Democratic and authoritarian are two very different and contradicting forms of political regimes. They differ in the way a country or a state is managed. In attempting to identify and discuss the differences between the two regimes, we should think what implications do the two regimes have on the political system. How are they different in terms of the institutions they inherent? How are rulers elected and which one provides the more comprehensive representation? How does the law making process differ, what implications do they have on the judiciary and civil rights? Is the distribution of power different in the two regimes? And finally which one is more prosperous economically and ...view middle of the document...
In such a regime the ruler, mostly the commander in chief of the army accumulates military power and takes over an elected government. In all three kinds of authoritarian rule described above, the rulers rule in their interest, without the consent or approval of the people.In contrast, a democratic system of government in theory sways into the direction of representative rule. Leaders are directly or indirectly elected. Such a system allows free and competitive elections without any restriction on the number of political parties, an absent feature in authoritarian rule. The ability of independent organisations to function without any restrictions, the existence of interest groups and the accountability of the government is vested in such a political system. Some examples of such states are the US, UK, Australia and France.In democratic states, all citizens have the right to cast their vote and no one is deprived of this right regardless to their race, status or background. Candidates are chosen for each state or county and these candidates collectively form the legislative i.e. Congress in the US and Parliament in the UK. Presidents or Prime Ministers are indirectly elected by the population and are subject to a 4-year term, after which they have to fight again to be elected. This way, people from all over the country can choose their own MP or Senator to represent them in the legislative authority. If for instance candidates fail to satisfy those that have elected them, they will not be elected in the next election and loose their popular status and position. In a democratic country the sovereignty lies with the people. Elections in authoritarianism are non-democratic. Rulers may come into power by overthrowing a civilian government by the use of military force. Such was the case in Pakistan in October 1999. Single party states offer no realistic choice to the people i.e. there is only one candidate for every post. Suffrage may not be given to everyone, as some might not have the right to even cast their votes. Hence elections in such a scenario are more or less organised or pre-planned.As mentioned above, democratic regimes allow the existence of organisations that may or may not bring out the mistakes of the government in power. They may exist as interest groups, media groups, trade unions or even environmental groups, all with varying interests. The elected government has to try and satisfy all these interests to the best of its ability in order stay popular. This will inevitably lead to fair play with government officials being answerable to the people. Corruption and mismanagement is less likely to be the case in this context."So, while democratic countries are not immune to corruption, democratic institutions certainly make it more difficult for corruption to go unnoticed" (Sullivan, date unknown)In authoritarian regimes these institutions are not available, but if they do exist, the government controls them. Russia has long had ...
