For forms of governments, let fools contest; whatever is best administered, is best
In these lines, Pope criticizes those who indulge in arguments about the superiority of one type of government over another. This discussion, feels Pope, is at best an academic exercise, and at worst, foolish. No form of government is bad if it provides clean and efficient administration which is the fundamental function of a government. And this function can be performed equally well by any form of government if it is run by honest and efficient people. It is not the form that will make the government good or bad. Democracy is, for example, a very good form of government but a bad democracy is worse than a despotism. Similarly, Aristotle’s Aristocracy might degenerate into the selfish government of the few, an oligarchy-It is not the form but the spirit in which that form is put into practice that will prove whether it is good or bad. Many things are fascinating in theory but hopelessly defective in practice. The best Utopia might become an instrument of cruel torture if it falls into the hands of evil geniuses. Even the government of the best people might grind the people to dust if the rulers become selfish and run after power for its own sake. Communism, which was hailed as the panacea of all our economic, social and political ills, has failed to deliver the goods. The so called dictatorship of the proletariat has not withered away. In fact it has become the dictatorship of a ruling clique which has strongly entrenched itself. Thus we see that the defect lies not in the ‘brand’ or ‘form’ of government but in its actual implementation. Even the divine theory may fall into the devilish hands and may become an instrument of diabolical cruelty.
