Democracy is a popular form of Government. It is practised successfully in many countries of the world. In this form of Government, people elect their own rulers. In a democratic country, there are many political parties. They take part in election. The party which wins by the majority of vote is declared successful. It is called to form the Government. The rest of the parties are supposed to sit on the opposition benches. In the assembly, important issues are debated and discussed by both the ruling party as well as the opposition party. The decision on different problems of the country is taken after much deliberation.
Dictatorship is a system of Government in which one party or one person rules the country. The entire power rests with that party or the ruler. The party comes into power after election. However, unlike democracy, there is not any opposition party. All the votes are cast in favour of one party. In dictatorship no one can oppose the ruler. There are many restrictions on the freedom of people. An individual does not enjoy any type of freedom. The radio, the television, the newspapers and other mass media conceal facts. Their main business is to admire and praise the ruling party. In dictatorship an individual does not enjoy any respect. This form of Government is popular in communist countries as Russia, China and East Germany.
In democracy there is a full freedom of expressing public opinion. An individual enjoys full freedom to think, write and express his views. The press is completely free. The policies of the Government are debated and discussed freely in the newspapers as well as in the assembly hall. In democracy, a person enjoys respect and importance.
Democracy is linked withe justice. Every body has equal right in the eyes of law. The voters can chocse and remove their rulers according to their own will. This form of Government is popular and successful in America, Britain, India and Japan. Democracy has failed in underdeveloped countries. It has not worked successfully in many of the Asian countries. The reasons for its failure are the following.
Democracy is a difficult system of Government. Only the educated and sensible people can understand and run it. In our country and in many other Asian countries, most of people are uneducated and backward. They cannot understand the real spirit and structure of a democratic system of government. Most of the people in our country are poor. At the time of election, the voters are bribed and tempted to give their votes in favour of irresponsible and uneducated candidates. In this way, in democracy, the responsible and educated candidates do not return to Assembly.
In a democratic form of government, the candidates use unfair incans to win the election. The candidates of the rival party are kidnapped.The ballot boxes are broken and undue pressure is exercised on the officers who conduct the election. In this way, the elections open the gateway to corruption bribery and selfishness.
Democracy has many merits but it has many demerits also. It is known for its inefficiency and slowness. At the time of national emergencies, it fails to cope with the situation. The national issues of great importance are debated and discussed in the assembly. It takes a long time to arrive at any decision. In this way, many problems of utmost importance remain unsolved in the light of above discussion. We can say that democracy inspite of its defects is still a popular form of Government. It is better than dictatorship.
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