One-party state

One-party state is a euphemism for dictatorship. Although the People's Republic of China is officially a multi-party state, with a Peasant's Party, it is in fact subordinate to the Communist Party. Also, the Wikimedia "Board of Trustees" consists of three members who are co-owners of bomis.com, one of whom is dictator for life, and two others who are "elected" from the "Wikipedians" and no doubt easily removed by the three. This too is a one-party state, which claims to represent a consensus, but has no checks on that other than its own opinions.

See two-party system for the more sophisticated phase that the real USA is in, and faction for a general model of political consumerism and the management of views in the Research Wiki.