Is Democracy always the best solution?
Is democracy the best form of government in all cases? Or is a dictatorship better sometimes? Or maybe is the best government sometimes no government at all? Things to consider:
1) Democracy = rule of the people. Whether direct (every citizen directly makes the policymaking decisions) or representative (every citizen elects representatives to make the policymaking decisions for them. This could also lead to a debate about which is better in any given case; for example, Switzerland is using direct democracy with great effect, however the average citizen of the United States doesn't know enough about policy to make a good decision. At the risk of going off on a tangent, if the United States instituted direct democracy, would its citizens be more policy-informed as a whole?
2) Oligarchy = rule of a few
Dictatorship = rule of one
As a general rule, the more lawmakers in a government, the less effective a government is. Therefore, in some situations, it would be more efficient to have the rule of a few than the rule of many. Even the Soviet Union learned this; the bloated Politburo became a useless organization, yet there was a time when they were powerful enough to oust Nikita Khrushchev. The Politburo was not the first governmental organization to learn the rule the hard way; the Roman Senate suffered the same fate millenia before.
This does not even take into consideration the cultural benefits and significance of monarchs. An important part of British national pride (although sometimes, its embarassment) is their monarchy. Some countries still have an absolute monarchy, not because they are forced to, but because it's a part of their heritage and national pride. Even when these monarchs begin granting powers to the people and the monarchy becomes constitutional, the monarchy still remains, for the purposes outlined above.
So the question still remains: which is better, democracy or dictatorship? The answer is that is depends on the situation and the country. So is democracy always the best solution?
Nothing is always the best solution. Ever.
- A. Dandrea