fit into the revision notes for those specifications

Explore Our GCSE History Revision Resources