Authoritarianism vs. Representative Democracy

Lacey PilgrimHumanities 30-1May 11, 2010

Identify Authoritarianism Representative Democracy

Principles of Liberalism Accepted

• Private Property• Welfare State• Universal Suffrage• Human Rights (One-party States, Oligarchy)

• Competition• Individual Rights and Freedoms• Rule of Law• Private Property• Self-Interest• Economic Freedom• Welfare State•Universal Suffrage• Human Rights•Labor Standards and Unions

Principles of Liberalism Rejected

• Competition• Individual Rights and Freedoms • Rule of Law•Human Rights (Military Dictatorship, Absolute Monarchy)•Labor Standards and Unions• Economic Freedom

Who wields power, and to what extent is it wielded

Oligarchy: Small elite segment of society, often politically powerful familiesOne-party States: One party; has total authority, able to ignore previously established laws or constitutions, Military Dictatorship: Military leadership holds political power either officially or unofficially, unless citizens reject their power and are able to overthrow their rule Monarchy: One leader rules the country, has total authority over government and civil matters

Parliamentary Democracy: Elected government; elected executive branch needs support from elected legislative branch. Judicial branch interprets and enforces law. Republican Democracy: Elected President is head of the executive branch, appoints their own party. Limited time in power. Proportional Representation: Citizens vote for a party, rather than a specific candidate. The representatives are assigned according to the level of popular vote. Smaller parties tend to be more successful and often the results in minority require coalitions between parties. Citizens have a major role in choosing who they want to form their government.

Current Example Oligarchy: Russian FederationMilitary Dictatorship: Myanmar Monarchy: Saudi ArabiaOne-Party States: China, Kenya

Parliamentary Democracy: Canada, UKRepublican Democracy: USAProportional Representation: Europe

Metaphor Authoritarian government is a strict teacher who suppresses certain rights and freedoms in order for the learning environment to be ideal.

Representative government is a sibling, once you exceed your boundaries of rights and freedoms, you will be told on, and have to suffer the consequences your parents give you.