“The difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is that in a democracy you vote first and take orders later; in a dictatorship you don't have to waste your time voting” (Charles Bukowski). When considering the type of government to run a country, one must analyze the pros and cons of each. The United States government claims to be driven by representation, but is this really true? Does America defend their assertions? Do the people really make the decisions or is that just what the government tells us? On the other hand, the Philippines were controlled and regulated entirely by a dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. Through his corruption and power he was able to forcefully govern the economy and impose his philosophy on the people. Is this method …show more content…
As addressed earlier, democracy serves the country based on representation of the population. This means that citizens make decisions on certain issues and are represented by their delegates on other difficulties. However, there is a great controversy if this really the greatest arrangement of government. Firstly, many voters are uneducated and vote on problems that they have no knowledge about and put the populace in great danger. For example, when choosing a president to lead the nation, many registered voters don’t do proper research on the delegates’ platforms and make their choices based on irrelevant information. Additionally, it is very difficult to properly count all the votes and announce the winner. Therefore, many times numbers are fathomed or altered to benefit a specific candidate and the general public is not really being represented. On the other hand, dictatorships also have many problems. For one, leaders with absolute power abolish any voice of the individuals of society and consequently policies usually benefit the men on top. Even leaders who intend to support their citizens are usually affected by the great power they have and become very controlling and
Comparing the U.S. governments ability to meet the needs of its citizens compared to that of a dictatorship is far superior. A dictatorship is designed to benefit one or few individuals that have achieved power using capital or force. Their only concern is for themselves and what will increase their power. The U.S. form of government is restricted to the power of the constitution.
However, under other forms of government like direct democracies, citizens are not discriminated against by their own leader, and are allowed to voice their opinions on decision making in their nation. While every form of government has its advantages and disadvantages, totalitarian dictatorships have considerably more drawbacks than they do advantages. Under a totalitarian dictatorship and citizen's rights are abused, the leader is allowed to do virtually anything they would like to
Which is why dictators usually reserve the right of overriding their parliaments, government and courts even though they designate power for most situations. It's also why dictatorships are far more efficient in crisis situations i.e. war, then democracies. (Separation of Powers)
Which system is better, a Democracy or Constitutional Republic? At first, it might seem that Democracy is the better system, as it gives the people a better voice in government. However, Democracy has some serious weaknesses. It enables the majority to totally dominate and oppress the minority (Hospers). As was seen with Socrates, the minority is not protected in a democracy. Because, in a true democracy, there is no check on the power of the masses, it is as if there is no rule save for mob rule. A good orator, such as Alcibiades, architect of the disastrous attack on Syracuse, could manage to sway the masses into making unwise decisions. Perhaps democracy's greatest flaw
“The United States is known as a democracy. We have a system of government where power lies with the people because we vote in elections, speak freely, and participate as legal equals in social life”. Dictatorship can be defined as “a form of government that restricts the right to political participation to a small group or ever to a single individual”, according to the book “You May Ask Yourself by Dalton Conley. Conley continues to give examples of the limitations on “suffrage, censor information to the public, and arrange the brutal disappearances of no submissive subordinates.” “Also the biggest conflict with dictatorship is that people get power hungry very easily. the best of intentions can become selfishness
The United States is the oldest recognized democracy in the modern world. It has stayed strong for such a long time because this type of government protects the interest of citizens, promotes equality, and prevents a monopoly of power. The American Democracy, like all systems of government, has strengths and weaknesses in relation to the power, politics, and people in the country.
Some long standing societies have failed to become democratic, even with popular support for such a political system for many different reasons. One, tradition and change is hard. Some states have such a thick religious, cultural, etc. history that they do not know how to incorporate democracy with what their state has, needs and wants. Two, they do not want a democracy. They want to be different and try something new to become better or even equal to the presence that the United States used to play as the main actor of politics worldwide. They see the United States diminishing in ways that it does not wish to, so it does not go with the democracy route. Three, some leaders may find that fear works better than anything else. Isolating people
I am going to discuss a constitutional democracy form of government and a dictator form of government. We in America live under a constitutional democracy. First, a democracy, as most know is a government of the people, by the people, and for the people (Constitutional Democracy, n.d.). A constitutional democracy affords protections of the people from those elected to lead the government ensuring their rights are not violated (Constitutional Democracy, n.d.). These protections come from the foundation of the created society and backed up by law (Constitutional Democracy, n.d.). Unlike a dictatorship, our democracy may be overseen by those elected to power, however, the people ultimately retain that power (Constitutional Democracy, n.d.). In a way, there is a form of dictatorship in our
Every form of government is bound to have some shortfalls. Different people have different views about the various political systems. But in today's world, democracy is considered to be the best form of government, reason being that people are treated equally and have full rights to live a life of their liking. Unlike a Oligarchy government is not considered to be a
The United States is usually recognized as a liberal and ideal place to live by most people and countries because of their development of their single most powerful form of government, democracy. The very citizens of the United States believe that it is in their hands to influence all order and management of their beloved and praised country, however, the realism in this system has been blinded by their own people. The United States, though it may seem like a democracy because it emphasizes delegating popular sovereignty, is in no shape or form an absolute democracy where it gives the power to the people to make the decisions or influence law. The contribution of the people is in fact effective and needed, but it is not the citizens who
The United States Government is defined in many different ways. The most common that we hear are the forms of democracy and republic. Although very similar, these are very loose terms when it comes to categorizing our government. The respect for human rights and involvement of the nation’s people have been a main priority in the running of the government since the beginning. Unfortunately, over time, we are seeing our freedoms and individual participation in the governments decisions slowly declining in many aspects. This makes us question the government and our ultimates rights as citizens that we currently have. The support we have for democracy is our support towards religious freedom, worker rights, and also helps create a more stable and affluent system that manages our nation’s control and gives us the ability to have a bigger voices around the world.
The United States has an unstable democratic standing. What has happened in the United State shows the US not fully democratic. Issues that the US had been unfair treatment of people who aren’t white, voting rights not being given, and relocation towards a certain race, which has done nothing wrong. People also faced issues that couldn’t be avoided with rights. The United States is not democratic as everyone thinks. Equality and voting rights are something for all and within our amendment. Imprisonment or relocation of a race that has done nothing wrong. Americans also were faced the government for something that many didn’t wish for. The US has to change to be a better place for all.
As systems of government, Democracy and Dictatorship exhibit key differences in how leaders are elected, power is distributed and how people are governed. Nations that have a democratic element are those where the people have a substantial say, through a system of voting, about who is representing them in the government, and where leaders are not governing for life. In
Churchill’s claim that “democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried” is deliberately provocative and intended to challenge the reader’s simplistic ideal that democracy is without faults. There are an estimated 114 democracies in the world today (Wong, Oct 3rd lecture). A figure that has increased rapidly in the last century not necessarily because democracy is the best form of government, but primarily for reason that in practice, under stable social, economic and political conditions, it has the least limitations in comparison to other forms of government. Be it the transparency of a democratic government or the prevalence of majority rule, all subdivisions of democracy benefit and hinder its
Throughout history different types of instrumental regimes have been in tact so civilizations remained structured and cohesive. As humanity advanced, governments obligingly followed. Although there have been hiccups from the ancient times to modern day, one type of government, democracy, has proven to be the most effective and adaptive. As quoted by Winston Churchill, democracy is the best form of government that has existed. This is true because the heart of democracy is reliant, dependent, and thrives on the populaces desires; which gives them the ability for maintaining the right to choose, over time it adjusts and fixes itself to engulf the prominent troubling issues, and people have the right of electing the person they