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Assess The Difference Between Democracy And Non-Democratic Regimes

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Democratic and non-democratic are the two main types of regimes. They differ on the ways they govern over the people. Democratic and non-democratic regimes can be compared and contrasted by the institutional structure, rule of law, methods of political control, and political socialization. One way democratic and non-democratic regimes can be compared is by their institutional structure. Both democratic and non-democratic regimes have separate branches of government in place; however, in practice they differ. There is often an executive, legislative, and judicial branch set up to run the government, in both. In advanced democracies there seem to be more checks and balances in place between the branches, to prevent one branch from having all …show more content…

In democratic regimes political socialization is often through family, schools, and the media. Especially in advanced democracies the level of civil society is pretty high. Civil society helps people to develop their own unique opinions. If there are activities that are not run by the state, there will probably be more opposition against the state, compared to a state without a strong civil society. In non-democratic regimes when there are high levels of control the way people acquire their political beliefs are controlled by the government. The media is also a form of political socialization in non-democratic regimes, but it may have a different affect. For example, in Russia, the media to mostly state owned. The government chooses what is put on TV or printed in the news. This makes it more difficult for opposing views to form against the government, if all they hear is information form the government. The political parties in Russia are not based on ideology but are rather personalized to the elite members of the government to support their aspirations. Political parties can be a way the separates political attitudes. If there is a lack of parties, people will mostly support the one major party. There are patterns due to environment both in democratic and non-democratic regimes. For example being rich or poor, or being form an urban or rural area has an influence over political

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