Binary opposition is a key concept in structuralism, a theory

of sociology, anthropology and linguistics that states that all

elements of human culture can only be understood in relation to
one another and how they function within a larger system or the
overall environment.a relation between the members of a pair of
linguistic items, as a pair of distinctive features,such that one is
the absence of the other, as voicelessness and voice, or that one
is at the opposite pole from the other.

Oppositional thinking represents a 'black and white' view of the

world, a tendency to see everything in terms of simple
contradictions. This is not a natural or innocent way of thinking.
It has clear consequences for the way power is distributed
among groups of people in a society. For example, the phrase
'black and white', as used here, is not merely a convenient
expression. It is also tied to divisive ideas about race which
operate in our societies.The binary opposition is an organising
principle for many texts and readings. The elements of a text
are often structured around a pair of concepts such as
nature/culture, masculine / feminine, mind / body. Through such
oppositions, texts, and our ways of reading them, can reproduce
certain patterns of thinking.

One element in a binary opposition is often privileged over the

other. This means that binary oppositions are also hierarchies,

with one half dominating the other. The second term often
comes to represent merely the absence of the first. This has
the effect of devaluing the second element. Thus 'emotion' is
often degraded as merely the absence of reason'.

Binary patterns of thinking often mask the differences between

things in this way, even though they seem to stress differences.
This can be seen in the tendency to transfer concepts between
binary pairs.

For example taking a pair of binary oppositions DEMOCRACY vs

DICTATORSHIP . Adults and children can be contrasted in how
they act and the way they physically respond to situations .

DIFFERENCES

- Democracy is a Government for the people, by the people, of

the people. Dictatorship is a type of government where political
authority is controlled by an individual or a political entity.
- In democracy people can vote in and out whereas in
dictatorship people cannot vote in and out.
- In democracy -governed by a group of people and is for the

common welfare of its subjects whereas in dictator ship they

are governed by dictatorship .
- In democracy the leader is called a president but there is no
president in dictatorship is ruled by a tyrant leader.
- In democracy the government does not have a dictator and in
dictatorship the government does not have a president.
- In democracy the people tell the government what to do but in
dictatorship the people cannot tell the government what to do .
- Democracy is federal dictatorship is autocratic.
- Freedom, Majority rule, People's rights, Power of voting are
the advantages of Democracy whereas Dictatorship advantages
are Faster process for the system, Less room for corruption,
Lesser crime rate.
The succession rule applied in Democracy is Elective and
that in Dictatorship is Heritence as well as Elective.

SIMILARITIES
- Both are forms of political control.
- Parliament is present in Democracy and in Dictatorship
parliament is Sometimes present.
- Constitution is present in Democracy and in Dictatorship
constitution is Sometimes present.
- Democracy and dictatorship both involve a central figure of
authority

- Both types of government have gone through war because the

types of governments have been trying to force themselves on
them so that the other ruling power can be changed into or take
over the ruling power into whatever the types of governments.