political system

American  

noun

1. a coordinated set of principles, laws, ideas, and procedures relating to a particular form of government, or the form of government itself.

   Democracy is a political system in which citizens govern themselves.

---

Etymology

Origin of political system

First recorded in 1720–30

Example Sentences

Born in Najaf, Iraq in 1957 to a prominent Shiite cleric who was close to the Islamic Republic's founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Larijani's family has been influential within Iran's political system for decades.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

For much of his adult life, he supported reform within Iran's political system and voted mostly for moderate US presidential candidates.

From BBC • Feb. 6, 2026

It reflects a generation grappling with identity and intimacy in a political system that many feel no longer represents them.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026

We should be doing all we can to get people to vote and invest in our beleaguered political system.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2026

His central theme was that no new African nation, trying to decolonize itself, needed any political system that would permit division and bickering.

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey