Difference Between Democratic Government and Autocratic Government

Government consists of many different institutions that help shape and maintain a society. Government is an organism in which power tends to accumulate. Power can be in the form of property, people and other things that have to be defined. The term ‘government’ itself implies jurisdiction over the masses of people, usually an nation.

The concept of democracy is based on the idea that a large group of individuals can make decisions about how they want their government to run themselves. In a democratic country the government generally checks the votes and then ensures that the individuals who won the votes get to make the governments decisions. There is no one person making the decisions. Without democracy, there is no liberty because there is no freedom of thought or choice. So why do so many people believe in a limited form of government?

A good theory of how a democratic government works is that there are two types of organizations, those that are owned by the public and those that are owned by private individuals or corporations. Private goods are goods that are produced for the use of the public and are traded amongst the public through markets. A public good is something that is required by the state so that its citizens can have access to it. An example of a public good is water. The city of Detroit has a right to supply clean and safe water to its residents so that they can bathe, drink and otherwise use the water as they see fit.

The problem with democracy is that it does not provide any sort of checks and balances for autocratic rule. A business owner who owns a democracy cannot spend his money to buy votes for him. He is able to do what he wants with his own money because the democracy provides him with unlimited power. But a private citizen has no unlimited power to influence legislation – he can only contribute small amounts of money to politicians if they support his ideals. Private goods such as water, electricity and transportation are not produced for the benefit of the general public, but for the private profit of a company that owns them.

The biggest difference between democracy and autocracy is that an elected government provides the checks and balances that prevent corruption and the erosion of the public good. Elected governments generally tend to favor the interests of the majority of citizens who elect them. They also tend to increase taxes and social welfare programs to serve the majority. Private possessions, goods and services that are produced for the public are left to the private sector. A company is only allowed to create public goods when it has been legally authorized by the government to do so.

The biggest threat to the integrity of democratic governments is the existence of a monopoly from which all publicly provided goods and services are offered. A democratic government must protect the interests of its citizens above those of large corporations. Any body that attempts to control how a business manager or a CEO chooses to invest his or her capital is an enemy of free enterprise. And every politician who tries to foist unneeded social welfare programs upon the unwilling people cannot be considered trustworthy.