Text 13: the soil of democracy

Today relatively few nations practice democracy. One reason may be that real democracy seems to require a special environment.

Democracy seems to have a better chance in countries that do not have extremes of wealth and poverty and that have a large middle class. The opportunity to control one's economic decisions provides a base for making independent political decisions. In the United States this concept is called free enterprise. If people do not have the power to control their own economic lives, they will not likely be free to make political decisions.

Countries with stable, growing economies seem better able to support democratic government. In the past, some politicians who promised citizens jobs and food have toppled many democratic governments during times of severe economic depression. People who are out of work or unable to feed their families often become more concerned about security than about voting or exercising other political rights.

Democracy also prospers where most people accept democratic values such as individual liberty and equality for all. Such countries are said to have a social consensus. Countries divided by disagreements about basic values may have difficulty supporting democratic governments.

History shows that conditions in the American colonies favored the growth of democracy. Most white people had an opportunity to get ahead economically. The American colonists were among the most educated people of the world at the time. The English heritage provided a general consensus of political and social values.

TEXT 14: OLIGARCHY

Over the centuries, people have organized their governments in many different ways. In Saudi Arabia, for example, the ruling royal family controls the government and its resources. Family members choose the king from among themselves. Thousands of miles away, in Burkina Faso in Africa, a small group of wealthy landowners and military officers governs that country. In Sweden the people elect the Riksdag, the national legislature, which in turn selects the prime minister to carry out the laws. The United States has established a representative democratic government that has served as a model for many other countries around the world. Yet other forms of government outnumber true democracies.

Governments can be classified in many ways. The most time-honored system comes from the ideas of the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle*. It is based on a key question: Who governs the state? Under this system of classification, all governments belong to one of the three major groups: autocracy — rule by one person; oligarchy — rule by a few persons; or democracy — rule by many persons.

An oligarchy is any system of government in which a small group holds power. The group derives its power from wealth, military power, social position, or a combination of these elements. Sometimes religion is the source of power.

Both dictatorships and oligarchies sometimes claim they rule for the people. Such governments may try to give the appearance of control by the people. They might hold elections, but offer only one candidate, or control the election results in other ways. Such governments may also have some type of legislature or national assembly elected by or representing the people. These legislatures, however, only approve policies and decisions already made by the leaders. As in a dictatorship, oligarchies usually suppress all political opposition — sometimes ruthlessly.

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* Aristotle – Аристотель

TEXT 15: AUTOCRACY

Governments can be classified in many ways. The most time-honored system comes from the ideas of the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle*. It is based on a key question: Who governs the state? Under this system of classification, all governments belong to one of the three major groups: autocracy — rule by one person; oligarchy — rule by a few persons; or democracy — rule by many persons.

Any system of government in which the power and authority to rule are in the hands of a single individual is an autocracy. This is the oldest and one of the most common forms of government. Historically, most autocrats have maintained their positions of authority by inheritance or the ruthless use of military or police power. Several forms of autocracy exist. One is absolute or totalitarian dictatorship. In a totalitarian dictatorship, the ideas of a single leader or group of leaders are glorified. The government seeks to control all aspects of social and economic life. In such dictatorships, government is not responsible to the people, and the people lack the power to limit their rulers.

Monarchy is another form of autocratic government. In a monarchy a king or a queen or an emperor exercises the supreme powers of government. Monarchs usually inherit their position. Absolute monarchs have complete and unlimited power to rule their people. Absolute monarchs are rare today, but from the 1400s to the 1700s, kings or queens with absolute powers ruled most of Western Europe. These monarchs based their power on the idea of divine right. This view held that God granted those of royal birth the right to rule their people. Any challenge to or revolt against a monarch was regarded as a sin as well as treason. During the 17th and 18th centuries in Europe, the belief that the people were sovereign replaced this idea. The ruler's power came not from God but from the people.

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* Aristotle – Аристотель