Resources and Governments

Defining democracy and dictatorship...

Labels, such as democracy or dictatorship, are assigned based on what happens within a country. In other words the character of government is determined by the way a government treats its own citizens. It is not that foreign policy is not important or is unrelated to domestic policy. It is more that domestic policy is what defines democracy and dictatorship. Any history of these two forms of government then, is really a story of events happening within a given country. Perhaps the great irony of dictatorship is that domestic policies often have all the earmarks of a foreign war. The enemy however is found within, rather than outside of, a country's own borders.

How do dictatorships identify their enemies? Sometimes enemies are a distinct cultural or ethnic group. Sparta identified the Messenians, people from the region of Messenia, as a distinctly different group than the Spartans. In Nazi Germany, the Jews were a separately identifiable group. In other dictatorships, such as that of the French Revolution, the enemy was identified more by its political beliefs and social class. Joseph Stalin, in the Soviet Union, and Mao, in China, similarly, identified opposition members by their economic class. Ultimately it may have come down to nothing more than an educated guess on the part of a government about which groups or individuals would be likely to rebel or openly oppose political decisions.

In some ways, the visible structures of dictatorial government can resemble those of democracy. Dictatorships sometimes have had legislative and judicial bodies, like democracies. There can be governmental departments dealing with industry and trade or the arts. Dictatorships can even mimic the operational aspects of democracy by holding elections, even if such elections are condemned for not being "free and fair."

Dictatorships, in the final analysis, are defined by a single characteristic - a secret police force. While most societies, including democratic ones, use a police force to maintain order and control crime, a secret police force is employed to control opposition by any means. Its job is to terrorize into submission and any effective method, including torture and murder, is permissible.

Dictatorships, as well as democracies, have similarities which make them identifiable. At the same time, the story of each democracy and dictatorship is different. The problems faced, as well as the solutions found, are, in some ways, unique to each ruler, government, and country.

Seven
Governments