A political system is established within a state so as to safeguard the rights of its people and solve the socio-political issues that may hamper the better life opportunities. If a system fulfills the challenges and solves the problems that may erupt within a state, the system is said to be an ideal system. However, it is not possible to have an ideal system in practice but something near it may be achieved with the help of political prudence and continuous efforts.
Moreover, it must never be forgotten that a political setup is a dynamic phenomenon; there have to be changes within the system so as to compensate for the ever-changing nature of human society. In the very earlier states the nature of political systems was not the same as it is today.
Throughout the history of statehood, human beings have experienced different sorts of systems and setups. From monarchy to today's modern democracy, there have been myriads of political systems and political practices. The only common thing among them is that they keep on changing. Though some may take a longer time to change but ultimately they have to change as they do not have any other option.
There may be various reasons of changes within a political system. One of the basic reasons is that the human societies evolve, giving birth to new changes which give rise to new challenges. To overcome those challenges the systems have to introduce changes.
The need for changes may also arise when the system is not on the track to stability and fails to address the basic problems of the people. In other words it can be said that the perceived dissatisfaction from a system is directly proportional to the demands in change.
The great political and social changes in the history of mankind have their roots in the same phenomenon. It can also be said that the standard of living of the subjects and their perceived satisfaction of socio-political scenario is one of the best ways of gauging the effectiveness of a political system.
There are two ways of introducing changes within a system. The first one is through amendments, i.e. bringing about necessary changes within the present system while keeping the basic nature of the system intact. Most of the changes within democratic systems take place through the same process.
One of the qualities of democratic systems is that they keep on inviting changes. Moreover the democratic system proceeds in such a way that the changes become inevitable. The example of elections within a democracy is one of the most important processes in this regard. The elections guarantee government change after every specific period of time. If elections are held regularly the system keeps on moving ahead.
On the other hand, there can be changes within the overall system that actually tend to change the basic nature of the system. Such a change is basically referred to as a 'system change' and is brought about by a revolution or a military coup.
For example, if a system changes from a democracy to a dictatorship or from Capitalism to Socialism, it will be a 'system change'. The change in system becomes inevitable when all the possibilities of changes within a system are lost. The people start suffocating so much that they start demanding for a change in the entire system. Meanwhile, it should be mentioned that most of the revolutions are not very much peaceful and they involve blood-shed.
Amendments within a system are very much normal and there should not be a very strict stand on these sort of changes within a system because it would bring a society to a halt and would hamper its natural growth. Moreover, a democratic system is always a dynamic system and keeps on checking the possibilities of positive changes.
It is the characteristic of a dictatorial government that dislikes changes and strives to maintain the status quo. The dictatorial systems are also characterized by being personality centered. The changes within the system are highly dependent on the personality of the ruler. Moreover, as there is no concept of regular elections in most of the dictatorial systems they do not guarantee frequent changes and the rule of the leader may last for many years.
The great democracies in the world have acquired their mature systems after many years of evolution. Changing from very immature and preliminary stages they have reached to today's position where they have been able to address most of the problems of their people.
Their example is great guidance for the authorities in our country if they are really interested in establishing a strong political system and a reliable infra-structure upon which the future political setup can be built. Nevertheless, for that they have to give a great sacrifice and that is the sacrifice of their personal gains for the betterment of the majority of the people.
Currently, Afghan political system does not seem to be compensating for the growing demands of time and has basic problems that do not let the system represent the diversity within the Afghan society appropriately and at the same time do not let the people out of troubles that they face. No doubt, we cannot expect Afghanistan to have a well-developed system as the democratic history in Afghanistan is very short, yet it must never be forgotten that in order to have a better system, changes have to be brought continuously as per the demands.
There are many concerns about the political system in Afghanistan; many even claim that it is not a democratic system as it is turning out to be very much centralized and authoritarian, which is not as per the nature of Afghan society. The Afghan society is basically a very diverse society and it has a history wherein it has not tolerated too much centralized and authoritarian regimes readily. Therefore, it is necessary for the current system to be open and let the changes occur. Otherwise, there may be suffocation and the system may reach to a dead end.