Democracy

In order to fully comprehend democracy and dictatorship, one must first understand what is meant by the forms of governments. The historical context of dictatorship, dictatorship started in ancient Rome as a form of government designed for emergencies. The Senate could choose a leader to guide the country through whatever crises it faced. In this original context, leaders would rule from anywhere up to six months to as long as it took until the problem was solved or until the dictator was removed from his position. While the dictator would be appointed, the civil officers and political representatives would maintain their positions in the government but would still be under the dictators authority until the problem was solved. The purpose behind it was to enable the city or government to rally behind one voice or leader in a time of hardship in order to solve the problem most effectively. Dictatorship originated as a short-term method to prevent catastrophe, but human lust and greed for power corrupted what was meant for good. Today, dictatorship is thought of as a dangerous form of government because of these reasons.

Main point number one. The Dictatorship system rivals the democratic system. It is a system in which the total power is vested in one individual or party. It is known by many other different names,authoritarianism,autocracy,totalitarianism, and tyranny. Dictatorship is opposite to democracy. While democracy upholds liberty, dictatorship suppresses it. By dictatorship we understand the rule of a person or a group of persons who arrogate to them­selves and monopolise power in the state, exercising it without restraint. A dictator dictates terms, he orders and rules as he pleases. In the same fashion He passes laws to strengthen his own hand. There are no restraints on his own hands. There are no restraints on his authority. He ruthlessly suppresses oppo­sition (Adam p286). If democracy is based on consent, Dictatorship makes it the sheer will the sole justification of its authority. Its own being is the only answer it permits. It ignores community. It has no abiding rules, no fundamental laws. Its own law is always that of the hour. There is no law or basis of law beneath it. No law has any higher status than the dictators mere decree. There is no social ground on which his pronouncement of justice rests. Dictatorship comes into being when the social order is shaken or broken, in the time of crisis when men forsake their traditions.

While it comes in the time of desperate conflict when men are willing to sacrifice if only the strong man restores to them assurance and order. In such times they abandon the accepted stan­dards of legality. The anti-thesis between dictatorship and legality has been recognised since the days of the Roman Empire.”The most promising approach to dictatorship remains the legal one, even though it has been traditionally built on the Roman conception”. The coming of dictatorship is usually abrupt. It represents a sharp break from tradition. A crisis occurs. The old legality cannot be restored and the people are unready for the alternative of democ­racy. Because, it requires a process of maturation. The contentions between the classes or between ethnic, religious or other groups may be too irreconcilable for orderly settlement. Such a situation shows the seeds of dictatorship.

During one crisis in England, when a severe break with the tradition occurred, there appeared its only dictator, Oliver Cromwell. In France, during the historic Revolu­tion there came the dictatorship of Robespiere and soon after the Revolution, of Napoleon Bonaparte. Nepoleon, of course, constitutionalised his dictatorial power. Every dictatorship maintains power by unconstitutional means. It elevates the executive above the legislative, it makes its decree, its law; it insists on political orthodoxy, it suppresses unfavourable opinions. It exalts the state. (Schneer 2016) It builds its own organisations which markedly differ from those of the community associations. It can invent no constitutional device for succession to dictatorial power. With that said there are diffrent forms of which dictatorship can be used. Modern dictatorship can be classified into three main types: The Fascist and the Nazi Dic­tatorship, Italy and Germany—before World War II, where the totalitarianism often stands for the purity of race, language, literature and culture (Schmitz 2017). It often breeds militant or aggressive nationalism. Communist Dictatorship for example the Soviet Russia and China, with the absence of free and Independent Press: In a totalitarian system free expression of public opinion is crushed. It controls in countless ways the mass media of propaganda, including the radio and the Press. The Press cannot be free, frank, and independent. and Military Dictatorship, such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq. Between 1919-1939 dictatorship rose in Italy. With no Civil, Political and Economic Liberty: The totalitarian denies individual liberty; it abridges or abrogates fundamental rights (Lohmann 2017). Virtually, people become the slaves of the state. Individual be­comes the means and the state, the dictator becomes the end.

Main point two; In theory, democracy is the best form of government. It is the government of the people as distinguished from the government of an individual or of a class of people. It makes all the citizens interested in their country by giving them a voice in legislation. It gives them a feeling of importance and a sense of responsibility. (Fitzpatrick 2017) It thus gives a meaning to their personality. Another positive of democracy is that it is less liable to revolution than other forms of government. Since people themselves elect the members of government the need for a revolution does not arise. In additions to this, a democratic government usually guarantees freedom of thought and speech. This double freedom is a very great advantage as it enables the individual to grow freely (Gale 2016). Democracy thus offers the most favorable atmosphere for the development of the human personality.

Democracy literally means the rule of the people. It has been defined as government of the people, by the people for the people. Modern democracy rests on the principle of representation. The people elect their representatives by voting. These representatives attend the legislature and act on behalf other citizens. If the citizens are not satisfied with their representatives, they may not re-elect them in the next elections (Haggard 2017). But democracy has its danger. The greatest of which is that it may be the rule of ignorance. “Nine people out of every ten are fools" says Carlyle Thomas, and citizens who are not sufficiently intelligent or educated are likely to commit errors of judgment in the casting of votes (Adam p286). The best men may fail to get elected.

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