Constitutional Democracy / Presidential or Parliamentary System Social and Economic Sources of Democracy

For the successful development of a democracy, two major factors come into play regarding the sources of said democracy. Of course, some of the factors are also indications of other regimes -- fascist and communist -- though as argued by the various papers, there is a distinct difference in the political structures that determine democracies over fascist and communist regimes. Because of the major results created by such factors, the most important sources of democracy would have to be the economic, industrialized, and educational values within the nation.

"The level of economic development, as measured by per capita income, is by far the best predictor of political regimes" (Przeworski). While there appears to be a similarity between the development of economic countries in dictatorships and democracies, Przeworski maintains that a dictatorship eventually dies and paves the way to an inevitable democracy. In poorer countries, the chances of a democracy or a dictatorship developing are low; the per capita income directly relates to the development of capitalistic structure. Commercialization and the presence of a market structure allowed for the growth of a more modern environment. This "market commercialization" provided the distinction of a "strong bourgeoisie" that eventually developed in England and the United States (Skocpol). It goes to show, then, that economic wealth itself becomes a major factor of a successful democracy. Lipset's observations and data have shown that the mere difference in per capita income is huge between democratic and "less democratic" countries.

Tied closely to economic development is the prospect of industrialization. Without a doubt, industrialization paves the way to a more developed economy. A more developed economy eventually leads to a wealthier one. And a wealthier economy indicates the probable presence of a democracy. Measurements through the "percentage of employed males in agriculture and the per capita commercially produced 'energy' being used in the country" (Lipset) were used to determine the trends of democracies within different nations. In the data gathered, the average of employed males in agrarian establishments was much less in democratic countries (Lipset). Likewise, Skocpol claims this lessening of agrarian work allows the development...

The absence of education inhibits the chances of rational electoral votes (Lipset). The absence of education also has the potential of preventing the progress of industrialization. This gradual decrease of industrialization eventually leads to a lower income per capita source, and the nation becomes less wealthy. Education "broadens man's outlook, enables him to understand the need for norms of tolerance, [and] restrains him from adhering to extremist doctrines" (Lipset). Thus, the comparative data in Lipset's studies indicate that in democratic countries, education and literacy is at a high: the lowest literacy rate in democratic European countries is at a 96%, an 11-point difference in less democratic nations. While the quality of the education does not necessarily mean a higher or lower form of democracy, it is evident that the presence of education is a necessity within the government of democracy. Thus with all three sources combined -- wealth, industrialization, and education -- democracy develops as a successful government.
Resources

Lipset, Seymour Martin. "Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics."

Przeworksi, Adam, et. al. "Economic Development and Political Regimes."

Skocpol, Theda. "Social Revolutions in the Modern World."

Essay 2: Democracy as the Best Form of Government

While not necessarily the perfect form of government, it can be arguably given that democracy maintains the best form of government, particularly if that government wants to continue to expand and develop into the distant future. This is due to the factors that enable the gains of the common citizen of the particular nation. In democracy, natural rights are in play, and productivity is at its highest efficiency when the citizen finds that he or she is gaining some profit from his or her efforts.

Compared to the states of government mentioned in the readings, it is clear that of the governments mentioned, there are distinct differences between the dictatorship and democracy. While dictatorship tends…