One-party state

As of 2023 the following countries are legally constituted as one-party states:

Country	Head of party	Leader title	Party	Ideology	Date of establishment	Duration	Notes
China[6]	Xi Jinping	General Secretary	Chinese Communist Party	Socialism with Chinese characteristics	20 September 1954[7][8]	68 years, 149 days
Cuba[9]	Miguel Díaz-Canel	First Secretary	Communist Party of Cuba	Marxism–Leninism, Castroism, Guevarism, left-wing nationalism	16 April 1961	61 years, 306 days
Eritrea[10]	Isaias Afwerki	Chairperson	People's Front for Democracy and Justice	Eritrean nationalism, statism	24 May 1993	29 years, 268 days
Laos[11]	Thongloun Sisoulith	General Secretary	Lao People's Revolutionary Party	Kaysone Phomvihane Thought	2 December 1975	47 years, 76 days
North Korea[12]	Kim Jong-un	General Secretary	Workers' Party of Korea	Kimilsungism–Kimjongilism	10 October 1945	77 years, 129 days	Leads the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	Brahim Ghali	Secretary General	Polisario Front	Sahrawi nationalism, social democracy	27 February 1976	46 years, 354 days
Vietnam[13]	Nguyễn Phú Trọng	General Secretary	Communist Party of Vietnam	Ho Chi Minh Thought	2 July 1976	46 years, 180 days

One-party states justify themselves through various methods. Most often, proponents of a one-party state argue that the existence of separate parties runs counter to national unity. Others argue that the one party is the vanguard of the people, being its most politically aware members, and therefore the party's right to rule cannot be legitimately questioned. The Soviet government argued that the existence of multiple political parties would perpetuate class struggle, so only a single party could lead a classless proletariat; it therefore made the Communist Party of the Soviet Union the only authorised political party.

Some one-party states only outlaw opposition parties, while allowing allied parties to exist as part of a permanent coalition (such as a popular front). However, these allied parties are largely or completely subservient to the ruling party and must accept the ruling party's monopoly of power as a condition of their existence. Examples of this are the National Front in former East Germany and the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea in North Korea. Other states outlaw all other parties yet allow non-party members to run for legislative seats as independents, as was the case with Taiwan's Tangwai movement in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the elections in the former Soviet Union. Still others have only a single legal party, membership of which is a prerequisite for holding public office, such as in Turkmenistan under the rule of Saparmurat Niyazov or Zaire under Mobutu Sese Seko.

Within their own countries, dominant parties ruling over one-party states are often referred to simply as the Party. For example, in reference to the Soviet Union, the Party meant the Communist Party of the Soviet Union; in reference to the pre-1991 Republic of Zambia, it referred to the United National Independence Party.

Most one-party states have been ruled by one of the following:

1. A party which supports the ideology of Marxism–Leninism and vanguardism (sometimes described as "communist states", such as the Soviet Union)
2. A party which supports a nationalist or fascist ideology (such as the Kingdom of Italy under the National Fascist Party or Germany under the Nazi Party)
3. A party that came to power in the wake of independence from colonial rule. One-party systems often arise from decolonization because a single party gains an overwhelmingly dominant role in liberation or in independence struggles.

One-party states are usually considered to be authoritarian, to the extent that they are occasionally totalitarian. On the other hand, not all authoritarian or totalitarian states operate upon one-party rule. Some, especially amongst absolute monarchies and military dictatorships, have no need for a ruling party, and therefore make all political parties illegal.

• Ban on factions in the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
• Political organisation
• Dominant-party system
• Political factionalism
• Outline of democracy
• Multi-party system
• Two-party system
• List of political party songs