Democracy is a form of government, which literally means the “rule of the people”. Democracies fundamental questions include democracy include: How and why will the citizens govern, what are the criteria for citizenship, who will make majority decisions, who will the decided on divided issues what will be the perimeters to establish to govern a territory and how will chaos be handled if the citizens want a different representative form of government? Democracies
One of the most influential Greek philosophers was Aristotle. Aristotle classified many things, including government in terms of telos; a purpose, an end, and the way things are supposed to be. The telos of the government was to provide its citizens a good living life and happiness.
Aristotle defines democracy as the rule of the poor and the rule of the majority. A government can be governed in two ways according to Aristotle; by virtuous or non-virtuous leaders or by its economic class. In order for a governmental system to be considered successful it needs to achieve its telos. In democracy the majority of the rule and the rule or poor does not assist the city-state in achieving telos. Hence, Aristotle believes democracy is not a good form of rule. According to Aristotle, democracy cannot be virtuous form of government because; of the way freedom is defined. “Democracies do not define freedom properly, everyone lives the way they want and toward what goals they want to attain” (Aristotle, p. 104). In order for a government to be considered virtuous its need to rule for the common good of its people. The government has to achieve its telos; the good for its citizens. By allowing the citizens to dictate the way of rule they are creating a government which is non-virtuou...
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...olved in decision-making. A subsequent limitation was that the criteria needed for a successful democratic government are unrealistic. The citizens of the city-state No city-state was going to be able to live off of those standards. Rousseau view of democracy is justified in this quote “; A true democracy has never existed, and never will exist.”(Rousseau, p.359). Rousseau did not believe that popular sovereignty necessarily entitled democracy as a form of government. Due to democracy being unstable there was a chance for civil disobedience to take place in the city-state. Democracy was more suitable for small city-states, without any corruption and when the general will of the people was put above private interests. However Rousseau in Book 3, Chapter 15 states that a democratic government has the ability to be viable if they are joined together in confederations.
Before that can be established, I think a definition of democracy should be stated so that it may be called upon later in this essay. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, democracy is stated as "the principle of social equality and respect for the individual within a community" .
Aristotle would have the state follow the rule of the people and the rule of the majority through his democracy. He states that each member of this democracy has a share of goodness and intelligence that makes the jus...
A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result
Therefore, in order for any form of democracy to function, Representative Democracy is the superior form of political rule. Jean Jacques Rousseau is considered by many to be the `Grandfather' of direct democracy theory. Rousseau's ideal society would be where the citizens were directly involved in the creation of the laws which are to govern their lives. He maintained that, "all citizens should meet together and decide what is best for the community and enact the appropriate laws. Any law which was not directly created by the citizens is not valid, and if those laws are imposed on people, that is equivalent to the people being enslaved.
Contemporary notions of democracy have undoubtedly evolved from their foundations in ancient Greece and Rome. However, despite noble intentions, democracy in Greece and Rome was neither fair, equal, nor representative. These civilizations practiced direct democracy, whereby all eligible citizens would actively engage in democratic processes and gather to debate state matters (Hirst 2012). Influential Greek historian Herodotus remarked that, under such a system, “there is, first, the most splendid of virtues, equality before the law” (Herodotus & Thucydides et.al 1955 p.223).
A democracy is a system of government controlled by the people, not by one certain group or individual. In the Declaration of Independence it states that “all men are created equal,” an idea which leads to the concept that all citizens should have the same rights, responsibilities, and influence in the governing of their country. In writing the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson was trying to break his ties with the harsh and non-democratic rule of the British and begin a new, equal society and government for America.
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary Democracy is a form of government by the people; especially: rule of the majority(Webster). This is what the United States is represented as, and this is based on the United States Constitution from which the United states draws all legal powers. In Robert Dahls book How democratic Is the American Constitution? He challenges this idea by trying to appeal to his readers in a way that they may view the United States Constitution in a different light. Dahl does this by pointing out flaws that the Constitution has and, draws on facts based on the other democracies around the world that the United States is compared too. He points out how many democratic ideas and innovations have a occurred since the conception of the American Constitution yet it has only adopted some of those idea.
Democracy is the structure of government still used today in many countries.The definition of democracy is a system of government where people who rule directly are freely elected representatives.In addition, democracy comes from the Greek word demokratia. Demo meaning people and kratia meaning power of rule. For instance, here is an example, Great Britain has a democratic government since elected officials and laws are voted on by the people and also the representatives they elect. Therefore Athens exemplifies a democratic government. “Athenians would meet and vote on a simple question …. is anyone becoming a threat to democracy? If a simple majority voted yes,then they dispersed and reassembled two months later,
...e to the nature of Democracy it lacks righteousness but it could never be considered corrupted. A Democratic regime based on egalitarian rights allows for qualified citizens to share in the government under the sovereignty of the law. In this type of regime the majority class rules, allowing for all citizens to have a true say in the pertinent matters in regards to their regime or city.
Democracy was a revolutionary development for the Ancient Greek society it was an innovative idea which gave the citizens of Ancient Greeks the freedom to participate in the governmental system and contribute in the processes and decisions, this in turn helped Ancient Greece succeed politically and economically. This democratic society not only helped Greece succeed in the Mediterranean region but also influenced modern day society. The Ancient Greeks succeeded significantly and were highly advanced for this period, the progressive thoughts and ideas demonstrated by individuals in this society contributed to the development of democracy in Athens which has become one of the most beneficial forms of government created.
One of the contemporary definitions of democracy today is as follows: “Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives; Rule by the majority” (“Democracy” Def.1,4). Democracy, as a form of government, was a radical idea when it manifested; many governments in the early history of the world were totalitarian or tyrannical in nature, due to overarching beliefs that the strong ruled over the weak.
A memorable expression said by President Abraham Lincoln reads, “Democracy is government of the people, by the people, and for the people”. Democracy, is a derived from the Greek term "demos" which means people. It is a successful, system of government that vests power to the public or majority. Adopted by the United States in 1776, a democratic government has six basic characteristics: (i) established/elected sovereignty (where power and civic responsibility are exercised either directly by the public or their freely agreed elected representative(s)), (ii) majority rule(vs minority), (iii) (protects one’s own and reside with) human rights, (iv) regular free and fair elections to citizens (upon a certain age), (v) responsibility of
What is democracy? Democracy a form of government in which the people freely elect representatives to govern them in a country, democracy guarantees free and fair elections, basic personal and political rights and independent court of law. There are two types of democracy, direct and indirect democracy. Direct democracy or pure democracy is where there is direct participate of the people; people make decisions for them instead of letting them representative make decision for them. Indirect democracy the decisions are made by the representative on behalf of the people that voted for them. All over the world people are having different views with regard to democracy and how it operates. “It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried” ~ Winston Churchill, some have said democracy is the worst government form of government which I also think it’s! Due to the how it operates.
Along with these basic premises in Rousseau’s democracy, four basic conditions must exist to allow for democracy to flourish: a small state, a “g...
Democracy has come to mean a principle under whose flag has most of the developed countries aced in their race for Imperialism. It has gone beyond all previous governing systems and has made room for progress and development. By offering free and fair elections, democracy has redefined human dignity and patriotism. It has also helped to improve decision-making among the citizens, and brought down the crime level. Democracy is for sure the most fitting among the other types of government, and needs to be implemented fully for effective functioning of a state.