Essay on Government Forms Of Democracy Forms of Government Essay Democracy: An Analysis Essay

1. Essay on Government
Government
Government! You can't live with it! You can't live without it! It is the "common cold" that everyone
dreads. The American Heritage College Dictionary, Third Edition defines government as, "The
exercise of authority in a political unit in order to control and administer public policy." Webster's
Desk Dictionary of the English Language defines government as, "The political direction and control
exercised over a nation, state, community, etc." The common individual might define government as
the root of all evil. The thing about government is that no one stops to think about how government
came about.
Government falls into two categories; monarchy or a republic. A monarchy is a form of government
that is always headed by a...show more content...
King Fahad has complete control over it's citizens in all aspects pertaining to their country. Laws,
punishments, and regulations are in the hands of King Fahad.
If the government of a country does not fall into any of these categories, it is a republic. A republic
is defined in Webster's Desk Dictionary of the English Language as any government in which the
supreme power rests in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by representatives
chosen directly or indirectly by them. There are three types of republics; dictatorship, oligarchy, or
democracy.
A dictatorship is a republic ruled by one individual. Cuba has a dictatorship. Fidel Castro is the
main contributor to Cuban society. He oversees his people yet allows his people the right to vote
him in or out of office.
An oligarchy is another type of republic. This type is ruled by a select few. An example of an
oligarchic society would be France. King Louis XV is king but he has a complete parliament to
assist him in the law making procedure of France.
The third type of republic is a democracy. A democracy is defined as a society ruled by the
majority. An example of a democratic republic would be the United States.
There are four theories that coincide with government; divine, natural, social compact, and force.
The divine theory was developed out of religion. The theory states that government ordained itself
from God, and its main purpose is
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2. Forms Of Democracy
What is Democracy?
A democracy is a system of government where the citizens have the right to elect government
representatives who jointly create a government body for the entire nation. In a democratic
government, people have certain rights that the government can't take away from them; these rights
are guaranteed. The eight main forms of democracy are:
1. Direct democracy 2. Representative democracy 3. Presidential democracy
4. Parliamentary democracy 5. Authoritarian democracy 6. Participatory democracy 7. Islamic
democracy
8. Social democracy
Direct Democracy – Direct democracy is when citizens vote for a policy directly. If the
government needs to pass a law or policy, then it goes to the people. The people place a vote on
the issue and through their vote, they decide the fate of their country. When the country's
population is small and educated a direct democracy is a good idea. Switzerland has had an
extensive history of very successful direct democracy. However, most countries are too big so it
makes it too complicated for a direct democracy to work. In these cases, people choose to elect
representatives from their country on their behalf, instead of voting on every issue.
Representative Democracy– Representative democracy is when the citizens choose to vote for who
will represent them in a parliament. Its reputation relies on defending the rights of most of the
people in the state and also the minorities. Australia and New Zealand are examples of countries
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3. Forms of Government Essay
Many different forms of government have existed throughout civilization. Theocracy, dictatorships,
democracy, and many others have all had periods of time where they reigned as the government of
choice. Arguments could be made in favor of each form of government. The key to finding the most
viable form of government is to consider this: which form of government provides the most stability
for the state? The stability of the state is based upon the foundation of the government. Shaky
foundations lead to short–lived or miserable nations. Governments based upon religion, birthrights, or
one man generally do not have solid foundations. The greatest foundation a government can have is
the support of its citizens. Governments which cater to...show more content...
The two dominant forms of government are democracy and authoritarianism. The two
socio–economic policies are capitalism and communism. Democracy is a form of government which
dominates the western world. In democracy, every person is given equal input into matters of the
state, although this does happen to varying degrees. There exist many different types of democracy.
Absolute or direct democracy occurs when each citizen personally participates in all
decision–making processes. This system is difficult to maintain due to the vast number of people and
the necessity for all people to be informed, logical, and educated when making many decisions. This
form of democracy has not existed in significant sized populations. Representative democracy is a
type of government in which the people elect government officials to make decisions concerning the
state. The two most prevalent types of representative democracy are democratic republics and
parliamentary democracies. In a democratic republic, such as the United States or Canada, the people
elect both their representatives in government and their head of state. In a parliamentary democracy,
such as the United Kingdom or Australia, the people elect their representatives and their
representatives elect their head of state. Authoritarianism is a form of government in which the
leader or leaders have exclusive power concerning matters of the state. Although these
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4. Democracy: An Analysis Essay
Winston Churchill once remarked that "democracy is the worst form of government except all the
others that have been tried". In agreement with his statement, this paper will examine the problems
of democratic governments using specific examples, and compare it to the failure of fascist
governments in Nazi Germany and Italy and communist governments in the Soviet Union and China.
Theoretically, democracy is a stable form of government where power is in the hands of the people.
In a democracy, people have the liberty to elect officials that best represent their interests, and
political institutions exist as a result: Benjamin Constant argues in The Liberty of the Ancients
Compared with that of the Moderns that "true modern liberty is...show more content...
During elections in countries with corrupt governments, for example, it has to be decided whether
the guarantee of every individual's right to vote or who wins is more important. (Wong, Lecture,
October 24) Moreover, deep divides continue to exist and separate groups in democratic countries by
race, religion, language, and class, resulting in tension and, in some cases, oppression. Thus
democracy, despite its emphasis on liberty, equality and plurality, can still be problematic.
According to Andrew Janos, "the price of economic progress has been political turmoil". (Janos, pg.
21) If the Modernization Theory holds that countries tend to become more democratic the more they
modernize, then political turmoil is to be expected in democracies. Certainly this can occur in both
parliamentary and presidential systems: as Linz argues, the presidential system concentrates too
much power on the president, resulting in "winner–take–all" politics (Linz, pg. 56) and the
polarization of political parties. This is evident in the United States, where the president is elected
separately and Congress is divided between the opposing Democrats and Republicans. Conversely,
the parliamentary system in Britain, as well as that adapted by the former British colonies of Sri
Lanka and Nigeria, has had its fair share of single–party hegemony and political abuse. (Horowitz,
pg. 78) Democracy is therefore not a perfect form of government when put in practice, and much of
its
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