Distinctions within Distinctions

A COUPLE OF MONTHS ago [NR, Oct. 25] I suggested that in our time it is more useful to classify the forms of government on the initial basis of a triple rather than dual distinction : totalist/authoritarian /democratic rather than dictatorial / democratic. I defined the triple distinction as follows:

“Democratic nations, within a range that varies from nation to nation, are politically, culturally, and intellectually pluralist, and have some sort of representative political institution (parliament, assembly, congress) chosen by popular vote through an electoral process to which opponents of the incumbent administration have access.

JB

About the Author

James Burnham

A COUPLE OF MONTHS ago [NR, Oct. 25] I suggested that in our time it is more useful to classify the forms of government on the initial basis of a triple rather than dual distinction : totalist/authoritarian /democratic rather than dictatorial / democratic. I defined the triple distinction as follows:

“Democratic nations, within a range that varies from nation to nation, are politically, culturally, and intellectually pluralist, and have some sort of representative political institution (parliament, assembly, congress) chosen by popular vote through an electoral process to which opponents of the incumbent administration have access.