Every government ever created is unique. Whether the uniqueness is found in the decision-making process or in the way officials are elected, it creates that government distinctly different from the rest. Although every government is multifarious, many have similar characteristics, which can be compared and contrasted. The one characteristic that every government shares is the attempt to create a utopian society while at the same time maintaining peace and order among the people. Three specific governments that have done or doing this are the Russian government of the early 20th century, the current United States government, and the fictitious government created by George Orwell in his classic novel 1984. The reason that the different governments are interesting to work with is the different levels of success they had. The reason that governments have different success rates, or do not succeed at all, is they overlook essential elements that matter to the people. Why these three governments worked or did not work had to do with how they gave their people opportunities to be active, created fear, communicated with the people, and used money. Both the Orwellian and the American governme

nts work because they take into account these matters, but the early 20th century Russian government did not because it took different ideas and pushed them to such and extreme that the people had to react in extreme ways.

Alliance For Better Campaigns. "Voter Turnout." 2000. http://www.bettercampaigns.org/documents/

In Russia however, people did not have the ability to be part of the government unless they were born into wealth. This was due to the fact that communes did not provide enough to create any savings. Peasants were uneducated, and the government did not concern itself with the peasant's wants (Pipes 4-10). This ultimately led to the fall of the Russian monarchy. Even though the money in the United States and Orwellian societies is also in the government and upper class, they are more affective at using the money to help the people. In Russia people got tired of being ruled by one all powerful person who could not understand their needs, and as Richard Pipes explained in his book, "Russia was living on a volcano" (55), waiting to explode. Russia was too extreme a place for its people.

What is ultimately most important is that the people must be heard. The United States, Orwellian, and early 20th century Russian societies all have similarities in where their money is, and where the majority of people are. What they do not have in common is how they deal with their money and people. A government can prevail or falter due to how it looks at the essential elements that matter to the people. Orwellian society uses its power over the people to make them all feel equal, and to communicate information to them that raises the societies moral. The United States government gives people the right to vote, and if they have the will, the ability to make a place for themselves in some part of government. The early 20th century Russian government was too extreme for its people. It tried to let them represent themselves and it did not work. It tried to create fear amongst the people in attempt to control them, and that did not work. Worst of all it did not try to communicate or list to the people's concerns, which in the end caused the peasants to overthrow the tsar. As seen from these examples, in order for a government to work it must use certain strategies, which may seem unfair to the people, but that work, if not too extreme. When a government becomes too extreme, things like the Holocaust result, which it is why people living today need to see the signs of an abusive government before it is too late, for nothing can stop an extreme government except for extreme measures.

Pipes, Richard. A Concise History of the Russian Revolution. New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., 1995.

Once again one of Russia's fatal errors was creating too much of a good thing, in this case, fear. The Russian peasant had a system that was centered on a commune, which they thrived on because it provided just enough for the people to get by. When the Russian government decided to slowly abolis

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Approximate Word count = 2032
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)