Democracy Vs. Dictatorship: The Power Of Citizens (Essay Sample)

Democratic Government
Name
Institution

Democracy vs. Dictatorship
Democracy is a form of government whereby every eligible citizen has an equal opinion to the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows citizens to participate directly or indirectly through elected representatives in proposing development and creating laws. Dictatorship, on the other hand, is a government whereby an individual or a small group possesses absolute power without limitations by the constitution (Heichel, 2014). Dictators usually apply force or fraud to gain absolute political power which they retain through the use of terror, intimidation, and suppression of civil rights.
Democracy and dictatorship often collide because they are the exact opposite of each other. Democracy is said to be the best form of government since it allows people to govern their land through majority rule voting. Dictatorship takes all power from the citizens and places it in the hands of one individual. In a democratic country, there is less need to overthrow the government as compared to dictatorship (Held, 2006). People can simply vote for someone else if there is the need to replace an underserving leader. Democracy also prevents huge freedom such as speech, worship, and action.
Despite the level of growth democracy offers, it is a difficult form of government to maintain since it purely lies on the power of its citizens. If the people are not well educated, then poor decisions made might affect the country. Democracy is also slow and inefficient in matters concerning change. There must be campaigns and voting to consider a particular action. Dictatorship is also difficult to maintain since there are no laws. Dictators can be brutal giving direct threats, intimidation and even ex...