A democratic state is one in which citizens get to choose their elected officials. In the US, at the very beginning of the country’s founding, there was some dispute over whether the country should have several political parties, or create a one party democracy. Some argued against having two separate parties, as this would create partisanship and problems when elected officials tried to come together to create new laws. Others argued, and won their argument, that the variety of opinions on how government should operate was best reflected by having more than one party. This also allowed for balance and fuller representation of the peoples’ views, which might be disparate.

A one party democracy is a very difficult thing to find, though there are certainly governments that are not democratic that are governed by a single party. Many of them are communist, fascist or dictator run states. The first true one party democracy was formed in Liberia in 1878, but over the next 100 years, the party, influenced strongly by the Masonic Order in Liberia, began to abuse governmental privilege, and eventually resulted in overthrow of the government in 1980.

The trouble with the ideas of democracy and a one party democracy is that if you only get a single choice when you’re voting, you’re really not getting a choice. It’s true that some one party democracies allow for several choices for each elected office, but since they are all of the same party, their viewpoints may not be significantly different. This provokes less change in a country and may preference certain groups of citizens or certain ideals that remain fairly static. It’s hard to maintain a one party democracy that is truly democratic.

Multi-party, or two party democracies face their own challenges. There can be so much disparity between the two parties that they can seldom cooperate to get laws passed. Having two or most distinct party philosophies may create bitter partisan battles. Of course, such battles are not limited to the members of the separate parties. Races to become presidential nominees within a single party in the United States are marked by some fairly extreme infighting. This occasionally prompts people to become so disgusted with their own party that they choose to leave it and become independents, or they join another party that better reflects their views.

The circumstances under which a one party democracy might operate well would have to include the following:

1) A fairly unified citizenry that agrees on the basic direction for the country, and the role of government in the society.
2) A party that would be able to sustain membership and have a relatively high tolerance for different viewpoints.
3) The offering of multiple candidates to the electorate for each elected office.
4) Continued agreement by citizens that additional parties were not needed.

Since these conditions are seldom met, a one party democracy that is democratic is truly hard to find, and many that were initially established under this condition have since evolved to multiple parties, or completely dismissed the idea of having political parties at all.