Advantages and Disadvantages of a Republican Government

Advantages of Republican System of Government

• The republican system of government is representative. In other words, representatives are elected to serve the common good and office holders are elected directly by the people themselves.
• A republican government is constitutional which means that everything that is done within the state, is done according to the tenets of the constitution.
• Having representatives make the laws more efficient which is faster and better.
• The people have a say in their government when they delegate power to representatives.
• Political authority is conferred on rulers and officials through election which makes a republican system of government democratic. The representatives are responsible to the people so in this case people can be voted out.
• With law and order operating in the republican system, the rights and liberties of the citizens are protected.

Disadvantages of Republican System of Government

• Republican systems can be expensive to operate. Elections often require and consume a lot of resources to conduct. This can have an adverse effect in poorer countries.
• Republican government works best in small communities.
• Laws made by legislature must pass through certain laid down processes without which they could not become laws. As such, conforming to the dictates of the constitution can therefore be time consuming.
• Republican people ideally cannot be diverse from one another.
• In a republican system, there are sometimes many political parties contending for the control of the higher echelons of political power which could lead to serious contentions.
• People in a large diverse republic might get into factions or special interest groups but work against each instead of working for common good.
• In republics where the level of education is generally low, politicians may deceive the mass of the people with sugar-coated words just to win power.