In the modern world democracy is often pictured as the ultimate egalitarian and moral political system. Institutions such as the United Nations believe that “democratic governance is the process of creating and sustaining an environment for inclusive and responsive political processes and settlements” . Even though, it is described as the most moral political system, is it really appropriate to claim that it is a universally valid form of rule. It depends on how the term is defined. Democracy can be easily defined in the simplest of terms as the “rule by the people for the people”, as Abraham Lincoln so eloquently said in his Gettysburg Address. It could also be defined according to modern philosopher Amartya Sen, as a system of “complex demands, …show more content…
In his Allegory of the Cave, Plato argued that the human condition was to live in a lie, and to protect the lie, while the philosopher enlightened by the sun, could see the truth and was in its pursuit. This made Plato argue that perhaps it is necessary for humans not to choose their own leaders, but for philosopher-kings to rule. Furthermore, this idea of the human being blind to the truth shows why democracy might not be the best system of government, as ignorance of our human condition may lead to irrational decisions. Continuing, he also argues that democracy leads to tyranny, and one of the ways it did this was because the democratic man lacks balance. He lacks balance according to Plato because of the fact that the human is composed of three parts, reason, spirit and desire and according to his point of view the democratic man only has desire. This idea may seem ridiculous at first, but is not so far fetched in the world today. This sole desire and hunger for power, has lead for many, initially democratically elected leaders to become tyrants, such as Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, who has turned from a democratically elected leader, to a tyrant leader. This is important because it shows a fatal moral and practical flaw in democracy that not only threatens the legitimacy of the universality of the system, but of the system
A tyrant to Plato is the worse form of rule, Plato writes, “the worst and most unjust is the most miserable, and he, in truth is the most tyrannical” (322). This shows how much Plato does not like the tyrannical regime because it is the furthest from the very thing he is trying to grasp justice. Plato reveals his idea of a regime hierarchy, “in terms of their goodness and badness, and happiness to its opposite, I will rank them” (322). In Plato’s, hierarchy of regimes, he lists the democratic regime next to tyrannical regime, to Plato the further a regime is from the Aristocratic (the most just society) the less just they become. I do not agree with Plato about his beloved Philosopher king, even though Democratic governments are not perfect. To me the Philosopher king theory, is too farfetched. I especially don’t agree with the cave analogy and the idea that the philosopher king is saving the world from their own ignorance. On the other, there are issues democracy government and those who get elected into office. Our county has had some really good presidents and really bad ones. Also we have had some bad and good congressmen. Yes, Plato is right that these officials do affect our lives when they cast their votes on measures, but it is the closest thing we have to the people in terms of a
As the wise Plato once said, “Tyranny naturally arises out of Democracy.” It appears Plato was in fact wise beyond his years. He must have known that something in may prove him right in the future. This proof comes from Fascism during the years between World Wars. Fascism thrived during the interwar years because its eloquent leaders made the people to whom they spoke feel important to the common cause. In Italy and Germany especially, Hitler and Mussolini gave the people tasks in order to make them believe that they were significant. All of the events that transpired because of these two men played out when the leaders targeted the emotions of the people. Two men changed the face of history forever with powerful oratories, intricate parades, and clever propaganda meant to make the people of their respective countries feel in control, significant, and powerful.
Many Americans are proud to live in a country that claims to be a democracy. They are enlightened to know that “the people” have the power to actively participate in the decision making process of the government. They constantly show pride and faith on the principles of democracy everywhere they go. Yet, there are many who also seem to disapprove of the process that others so claim to be the best form of rule of government.
Only the male citizens of Ancient Greece could have their voices heard. However, Plato disagreed with this concept of democracy, and designed a new way to govern the people in The Republic. Plato believed that one philosopher should have had absolute power, and he must have been, “…by nature quick to learn and to remember, magnanimous and gracious, the friend and kinsman of truth, justice, courage, temperance…” or he would have been unfit to rule. In Plato’s cave allegory, the ordinary people were represented in the prisoners who were chained in the cave, and the philosopher in the prisoner who was pushed out of the cave and saw the world outside. This single prisoner would then know the truth of reality, while the others maintained the belief that reality only consisted of the cave. From this allegory, it was understood that philosophers had a responsibility to lead the average citizens as only they could comprehend reality as it is. However, in order for the philosopher to guide the people, he would have had to take power from the people. The people would not participate in political matters and education would have been regulated. In Plato’s ideal society, the ordinary people had absolutely no power in their lives or their government. This model civilization was never accepted, and democracy continued in Ancient
The American Democracy is one of the strongest and most powerful in the world with many influences that has tailored the constitutions and laws of other countries. In the 21st century the Constitution of the United States still remains one of the simplest, shortest, most envied, most difficult to change and predominant role of how effective democracy can be. However, American Democracy is not static; it is constantly evolving. Even though democracy offers a number of advantages over other forms of government, no system is perfect and federalism offers, and still offers, both advantages and disadvantages. The Declaration of Independence of 1776 and the Constitution of 1789 form the foundations of the United States federal government. The Declaration of Independence establishes the United States as an independent political entity, while the Constitution creates the basic structure of the federal government. This paper is will examine a number of factors that prove to establish and define the strengths and weakness of the Constitution, the impact of policy on federal bureaucracy, the efficiency of branches of government and the impact of interest groups. The forecast for democracy is anything but certain, and many opinions
The United States government could be described as a representative democracy. This form of government puts power in the people’s hands by letting them vote for their representatives. United States citizens vote on presidents, congress members, etc., which allows some power to be placed in the hands of every citizen. A representative democracy allows us to have a say in who represents our beliefs, values, and standards for the country. As stated in How Congress Works, a representative democracy is a way “in which the people would choose elected representatives to carry their voices to Washington.”
... conclusion Plato's idea of the emergence of tyranny from democracy is true. Tyranny evolves from democracy because of the unequal ability to realize desires lawfully present in society. The idle envy the prosperous and invest their support in popular leaders to ensure their well being in other way. The popular leaders do so, and some commit acts of violence and injustice to do so better. This encourages them to commit further acts of violence for both their supporters interests and their own, until they reach a point where they must commit acts of violence purely out of the interest of self preservation. The live in constant fear of the world around then, ironically chained away from the pleasures they pursued by committing acts of tyranny. Democracies possess protection against tyranny chiefly bureaucracy and the ability to keep citizens informed and interested.
Plato views the democratic state as a city “full of freedom and freedom of speech[,]” where its citizens “have the license to do [whatever they] want” and the right to self-determine. Plato however, sees this insatiable desire for freedom at the expense of neglecting everything else as the downfall of democracy. To clarify, a society that is staunchly protective of its equality and freedom will be particularly sensitive towards any oppositions that seem to limit them, to the point where it actively attempts to “avoid [obeying the law and] having any master at all.” Thus, “unless the rulers are very pliable and provide plenty of that freedom, they are punished by the city and accused of being oligarchs.” Since those in power fear the accusations of those being ruled, they become docile and submissive. On the other hand, those who are ruled are encouraged by their rulers’ meekness and, convinced of their inherent right to freedom, begin to behave as their own rulers. Thus, this blind chase for unconditional freedom will propagate disorder across the society, and eventually cause the people to see “anarchy [as] freedom, extravagance [as] magnificence, and shamelessness [as]
Can social order be maintained without power? Some political thinkers believe that political order can be maintained with sources such as human nature, the natural harmony of interests, and customs other than power. Rousseau and Marx believed in human nature if men and women were basically good. Locke thought that humans were at bottom reasonable. Edmund Burke was a proponent of habit, prejudice, and respect. The concept of natural harmony of interest is essentially summarized by the theory of classical economists, which is basic rationale for free enterprise. The classical economist regarded humans as materialistic and self-seeking and the social order could be created and sustained with power. The government role would be to ensure and maintain
The first amendment of the U.S. Constitution states that we, as citizens, have the right to free speech. Our freedom, however, comes with responsibilities that must be respected in order to maintain independence in our country.
Democracy: a government by the people, in which citizens rule either directly or through elected representatives - the latter description more relevant to today’s societies. Quite evidently, democracy is not perfect; like any other political system, it is subject to a plethora of flaws. For instance, it is no secret that voters tend to make illogical decisions – not out of sheer malice, but as a result of being wrongly informed. Politicians also make erroneous choices, whether they do so because they are dishonest or simply out of touch with the true will of their constituents. Further, anyone who has studied the government of a parliamentary democracy knows gerrymandering can have a powerful say in determining elections. Despite these and other flaws however, democracy still seems to work.
In addition, democracy maintains the right of choice. These characteristics are the most appealing and dominate because people can formulate decisions based on their cultural, religious, interpersonal, intrapersonal beliefs that outline who...
He writes, for example, that within the framework of a democratic society, young people begin to imitate adults and compete with them in reasoning and in affairs that results in contention between generations. “The forgiving spirit of democracy” is the spirit of slavery since ordinary people become slaves of the part of the population that begins to govern the country by becoming a major political force. Supporters of democracy think that they have a true idea of the correct version of the political regime, but according to Plato, they are far from the truth, since they have no idea of the correct structure of the state. I can say that I agree with Plato 's ideas on democracy and its supporters since in fact, we can observe the phenomenon of injustice and tyranny in many democratic countries. Under the guise of democratic ideals, modern society shows the commitment of the various anti-moral and anti-social phenomena that cannot be regarded as positive. People have become slaves of money and power, and in a society that calls itself ‘democratic’ the power belongs to separate individuals while other people are their slaves although they do not understand this
There have been enormous efforts to spread democracy as a political system throughout the world by the developed democratic countries and the international development organizations including the World Bank. By the late 1990s the United States alone spent over a half billion dollars to promote democratic expansion throughout the world (Diamond, 2003). These were done considering that the democratic system leads towards development. As a result in the late 20th century we saw a huge political transformation towards democracy. During the last few decades a huge number of countries adopted democracy as their political system. However, it retain a big question how far democracy is successful in bringing development of a country? At this stage, some people also criticizes the effort of democratization arguing that it is done without considering the context of a country, sometimes democracy is not ideal for all countries and it is an effort to extinct diversity of political system. In studying the literature regarding the debate, we found a paradoxical relationship between democracy and development. Some argue that democracy has failed to ensure expected outcomes in terms of development. While others confronted that democracy has a considerable impact on development. Another group of people argue that form of political system actually does not have any impact on development process. On the verge of these debates, some development institutions and academics throw light on why democracy is not working properly, and what measure should be taken to make it more successful in bringing effective development of developing countries. Consequently, this writing is an effort of revisiting the different views about impact of democra...
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.