Forms of Government

The countries are governed by a variety of government structures. Democracy, autocracy, theocracy, and dictatorship are examples of governance forms. While certain types are well-known and continue in use, others have fallen out of favor. According to many experts, democracy is the most well-known and desirable type of governance, and more than half of the world’s countries are democratic. Other kinds of governance exist in addition to democracy, such as autocracy, theocracy, dictatorship, and so on, meaning of which is discussed here. The working styles of such forms are debatable, and whether one agrees or disagrees, these forms have been or continue to exist in some or all regions of the world. Let us know more about some of the government structures, their meanings, objectives and differences in detail:

Democracy:

Democracy is a form of government in which people have the power to select their own governing officials. Here, the ultimate power is with the ordinary people of the country. They select their representatives by the way of elections. The term democracy has been derived from the Greek word demokratia, where demos mean ‘people’ and kratos mean ‘rule’.

Examples of democratic countries are: India, USA, Norway

Objectives of Democracy:

•     Democracy aims to provide basic human rights to its citizens.
•       Democracy aims at giving equal opportunities to all its citizens.
•       Democracy allows different communities to co-exist.
•       Democracy aims at considering everyone’s opinion equally.

Autocracy:

Autocracy is a form of government where the power is concentrated in the hands of a single person or a small group of people. In this type of system, dissent is not at all tolerated from the general public. The word autocracy has its origin in Greek, where autos mean ‘self’ and kratos mean ‘rule’.

Historic examples of Autocratic countries are: Roman Empire during the end of 27 BC, French Republic from 1799 to 1814.

Objectives of Autocracy:

•       Autocracy aims at maintaining total political stability.
•       Autocracy is aimed at making decisions faster.
•       Autocracy aims at effective leadership by giving power in very few hands.

Theocracy:

Theocracy is a form of government where the government is led by those who are believed to be having divine guidance, for example, priests. Here, the state laws are based on religious laws.

Examples of Theocratic countries are: Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen.

Objectives of Theocracy:

•       Theocracy aims at promoting the religion more and more.
•       Theocracy aims at making people follow the religion very strictly.
•       Theocracy aims at preserving the religion.

Dictatorship:

Dictatorship is a form of government where total control is in the hands of a supreme leader. Here, everything happens according to the supreme leader’s will and there is almost zero tolerance towards the dissent.

Examples of Dictatorship countries are: North Korea, Republic of the Congo, Cuba

Objectives of Dictatorship:

•       Dictators aim to achieve the supreme power above all.
•       Dictatorship aims at making the citizens follow what their dictators think is right.
•     Dictatorship is aimed at following and achieving a certain agenda.

Difference between Democracy, Autocracy, Theocracy and Dictatorship.

1.Power:

o   In democracy, the ultimate power is in the hands of general citizens, they can choose their leaders.

o   In autocracy, the power is concentrated in the hands of a small group of persons though the power might not be exclusively in the hands of that particular group.

o   In theocracy, the power is in the hands of a person who is believed to be close to the religious deity.

o   In dictatorship, the power is in the hands of the supreme leader.

    2.Transfer of power:

o   In democracy, transfer of power happens by elections, i.e., if citizens give majority votes to the party other than the ruling party, the power shifts from the ruling party to the other party.

o   In autocracy, the power is transferred when either any member from the existing ruling group takes over the leader; or any other group takes over the existing group; or any other group defeats the ruling group through democratic voting.

o   In theocracy, the transfer of power happens when the ruling leader dies. The power is then transferred to his successor.

o   In a dictatorship, the power is never transferred willingly by dictators, either the dictators are taken over by some other powerful people or group; or they die.

    3.Religion:

o   In democracy, citizens are allowed to follow any religion of their choice.

o   In autocracy, people with power decide whether citizens are allowed to follow any religion or not.

o   In theology, citizens strictly need to follow one specific religion.

o   In dictatorship, it depends upon the dictator, whether he allows the citizens to opt for any religion or not.

Conclusion:

While every form of government has some advantages and disadvantages, they still continue to hold their own importance in many parts of the world. It is not necessary that these forms exist in pure form, they might exist even in the hybrid or diluted form or even co-exist, for instance, theocracy can coexist with dictatorship, which is already a truth for countries like Syria.