Blog Post #3 – How do democracies turn into dictatorships?

What is a democracy and what is a dictatorship?

I know what you are thinking to yourself. Isn’t this the most obvious, self-explanatory topic ever? While this may be true for those who are interested in politics, a surprising number of people still lack an in-depth understanding of these two forms of government. While there are many more intricacies and sub-forms, such as constitutional monarchies and democratic socialism, I don’t believe I can maintain everyone’s attention for that long, so I will only be touching on the most distinct two.

Let’s start off with democracy. Democracy is a form of government that allows citizens varying levels of control over the representatives that run their country [8]. This is done in many ways, including public hearings, town halls, and voting, whether it be for municipal or national representatives [2]. Core ideas of free speech and freedom of expression are integral to most democracies across the world, allowing citizens of these countries to practice any religion and voice any opinion without fear of repercussion. Due to the openness and lesser government restriction on individuals and corporations, democracies also tend to demonstrate better economic performance [1]. This encouraging business-oriented environment consistently promotes innovation, competition, and creativity, making the consumer landscape more productive, dynamic, and innovative. Because democracies are held responsible for their actions, and budgetary choices are mostly public information, democratic governments also typically have a lower level of corruption than other forms of government. On top of this, economic prosperity is an important part of voters’ desires when choosing an election candidate. This typically incentivizes democratic leaders to make intelligent fiscal decisions that serve the country (because it serves them as well) [5].

On the other side of the aisle, we have a dictatorship. This style of government tends to be more nationalistic and typically focuses on us versus them mentality. This mentality is a great demonstration of why authoritarian countries tend to lead by fear [4]. By creating institutionalized and normalized hatred toward certain groups, dictators are able to unite their supporters under one “flag”, creating false narratives to alter public perception [6]. These types of governments are more lopsided than democracies, with the majority of power concentrated in the hands of one person or a small “elite” group that exercise complete control over the state. Unlike democracies, dictatorships do not take citizen opinion as input for decisions, which means that there are no fair elections. On top of this, dictatorships are known for being based on utopian ideals, forcing citizens to trust in the leader(s)’s dream. Because of this, censorship, repression of dissent, violations of human rights, and an absence of freedom of speech are mainstays in authoritarian regimes [7].

All in all, the difference between an authoritarian regime and a democracy is a seemingly simple, yet often overlooked topic. While many of us believe we know one from the other, it is easy to get caught up in the praise of one side and lose any and all ability to think critically. While most democracies provide their citizens with vast freedom and power compared to dictatorships, not all democracies are created equal. Fake democracies all across the world, most notably Russia, continue to be taken seriously as legit democracies, all the while blatant human rights and election fraud abuses occur across the country [3]. But what happens when anti-democracy movements start to become popular in democratic strongholds? In my next blog post, I will be analyzing historical examples of powerful democracies that have fallen into authoritarianism and break down the mechanisms that aspiring dictators have used to consolidate their power over their state. Thank you for reading!

Works Cited

[1] Democracy Versus Dictatorship? The Political Determinants of Growth. (n.d.). Harvard University. https://research.hks.harvard.edu/publications/getFile.aspx?Id=1509