Democracy and Dictatorship

What is a Democracy?

Democracy Means ‘Rule by the People’. Democracy comes from the Greek word ‘Demokratia’ which mean ‘Demos’ meaning people and ‘Kratos’ meaning Rule. There are many countries around the world that have ‘democracy’ as their chosen way of running the country and deciding what laws to pass. The United Kingdom and The USA are two well-known democracies and both countries have many similarities with other ‘democracies’.

In a democratic country the people elect the Government. These elections will take place on a regular basis. People will be able to criticise the government if they want and read newspapers that are not censored by the Government.

The United Kingdom - The House of Commons

The United States of America - The American Senate What is a Dictatorship?

There are many countries in the world that are dictatorships. In countries that are dictatorships, people do not have the same basic rights that people in a democracy enjoy. Regular and fair elections do not take place and one person or one political party often rules the country. Often the Press and TV stations are controlled by the Government and are not allowed to criticise anything the Government does.

Dictators often take away people’s basic rights such as free speech and voting in elections. Most Dictators will persecute groups of people they do not like. At the end of WWII it was estimated that Adolf Hitler had been responsible for the murder of 6 million Jews. In March 1988, Saddam Hussein gassed 1,500 Kurds in Northern Iraq.

Saddam Hussein is the first world leader in modern times to have brutally used chemical weapons against his own people. His goals were to systematically terrorize and exterminate the Kurdish population in northern Iraq, to silence his critics, and to test the effectiveness of his chemical and biological weapons. Hussein launched chemical attacks against 40 Kurdish villages and thousands of innocent civilians in 1987- 88, using them as testing grounds

In countries that are dictatorships, there are very few human rights. In dictatorships people are often tortured, sent to prison without trial or subject to persecution because of their race or religion.

Summary:

In a democracy such as The United Kingdom or The United States of America people have basic rights. The people at regular and fair elections choose the Government.

People will be able to criticise the government if they want and read newspapers that are not censored by the Government.

In countries that are dictatorships, people do not have the same basic rights that people in a democracy enjoy. Groups in the country are often persecuted. For example Saddam Hussein gassed 5,000 of his own people in 1988.

People will not be able to criticise the government. The Press and TV stations are controlled by the Government and are not allowed to criticise anything the Government does.

Human Rights are abused in dictatorships but can also be abused in democracies. Democracy and Dictatorship

1)Describe the basic features of a democracy.

2)What is a dictatorship and how does this differ from a democracy?

3)Draw the table below and fill in the statements under the correct heading

Democracy Dictatorship

People have the right to vote for their Government

People can be imprisoned for practising their religion

People have the right to freedom of speech

People have the right to demonstrate against the government.

People do not chose the Government. It is enforced on them The Government owns and censors all newspapers and TV stations Extension

Why do we not have direct democracy in the UK?

What do you think is meant by representative democracy?