“Syria's future must be determined by its people, but President Bashar al-Assad stands in their way.” These words spoken by US President Barack Obama reflect not only the feeling of many nations around the world regarding the leadership of the Syrian president, but also the essence of chapter eight: the difference between democracy and non-democracy. Democracy is characterized by the connection between the government and its people in terms of inputs, such as people's ideas and interests, and outputs, such as laws and policies. This differs from non-democracy. Many elements contribute to a country being labeled as undemocratic. Ellen Grigsby states that non-democratic governments are anti-participatory, suppress certain groups within society, diverse in terms of leadership, unclear in terms of succession, and produce laws and policies that fail to reflect the interests of citizens (182). Syrian history exemplifies these non-democratic ideals, and the 2011 Syrian uprising represents a contemporary issue of non-democracy. Syria is officially a republican state; it is formally called the Syrian Arab Republic. However, the Syrian government effectively discourages the participation of its citizens in political decision-making and the election of leaders. Although Syrian citizens vote in referendums every seven years to approve the election of a president, this participation is superficial as an unopposed referendum approved former president Hafiz Al-Assad for five terms and his son Bashar Al-Assad for two terms unopposed. This lack of diversity within the electoral process is due to the fact that President Hafiz Al-Assad and his son Bashar Al-Assad have banned opposing political parties and candidates from elections. Another disliked......middle of paper......storers and activists say the president must resign. This sentiment is mirrored by world leaders like Barack Obama. The Syrian government has been a model of non-democracy in its anti-participation practices, repression of Kurds and the opposition, lack of free elections, and overall authoritarian rule. The series of protests that characterize the 2011 Syrian uprising illustrate the severity of the people's dissatisfaction with their government. This dissatisfaction in Syria is just a small part of a larger movement to bring equality to the Middle East, known as the Arab Spring. The Arab Spring consists of similar uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and many other Arab countries. Although there are currently more countries classified as non-democratic than democratic, productive uprisings like the one in Syria could be an indication that this trend is shifting..