What is “Dictatorship” and how does it relate to democracy? In the United States, we tend to use the terms interchangeably. For instance, we refer to a President as a Dictator when we refer to a military dictatorship. The dictionary definition of the word dictatorship is “a government by which a nation’s leadership assumes the power.” In other words, a country where the population has no ability to make decisions for themselves.
We do not compare the democratic process with a dictatorial system, and yet, both systems attempt to deprive citizens of the freedom of choice. Dictatorship grants power to one group over another to maintain power. democracy, on the other hand, is an oxymoron because no one can legitimately rule over anyone else. It is synonymous to “political equality” because no person in a community can legitimately claim dominance over any other person.
The difference between democracy and aristocracy is that aristocracy requires that many people work together in order to gain control over policy, whereas democracy is a system where the will of the majority can override the will of a small group. For example, if one elected official rejects the will of many people by not allowing a popular initiative to be passed, the majority of citizens will reject that official and replace it with one who agrees with the refusal. Therefore, when one Elector refuses to serve in Congress due to their lack of confidence in elected leaders, the people are the ones who prevent him or her from serving.
There are many things that separate democracy from aristocracy. One obvious difference is that the latter lacks freedom of speech and press. Everyone has the right to express his/her opinion, but those opinions have no place in a democratic polity. Another difference is that unlike in classical liberal theory, in a democracy, all citizens have the right to take part in all of the legislative proceedings. Everyone can participate by voting in plebiscites, through initiatives, and via popular votes. It is important to note, however, that in a democracy, the result of any vote does not have to be binding on all citizens; the citizens can always choose not to participate in any given vote.
In contrast, aristocratic governments usually have instituted laws limiting freedoms of speech and press and generally defining who is entitled to vote. Many people believe that aristocracy is a contradiction of democracy, as democracy supposedly promotes freedom. However, in most democratic societies, freedom of speech and press are considered to be important benefits of a mature democracy. Furthermore, many scholars argue that in certain democratic societies, the concept of individual freedom is too limited, as it prevents many individuals from doing what they wish for themselves. As with any political system, some forms of democracy do have greater rates of societal dysfunction than others.
Lastly, there are two important differences between aristocracies and democracy. aristocracies tend to have a hereditary ruling elite that has been in power for centuries, and this elite rarely Checks Other People’s Power. On the other hand, democracy involves masses of people choosing their leaders through voting, with their support potentially changing the power structure. Elected leaders are usually chosen based on their performance and popularity, and their power base can only be expanded by increasing their support.
