Carswell 1

Gabriel A. Carswell

POL 220

Dr. Bestalel

29 September 2022

The Eternal Question of a “Perfect” Society

Democracy and authoritarianism. Two differing ideologies. The eternal pursuit of

the “perfect” system. What does it all mean? Is there such a society? Democracy and

authoritarianism have been seen in different countries all around the world, some

countries differ from others, but overall the “form” of society remains the same in

regards to the two systems. Is there a way to combine these two polar points of view

to form a well-functioning flawless society? The short answer is no, but to truly

understand why that is the case, we must first understand what both ideologies are

and how, in history, they affected the world.

The Oxford dictionary defines democracy as, “a system of government by the

whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected

representatives. That definition is hard to digest if you are not fluent in legalese, but the

main point states, “ruled by the people.” Democracy has roots as far back as Athens,

Greece, and was pulled from the Greek term, dēmokratia, which means “people rule”.

Today, many countries have adopted many aspects of the democratic system. Though

there are not any countries that use a full “direct-democratic” system. The closest

country to make use of the full system is Switzerland. Switzerland uses popular
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initiatives, and optional and mandatory referendums to oppose amendments and

demand bills. The nation also votes on all issues through popular vote. Other countries

that have adopted a tamer version of this system include the United States and

Nigeria. Both countries use what is called a presidential democracy. The US in

particular is a democratic republic, which sums down to the people electing

representatives to make desired decisions on their behalf. There are many pros to this

type of government. In a democratic society, the people can make their own decisions,

and have full representation in the government. This system also promotes equality

and decentralization of central government power. As there are many pros to this

system, there are also disadvantages that can be argued. Some of which are as

follows. This system requires voters to be well-informed when it comes to voting on

issues. Also, it focuses solely on the needs of the majority and is very time-consuming.

Some of these flaws are fixed when it comes to countries that have variations of

democracy. For example, In the U.S. we run on a presidential democracy. This allows

us the ability to vote as a people, on a president to run the executive branch, and

representatives, to make decisions concerning our area. This allows both the time and

research of the voter to be reduced While keeping the government in balance. A

perfect democracy is a true democracy. One where the people decide on issues based

on everyone's opinion. Equal representation for all is the only option that is fair for

everyone. Although, an argument can be made for other versions of democracy,

whether that be a representative democracy, presidential democracy, or even

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parliamentary democracy in the case of the UK. So, taking into consideration that

argument, the only way to truly decide is for a popular vote for what kind of democracy

the people want, and develop the government from there.

Alternatively, on the flip side of society, we have authoritarianism. This has been

defined as the enforcement or advocacy of strict obedience to authority at the expense

of personal freedom. This ideology has many implications and has come to be known

to develop into a dictatorship. Authoritarianism is a type of society that concentrates

power in the hands of a leader or small group. Some real-world examples of this can

be seen in North Korea, and Russia, as well as some African countries. In Russia’s

case, the country says that it is a presidential democracy, but there is an argument that

most of the control is under Putin. But, one of the most prevalent examples of this is

North Korea and the dictatorship of Kim Jong Un. In this country, there is no electoral

system, nor civil liberties held by the people. This is one-hundred percent controlled by

the leader of the government. As there are pros and cons of Democracy, there are also

pros and cons of authoritarianism. Some of the positives of this system include the

ability to produce consistent results in response to issues, It is very time efficient when

only a small number of people are making decisions for a country, and it also places all

the pressure of running the country on the shoulders of the leader. But as there are

advantages, there are disadvantages too. One glaring disadvantage is that an

authoritarian government wants to stay in power indefinitely. This can be a huge

problem when it comes to the good of the whole country. Authoritarian governments
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also can invite rebellion into society. This can be meant for the greater good, but in

some cases, it can do more harm than good due to the destabilization of the

government. There is finally the problem of making decisions without feedback from

the people. This can incite rebellion, and cause a civil war to break out. Though, there

are some ways that an authoritarian government could fix some of these issues. For

instance, in the situation of staying in power too long, you could have a section of the

government that incites a clause of re-election. This could be used as a balance for the

leader and keep them from staying in power too long. Also, this section of government

could be made up of representatives from different parts of the country to help better

understand the situations plaguing the country and advise the leader. This would help

with the Populus feedback issue. There seems to be a way to make authoritarianism

“better”, but in this political ideology, there doesn't seem to be any way to incorporate

the views of the people in a significant enough way to constitute using it.

With this in mind, when approaching the conversation of combining democracy

and authoritarianism, we must first look at the two systems from a technical point of

view. As Alexis De Tocqueville says in Democracy in America, “The Anglo-American

relies upon personal interest to accomplish his ends, and gives free scope to the

unguided strength and common sense of the people; the Russian centers all the

authority of society in a single arm. The principal instrument of the former is freedom;

of the latter, servitude.” This quote in particular, even though it was published in 1835-

44, still has relevance to this day. Democracy and authoritarianism are structured in
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completely different ways and are completely polar views of one another. So in my

opinion, there is no way that these two could coexist in the same society. Mankind’s

lust for power and human nature is the downfall of authoritarianism, and this is in direct

contradiction to Democracy, as the society itself is self-governing. Speaking in a

hypothetical situation where this could exist, the question of, “Should this be the

political ideology best suited for our society” arises. This one question highlights the

issue of representation in the law and the power struggle in the hypothetical

government. This makes the “perfect” authoritarian society democratic in nature, thus

making a combination of the two impossible.

In finality, democracy and authoritarianism are two different ideologies with

many aspects. The eternal pursuit of the “perfect” system. Due to the two opposite

natures of the ideologies, the chance of combining into a subsequent “perfect” world is

nonexistent. There is no “perfect” society. “perfect”, will always be something that

humanity as a whole is always changing and chasing. It is up to the society as a whole

to make a personal choice about how they want their country to be, and make the

choice to either fall back to the sidelines or step up to the challenge of making a better

society.
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References

1. Insider, Business. “The 21 Most Authoritarian Regimes in the World.” We Are

The Mighty, Mighty Networks, 22 Oct. 2020,

https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/the-21-most-authoritarian-

regimes-in-the-world/.

2. Dahl, Robert A. “Democracy.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia

Britannica, Inc., 24 Aug. 2022, https://www.britannica.com/topic/democracy.

3. Betts, Jennifer. “Examples of Different Types of Democracy.” Example Articles &

Resources, YOURDICTIONARY,

https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-different-types-of-

democracy.html.

4. Gaille, Louise. “12 Pros and Cons of Democracy.” Pros and Cons to Democracy,

Vittana, 22 Mar. 2020, https://vittana.org/12-pros-and-cons-of-democracy.

5. ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE, Democracy in America, ed. J. P. Mayer, trans.

George Lawrence, vol. 1, part 2, Conclusion, final paragraphs, pp. 412–13

(1969). Originally published in 1835–1844