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Malik Thompson

Trishia Briones

ENGL 1302-261

1 March 2023

Government

James Madison once wrote “what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections

on human nature?” (Federalist Papers No. 51). Madison believed that government institutions

reflected humans' base instincts and nature. These instincts can be seen in many forms of

government. Monarchy reflects the human need for power and authority, to be the alpha.

Democracy represents the human need for order and equality amongst their peers in common

cause, to build together and create society. Totalitarianism represents the darker nature of human

psychology, when absolute power and authority is fully embraced. There are many nations that

exist and have existed in the past, all with their own ideas of government, each one succeeding in

different aspects of socio-economic development. Humanity has leaned toward despotism for the

majority of written history. The pharaohs of Egypt, the emperors of China and Rome, the kings

and queens of the medieval age, and the dictators of the 20th century. In each era of humanity at

least one of the three previously mentioned government systems.

Monarchy

Monarchy is a form of government with a monarch at its head. Kings, emperors, queens,

sultans, and tsars/tsarinas are the heads of these various states along with many others. Monarchy

can be split into many subgroups, all with their own benefits and negatives. For example, the
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unity that a monarch brings through their image, or the efficiency of government proceedings as

opposed to the gridlock of a system like democracy. Constitutional monarchy is a more recent

experiment where the royalty, and the republicans (those who support a republic or constitutional

form of government) compete for power and eventually come to an agreement to share the

authority in decision making. “The contemporary European constitutional monarch as a

ceremonial head of state who reigns but does not govern arises as a special case of the general

model.” (Tridimas 431). Tridimas is speaking on the constitutional monarchy of the United

Kingdom in which the recently passed queen held little power when compared to Elizabeth I

who died only a few decades prior to the downfall of the English crown. “It should be noted that

44 of the 193 United Nations member states are still monarchies today” (Langewiesche 282).

This shows that Monarchy is still very present in the 21st century. Garmann this statistic in his

study where he writes, “Until the beginning of the 20th century, monarchy was the predominant

constitutional form and is still in place today in many countries” (186)

Democracy

Democracy has risen in power over the past few centuries, but it has its roots in antiquity

in the form of athens. Athens was an open civil society, and Sparta was a closed one. Athens was

democratic, and Sparta was ruled by a select few. These two powers coexisted with each other

for many centuries. These two city-states are a prime example of the contrast of a totalitarian

state and a democratic state that can be viewed with other countries closer to the modern day,

The United States of America and China, a Democracy and a Totalitarian State coexisting. As

mentioned above Madison saw government as a reflection of human nature. “The state of nature

is a state of anarchy and people can live better under some kind of order” (Przeworski 18).
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Democracy depends on the people to work together for the greater good of the community

around them and humans have relied on this teamwork from the very beginning with hunting

parties to track and surround a(n) beast. It is only natural that this would evolve into democracy

with the advent of society and civilization. Looking at contemporary democracy when it comes

to the United States, the idealized utopia of democracy cannot be seen, and the negatives of

democracy are being seen with every major election, but so are the positives. “Should elections

take the intensity of a voter's feelings into consideration?” (Puckett 640). This question of

electoral theory would have great implications on democratic institutions if it were emplaced,

and these effects could be seen as positive or negative depending on the point of view of the

voter. This is one of the issues of the democratic vote in a republic, whether each individual truly

deserves a vote, or whether the individual truly has control over the society. This can lead to a

freeze of the government system where nothing can get done due to months, and possible years

of argument over issues.

Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism has received a stigma in the past few centuries despite being the most

dominant form of government throughout history. “Resource-rich dictatorships are more inclined

to repress civil society than others” (Breyels, Grigoriadis). Countries that have access to vast

amounts of natural resources such as China or Russia are more inclined to totalitarianism. This

leadership system attempts to assert control over every individual under their domain, is ruled by

a select few in a one-party state, and relies on military might to control their populace.

“Totalitarianism thus reflected fears of the military and ideological threat that emanated from

Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union” (Joscelyne 242). This is the misconception of
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Totalitarianism among the majority who instantly think of the negatives and the most prominent

nations that have used this form of government without looking at the internal and external

factors that make these countries the way they are. China is a contemporary totalitarian state that

despite missteps in the process losing millions of their population, they have become the

supreme economic and military powerhouse in the world next to the United States. “The greater

the importance of the central state as a source of prestige and advantage, the less likely it is that

those in power…will accept rules of the game that institutionalize party conflict and could result

in the turnover of those in office.” (Pei 5). The question on why China has not become

democratic after so much economic growth is a complicated one to answer as it has broken the

pattern of nations. Take Britain for example, who after once being a colony of the Roman

Empire, and conquered by the Normans became a powerful island monarchy with a developing

economy that eventually led to the people gaining voting power and parliament. China has had a

similar history of war, conflict, and revolution, but has remained authoritarian. So the pattern and

correlation with democracy and economy seems to be invalid with China in the equation.One of

the pros of totalitarianism is rapid change. The one-party state just like monarchy has a lot less

friction when it comes to policy change and can potentially force change when needed. The cons

of course are the lack of individual freedoms in most of these societies.

Conclusion

When it comes to humans and government many forms of government are at play and are

constantly considered by the populace. It is the reflection of Human nature and has been since

the beginning of civilization. There are pros and cons to each of the discussed forms of

government. Democracy gives the power to the individual, although sometimes participation
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may be lackluster and some may be too emotionally involved in their vote. Monarchy is able to

unite the people far more easily under a political figure and can rile the populace to participate in

demonstrations, and policies, but are often heavily taxed to provide for the royalty. Totalitarian

governments can implement rapid change and force these changes into action, but are often

forceful with putting down opposition and are not normally challenged due to the leadership

being so ingrained in keeping their positions of power and the people wanting the rise by keeping

their heads down. Humans are complicated social creatures and all opinions on governance are

subjective and will never be agreed upon due to people having their own ideas and ambitions.

There are eight billion people on the Earth and as the population increases there is no doubt that

many governments will change to counteract external pressures.

Works Cited

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127, no. 1, Feb. 2019, pp. 47–100. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1086/700936.

Adam Przeworski. Democracy and the Limits of Self-Government. Cambridge University Press,

2010. EBSCOhost,
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Betzig, Laura. “But What Is Government Itself but the Greatest of All Reflections on Human

Nature?” Politics and the Life Sciences, vol. 28, no. 2, 2009, pp. 102–05. JSTOR,

http://www.jstor.org/stable/40588007. Accessed 24 Feb. 2023.

Breyel, Corinna, and Theocharis N. Grigoriadis. “Civil Society, Natural Resources and

Dictatorship.” Eurasian Geography and Economics, vol. 62, no. 2, 2020, pp. 131–155.,

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Garmann, Sebastian. “God Save the Queen, God Save Us All? Monarchies and Institutional

Quality.” Scottish Journal of Political Economy, vol. 65, no. 2, May 2018, pp. 186–204.

EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1111/sjpe.12154.

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Common Good. University of Toronto Press, 2007. EBSCOhost,

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Puckett, Kent. “Democracy.” Victorian Literature and Culture, vol. 46, no. 3-4, 2018, pp.

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