Democracy vs Communism: Difference and Comparison

Today most of the world’s countries have adopted different political systems for the functioning of the countries, for example, socialist countries and communist countries, and some today even follow dictatorship, which is the rule by the king and queen.

But the most adopted form of political ruling is democracy and communism; both of these terms are very different in the sphere of economics and politics,

but both systems carry the same ideology, which is the power to people, giving them the power to vote to raise their voice and represent.

Key Takeaways

1. Democracy is a form of government in which the people have a say in decision-making. At the same time, communism is a social and economic system that advocates for the collective ownership of property and the absence of social classes.
2. In a democracy, citizens elect representatives to make decisions on their behalf, while in communism, the government controls the means of production and distribution of goods and services.
3. Democracy places a greater emphasis on individual rights and freedoms, while communism prioritizes the needs of the community over the needs of the individual.

Democracy vs Communism

In a democracy, power is held by the people, where citizens have the right to vote in the decision-making process, and decisions are made through free and fair elections. In communism, power is held by the state, and the government controls all aspects of the economy and society.

Communism revolves around the ideology of everyone being treated equally. Therefore, it creates a society where the govt holds all the property to abolish inequality.

Still, democracy revolves around privates holding onto the property but giving everyone equal rights to choose their representatives.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Democracy	Communism
Meaning	It is a political system where the big landowners and workers who hold the property are exploited, typical rule by the majority	It is a political system in which the country is based on freeholding property and is held by govt to protect the working class.
Discrimination	Everyone is given equal treatment in books, but it is a typical rule by the majority.	All members are treated equally, as there are no holdings.
Holdings	People still hold private property.	No holdings as the property are held by govt the term users is used instead.
Religion	Everyone is given the right to follow any religion and cannot be exploited based on it.	Religion is seen as something obsolete and is considered a drug that divides people.
Wars	War is considered inferior as it causes political and economic instability.	War is considered normal in such a political ruling system.

What Is Democracy?

Democracy is a form of system in which all the people living in the country are given equal rights, that is, freedom of speech right to freedom.

The major ideology that revolves around democracy is choosing their leader using voting. Today major countries like India follow the political system of democracy.

It can be seen as a perfect political ruling system, but on the other side; it is also known as the exploitation of the minority in the hands of the majority.

The majority exploits minority communities: the big landowners who hold onto private property, and minority communities, that is, the worker’s community of the working class, that is exploited and given fewer wages, salaries, etc.

 Religion can be seen in democracy as something that the people have the right to choose and cannot be exploited based on religion.

Still, this concept doesn’t revolve in today’s modern democracy, where the majority exploits minority religious communities.

The idea that democracy revolves around is holding on to private property production and capital where the private property-holding communities enjoy benefits like profits.

The government does not intervene in private matters. But the government does provide services like railways, free education, minimum support price to the farmers, etc.

Democracy is an idea where everyone should be given every right to act. Everyone is given equal rights but has equal benefits and services like health education.

Sometimes democracy can take ugly forms in voting, where they exploit people and force them to vote for a particular political party.

What is Communism?

Communism was the term that Karl Marx first coined; therefore, it is also known as Marxism that revolves around the idea of throwing away private property, production, and capital and giving it to the government, therefore, making it a free economic market where everybody is treated equally, and terms like minority and majority don’t exist in this kind of political system.

Religion is considered the drug that divides this society into two different sections; therefore, religion is considered inferior.

The communist Government system, in an ideological form, consists of no government at all; however, it may consider a dictatorship.

It revolves around maximizing the profits in a whole society and distributing them among the people equally.

War is obsolete and considered inferior by every political system but communism. It was considered a normal situation, and people thought it was a healthy way of functioning for any government.

It also revolves around the criticism that it leads to slow technological advances, reduced prosperity, and poor human rights.

 As a whole, terms like minority and majority don’t exist because everybody is considered free and equal. No private holdings, profit maximisation, or religion exist in perfect communist countries.

Major Differences Between Democracy and Communism

1. Democracy revolves around holding onto private property, capital, and profit maximization, whereas the idea of holding onto property is thrown away in the communist political system.
2. Everyone in a democracy is given an equal right to follow any religion, and they cannot be exploited based on it, whereas religion in communism is considered a drug that divides the society; therefore, no religion exists in a perfect communist country.
3. Everyone in a democracy is given equal voting rights to choose their leader, whereas, in a perfect community, a country dictatorship is ruled by the king.
4. Communist countries are criticized based on slow technological reforms and poor human rights with the belief that communist country is a major problem of wars, whereas, in democracy, many criticisms exist that the exploitation of minorities by the majority community.
5. War is considered normal in a communist country and is said it leads to healthy functioning, whereas democracy sees wars as obsolete leading to country instability.

References

1. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=piQGEAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=democracy&ots=-y3LU0w9HY&sig=HIq-dfy7rGBRnbZpqMKe5wtHEUg

Last Updated : 13 July, 2023