Dynamics of modern government

In the present text, we have chosen to make use of the dichotomy between the authoritarian and the democratic approach as a central . focus for our discussions of political institutions, processes, and problems. The reasons for the choice seem to us compelling. In the first place, the division between democracies and authoritarian governments is one of the prime facts in today's political world, and we believe that the student ought to be aware of the fundamental political problems involved in that division. Second, the authoritarian- demoeratic dichotomy encourages the use of comparative political data; the student will gain some knowledge of the fundamentals of his own political system and at the same time learn some of the different organizing and operating principles that democratic societies employ. Third, and perhaps most important of all, the conceptual framework
we have chosen to employ helps to clarify the various factors involved in meaningful political choice. To know what is being hosen, to be aware of the implications of choice, is to take the first step in the direction of responsible political criticism. Within the limits necessarily imposed on a beginning text, we believe we have provided the student with an opportunity to learn some of the basic political facts, to organize those facts into a meaningful structure, and to use that structure as a basis for informed and reasonable criticism.