Historically, the political organisation of many socialist states has been dominated by a one-party monopoly. Some communist governments such as those in China, Czechoslovakia or East Germany have or had more than one political party, but all minor parties are or were required to follow the leadership of the communist party. In communist states, the government may not tolerate criticism of policies that have already been implemented in the past or are being implemented in the present. Nevertheless, communist parties have won elections and governed in the context of multi-party democracies without seeking to establish a one-party state and therefore these entities do not fall under the definition of communist state. In most of Europe, communist parties were highly popular and served in several coalition governments during the 20th century. Examples of direct ruling include San Marino (1945–1957), Nicaragua (1984–1990), Guyana (1992–2015), Moldova (2001–2009), Cyprus (2008–2013) and Nepal (1994–1998; 2008–2013; 2015–2017; 2018–present) as well as several Brazilian, Indian and Russian states.