Political Science

A South African political leader speaking on government said that it was a great waste of time in trying to find out logic in why the white government did some things. A government is an organizational structure comprising of institutions as well as individuals who formulate policies and oversee their implementation while coordinating the affairs of the state. In this discussion, two forms of government namely guardianship and democratic types of government are examined. In guardianship type of government, the state is responsible for all its citizens welfare. The government has rights over the people and makes decisions over the people it leads. This means that all the citizens are under care of the government. The democratic government has its officials elected by the people being led. Equality in formal rights is a commons feature and the people have got a say on how they wish to be led. Its a government by the people (Gaus, 2004).

These two forms of governments have the following characteristics
Guardianship as stated above, this form of government has got total rights over its subjects. In it, the subjects have got no contribution to the governments way of running its affairs. They are not given the opportunity to give suggestions because the officials in the government are experts who believe they know what is good for its citizens. This form of government has the authority over the material possessions of the subjects and has the obligation of protecting the rights of the people (Public Guardian and Trustee, 2008-2009)

Democracy In a democratic system of rule, power is vested in the people who rule directly or elect representatives to rule. This is a government by the people which exercises equality in the formal rights and privileges of the people. There is also equity in the political and social arena though the common people are distinguished from the privileged class. The majority of the people rule and have the say on what is to be done (Random House Dictionary, 2010).

Advantages of democracy
In a democratic state, several advantages over the guardianship system can be realized. For instance, power in a democratic system is gained from the people hence there is no discrimination. This mass participation in decision making allows the state to effectively fight the enemy. Democratic government reduces the chance of warfare within a state and hence promotes peace. A good example was in the fall of communism in the USSR which later saw peace reign in the states that were formed after the collapse. ( HYPERLINK httpwww.spiritus-temporis.commargaret-thatcher Margaret Thatcher , 2003).

 Equity and liberty are only found in democracy. It unites a country to give out gains and prospects from the very common citizen. In this situation, the common man is given the right to play a dynamic part in all or particular actions in the political arena. Therefore, a change in the government can be achieved smoothly without any hostility or violence. Because of the power to decide on who is to rule from the citizen, every ruling party is subject to scrutiny and therefore has to prove good enough to be considered for another term in the election. This averts monopoly in the ruling party ( HYPERLINK httpwww.articleswave.comauthorsmansiseth.html o Read more content written by this author Chitranshi, 2009).

Being elected into position in the democratic government gives the elected officials a feeling of responsibility over the people who elected them. Similarly, democratic system gives the citizen a sense of belonging in that they feel being part of the procedure which was used o select the ruling government ( HYPERLINK httpwww.articleswave.comauthorsmansiseth.html o Read more content written by this author Chitranshi 2009).

Elected governments operate on a short term basis four either four or five years. This means that regular change for the desired output can be effected by the citizens since they have the power to do so. This allows the governments to constantly review their policies to ensure that the policies are working. Political stability can be achieved in these governments because the people have the power to remove anyone who is not delivering result as expected. This can be done without any violence taking place in that particular state. As this is done, the levels of corruption become lower every moment as the people feel more obligated to serving the citizens more than their selfish needs and desires (The Spiritus Temporis, 2005).

Conclusion
In comparing the two systems of leadership, a clear difference can be seen in the advantages of each. Aristotle once said that liberty and equality are only to be chiefly found in any system which accepts and applies democracy. He further said that, the two can best be achieved in the government if all the participants contribute wholly to the ruling government without any reservations (The Spiritus Temporis, 2005). It is therefore a clear indication that Platos system of thought where the experts have to be given the chance to lead cannot be fully accepted here. This is because, the advantages of the democratic system outweighs those of the guardian system. This however doesnt mean that the democratic system is perfect without any flaws. Criticism is allowed in order to make it a better leadership method.

One of the flaws which may arise in this system of government is that, it may not necessarily guarantee social justice as expected. This system is slow in operation and its response to emergency is not satisfactory, though it still remains to be one of the best and effective systems of governments over the world. In order for this system to work effectively, the people being led are required to be keen and alert always keeping track of every detail of those in the offices. If anyone of them notices any form of injustice or corrupt acts, they are there to raise their voices against such practices. Therefore, unlike in dictatorship kinds of governments, the people in a democratic world have the remedy on the misuse of power and any other injustice. (Chitranshi, 2009).