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Governments are necessary; without governments there will only be chaos. This is why Thomas Paine says, “Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil.” Paine in his writings pleads for the rights of man; he knows that any government will have restrictions imposed on the citizens’ exercise of absolute rights in the interest of order, harmony and peace in society. Even the best of governments will have to do this. Curbing the rights of man, according to Paine, is an evil. But since governments are a necessary evil, they should be tolerable ones. Paine is convinced that “in its worst state” government is “an intolerable one”.
Which form of government is the most tolerable? In the modem world monarchies have practically ceased to exist, even in the states where the heads of states are monarchs. Great Britain has a monarch, but the monarch is only a figure-head, and the country is one of the strongest democracies in the world. Nepal, a state ruled by a monarch, has also a form of democratic government. Today people all over the world clamour for democracy; this is most pronounced in states that have been under single-party (mainly Communist) rule. The modem world sees in democracy the most tolerable form of government. This is because it knows that “no man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.”
There are three basic types of government seen in the world today. These are the Western-style democracies, the people’s democracies, and military dictatorships. The Western-style democracy may be called ‘liberal democracy’; it is found throughout western Europe, in North America, Australia, New Zealand, India, Israel, etc. People’s democracies are modelled on the former U.S.S.R. government, and constitute single-party rule. Under the people’s democracy, the government is all-powerful and is a form of dictatorship. Military dictatorships – which are the worst form of government – have come into being in some of the Third World countries where the fragility of governments could not resist the might of the military craving for power.
Military coups come about because the armed forces provide the only stable and effective power base in a crumbling, fragile democracy or single-party rule. The common feature of military governments is that the armed forces, through their leader or leaders, effectively dictate policy. They may choose to do this invisibly, working behind a screen of civilian forms such as legislatures and cabinets. This has been the case in Pakistan till recently and in Brazil since 1964. The armed forces may also choose to rule openly themselves as in Chile and Argentina. Many military regimes, create a political facade to buttress their rule. Whatever be the subterfuges adopted by the armed forces to give their government a democratic semblance, the executive power is wielded by the military; sometimes a military council controls a mixed military-and-civilian government. The hallmark of a military government, whatever be its form, is the iron hand with which it rules; that is to say, no opposition to it or free criticism of its functioning is tolerated; freedom of the citizen is wholly curbed. It is this aspect of the military rule that makes it intolerable.
Liberal democracy or a civil government is any day preferable to a military government. The military government may have enlightened economic, political, and social goals. But the very fact that dissent is not tolerated by it and the freedom of the individual and his rights are curtailed makes it objectionable and obnoxious. In a civil government there is only limited control or restraint imposed on the citizen. Government intervention is there only to see that laws are obeyed, that the poor do not starve, and that children are educated. The individual’s dignity and rights are respected; his beliefs are not interfered with. Dissent is tolerated; the policy pursued by the civil government alters as the views of citizens change. To ensure all this there are safeguards in the form of freedom of expression, and association, a freely elected representative assembly and methods of slowing the decision-making process of the government until public opinion has reached a settled conclusion. Above all, the actions of the individual and the government are subject to the scrutiny of an impartial and independent judiciary.
Military governments are dictatorial; civilian governments are democratic. A truly civilian government is democratic and liberal. The world is veering towards the adaption of democracy. This is what we see today in Europe; Gorbachev’s glasnost and perestroika are only the off-shoots of the citizens’ craving for liberal democracy.