Country Classification According to Sir John A.R. Marriott
John A.R. Marriott
Sir John A.R. Marriott is an English scholar whose teachings we can find out in a book entitled: "The Mechanism of the Modern State".
In his book he criticized Aristotle's classification, because according to him, Aristotle's classification, although it was a fundamental classification, could not fulfill the demands of the modern state forms, in the sense that there were several forms of the modern state that could not be included in this classification.
Therefore, Marriott then proposed a new classification, with the intention of covering all forms of modern states.
Country Classification according to Sir John A.R. Marriott
In this classification he uses the basis or criteria for his state system. And what is meant by this state system are three main things, namely :
- Regarding the structure of government.
- Regarding the nature of the constitution, or the constitution.
- Regarding the government system.
1. Regarding the structure of government. By using this criterion, he classified the country into two major groups, namely :
2. Regarding the nature of the constitution, or the constitution. Based on these criteria, countries can be classified into two major groups, namely:
- A country whose constitution, or I think it is more appropriate to use the term constitutional constitution is rigid, or rigid, means that the constitution has special characteristics, the specialness of which lies in its amendment, or if it is to amend the constitution. the. In this case, very heavy conditions are required. This also affects the function or priority of the legislative body, namely that the legislative body here is only tasked with making laws according to the provisions listed or stipulated in the constitution.
- A country whose constitution is flexible or lenient, as opposed to a rigid, or regid nature. Here the amendments or pengamandiran of the constitution take place or can be carried out like an ordinary law-making process.
The legislative body here has a function or task not only in the legislative field, but also in constituency, meaning that the legislative body is not only tasked with promulgating, amending, and repealing laws, but also in charge of forming and changing constitutional laws. - Regarding the government system. Here what is meant is how the balance of positions between the executive body and the legislative body. This can lead to three kinds of possibilities, namely:
a. The executive body has the same position as the legislative body.
b. The executive body has a higher position than the legislative body.
c. The executive body has a lower position than the legislative body.
Based on these criteria countries can be classified into :
a. A country that uses a presidential government system.
b. A country that uses a parliamentary government system.
Regarding the balance of positions between the executive body and the legislative body, it can be explained as follows: in autocratic countries, the position of the executive is higher than that of the legislature, the form of government can be called despots. This has happened in Russia during the Tsarist era.
On the other hand, in democratic countries there are two possibilities for balancing the position of the executive body and the legislative body, namely maybe the position of the executive body is lower than that of the legislative body.
This, for example, has happened in the United States, France, England, and all member states of the Commonwealth of Nations along with Britain. Or, the second possibility, is that the position of the executive body is equal to that of the legislative body.
With the teachings of his classification, Marriott then argues that he can place forms of government rather than modern countries, remembering that what really determines the form of a country is its system of government, into its respective groups. Britain, for example, the Marriott state itself, according to him, can be classified as a unitary state, which has flexible constitutions and governs a presidential system. That's what Marriott teaches about country classification.
