Chapter 2
The
Democratic Ideal
Outline/Goals







Original meaning of “democracy”
Main features of republican tradition from Aristotle to Polybius to the
American founding
Rise, decline, and revival of democratic ideal from ancient Greece to
present
How meaning of democracy has changed over course of Western
history
Main conceptions of democracy in twentieth century – liberal
democracy, social democracy, and people’s democracy
Democracy as an essentially contested concept
Democracy as an ideal and different conceptions of democracy held
by competing ideologies
Original Meaning of
“Democracy”

Our word “democracy” comes from two Greek
words:
meaning, “people,” or “common people”
 kratein, “to rule”
 demos

Demoskratia originally meant “rule or
government by the common people”
 Common
people = uneducated, unsophisticated, poor
 since the common people constituted a numerical
majority, democracy came to be associated with the
idea of majority rule
Democracy in Ancient Greece
(c. 5-4 B.C.E)


Majority consisted mainly of the demos
Many Greeks understood democracy as a
system of class rule
 rule
by one class, the demos, in its own interest
 often in opposition to the interests of other classes,
including the aristoi = “the best”


source of our word aristocracy, “rule by those few who are
best qualified to govern”
Greek democracy operated in self-governing
city-state, polis
Early Greek Democracy

Tension between aristocrats and democrats

Aristocrats believed only well-established citizens with substantial property and
ties to noble families were fit to rule
 Democrats (e.g., Pericles) believed most citizens were capable of governing

Seemingly very democratic…

Direct vote by citizens (paid) to take part in assembly
 Paid jury duty
 Random selection of office holders

While also very “undemocratic” (by modern standards)…

Restricted citizenship = adult, free, males (Athens: 1/10 citizens)
 right to vote and hold public office denied to women, resident aliens (metics), and
slaves
 no legally guaranteed rights of freedom of speech, press, and assembly

Citizens who publicly expressed unpopular views could, by a majority vote in the
Athenian Assembly, be banished (ostracized) from the city and forced into exile, or even
executed
Socrates
(469-399 B.C.E.)




Teacher/friend of Plato; philosophical gadfly
Executed in 399 B.C.E. for daring to question
certain popularly held religious and political
views
Accused of religious impiety and corrupting the
morals of the youth
Critical about the value of democracy
 Argued
questions about truth cannot be decided by
majority vote

First martyr to cause of free thought and free
speech
Plato (427-347 B.C.E.)



Best-known work, The Republic, criticizes democracy; paints
memorable picture of ideal state ruled by a wise “philosopher-king”
Democracy was a dangerously unstable form of government
Puts power into the hands of ignorant and envious people who will
not use political power for the common good
 Envy makes them pursue private interest and plunder others
who are better off
 Ignorance makes them susceptible to flattering demagogues
who turn citizens against one another
 Gives rise to civil war and anarchy, disorder
 People seeking order give power to a despot, which leads to
tyranny
Aristotle (384-322
B.C.E.)


Student of Plato
Took a somewhat more favorable view of democracy




although he too believed it to be a factious, unstable, and shortlived system of government
Demos tend to be shortsighted and selfish; pursue own interests
by taking property, wealth, and power from the few with little
regard for the whole, which leads to chaos and
despotism/tyranny
6-part classification scheme (Figure 2.1, p. 22)
Best system, he argued in Politics, would be a system of
“rule by the many,” or polity, which aims at promoting the
public good, not the individual or class interests of one
faction or another
Aristotle’s Polity


Polity mixes elements of rule by the few with rule by the many
Each keeps eye on the other; neither class can pursue its interest at
the expense of the common good

Polity may depend on distribution of wealth





Democracies, the many are usually poor
Rare but fortunate circumstances, the many will be neither rich nor poor
(neither arrogant or envious) and will have moderate and sufficient property,
“middle class” and they will rule prudently in the common interest
Common good will be their own good, middling middle will work to maintain
moderation, peace, and stability
Greek city-states and rule by the many (democracy or polity)
destroyed by rise of Hellenic Empire under Alexander the Great
Idea of mixed constitution or republic (from the Latin res publica,
meaning “the public thing” or “the public business”) picked up and
developed by later Greek and Roman thinkers, including Polybius
(200-118 B.C.E.)
Republic and Mixed Government






Greek historian, Polybius, in Histories, argues Roman Republic’s success due to
mixed government
 Government constituted by different classes and interests
 Neither the one, the few, or the many held all the power
Republic mixed or balanced these sets of interests; divided power among them
 People (many) exercised power/influence through the assemblies
 Aristocrats (few) through the Senate
 Executive Consuls (“one”) put policies into effect
Out of competition/compromise came close approximation to the public good
Republic a form of popular government
 Not democracy (self-interested rule of common people) which promoted vice
Republic promoted virtue = ability to rise above personal/class interest to place good
of whole above one’s own
 Requires active citizens eager to exercise liberty and wary of person/group who
wishes to seize power
Mixed government encourages popular participation while making it difficult for any
person/group to threaten liberty and common good
Democracy’s Long Sleep


Further development of idea that best system of
government was rule by the people stifled by…
Demise of the Roman Republic




Rise of Christianity



Triumph of the tyrannical Caesars, Rome ceased to be a
popularly-governed republic, became despotical and militarily
expansionist empire
1500 years later, republican ideal revived in Northern Italian citystates during Renaissance
1900 years later, democratic ideal revived
Worldly matters—including political matters—are much less
important than otherworldly ones, especially salvation
Political message: obey those in power and seek no power
yourself
Middle Ages and feudalism (highly stratified society)
Rebirth of Democracy and
Republicanism

Italian Renaissance (14-16th centuries)


Drawing on Aristotle, Polybius, examples of Rome and
Sparta, Renaissance republicans argued for revival of
civic life in which public-spirited citizens could take part
in governing


Rebirth of classical learning and political ideas and ideals
Key themes: liberty, virtue, and corruption
Renaissance writer who did more than anyone else to
revive and defend the idea of republican government
was Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
Machiavelli (1469-1527)


Best known work, The Prince
In his Discourses (1531), Machiavelli defends the republican ideals
of mixed government, virtuous citizenry, and the rule of law







Advocates a system of popular rule by a virtuous and vigilant citizenry
bent on protecting their liberty
Greatest danger to republican or self-government comes from
corruption—tendency to turn away from attending to the common good
and turn inward toward private or individual interest
Liberty/self-government not for lazy, selfish or corrupt
Only for citizens steeped in self-discipline, love of country, civic virtue,
and respect for the law
Only under “a government of laws, not men,” could citizens remain free
Preferred a mixed constitutional republic over pure/direct
democracy
Machiavelli’s vision inspired Atlantic republican tradition
Atlantic Republican Tradition


Machiavelli’s republican ideals influential in 17th
century England
James Harrington (1611-1677) argued popular
self-government could be both stable and just
 Called
on Cromwell to create mixed or “balanced”
system of government
 Land redistribution to promote liberty; popular
elections to promote republican virtue and protect
against power of incumbency
Atlantic Democratic Tradition


17th century England also saw return of democracy, at least as an
inspirational ideal
During English Civil War of the 1640s


Levellers (e.g., John Lilburne) and Diggers (e.g., Gerrard Winstanley)

Called for creation of democracy


all political authority grounded in popular consent
called for extension of franchise to all adult males

Rule by and for the benefit of the common people
At about the same time, in the new English colony of America,
dissident puritans (e.g., Roger Williams) preached that because all
people were equal in God’s eyes, they were equally entitled to
govern themselves in a “democratical” way
Late 18th-19th Centuries




Prior, democracy a dissident—and, to some, a
dangerous—form of government
Usually equated with mob rule
Only in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth
centuries did democracy finally become
respectable
In the United States, the democratic ideal was
altered by the republican tradition, with its
emphasis on balanced government, the rule of
law, and the protection of civil rights
U.S. A Democratic Republic


From the beginning, favored form of government
. was republican
Separation of powers/checks and balances
 Modification
of mixed or balanced government
 Executive = the one; legislative = many; judicial = few



Bill of Rights
Popular element checked and controlled by the
Senate, the courts, and the president
Era of “Jacksonian democracy” removed
property qualifications for voting and expanded
political equality/democracy
Tocqueville (1805-1859)




In Democracy in America, de Tocqueville argues that
while democracy frees the common people, its
overbearing emphasis on equality threatens to produce
mediocrity or despotism, or both
Emphasis on equality produced pressures to conform,
“tyranny of the majority”
Common people easily swayed by demagogues who
flatter and mislead them to gain power
Positive possibility for democracy (republicanism
combined with the democratic ideal)

Civic virtue, ability to see and serve the common interest,
promoted through participation in public affairs
Growth of Democracy



Democracy continued to grow in popularity in
the 19th and 20th centuries
Urbanization, spread of education,
improvements in communication and
transportation contributed to belief that common
people could participate knowledgeably in public
affairs
Democracy was defended on two grounds – self
protection and self-development
 Utilitarians
called for representative democracy
 Mill felt democracy would strengthen public virtue and
promote individual development
Democracy As An Ideal



Most ideologies pursue and promote democracy, but
they do so in different ways because they disagree on
what it is
Democracy is not a specific kind of government, it is an
ideal = something toward which people aim or aspire
Democracy is government or rule by the people, but…




Who are the people?
How are the people to rule?
Democracy is attractive because it implies that citizens
are free and equal, but what this means is unclear
All ideologies must come to terms with the democratic
ideal

Their conception of human nature and freedom determines
whether it is possible, desirable, and what form it should take
th
20
C. Conceptions of
Democracy
Liberal Democracy
 Social Democracy
 People’s Democracy

Liberal Democracy





Emerged from Liberalism
Characterizes most Western democracies
Rule by the people
Stresses protection of individual rights and
liberties
Majority rule must be limited
 Majority
rule as long as the majority does not deprive
individuals or minorities of basic civil rights
Social Democracy








Social democratic/democratic socialist
Linked with Socialism
Main challenger to Liberal Democracy among Western Democracies
Share with liberals emphasis on protection of civil liberties and fair
competition for office, but believe people cannot be free and political
competition fair with great inequalities of wealth and power
Key to democracy is equality
Equal power in society and government
Equal power/influence in politics/government requires a more equal
distribution of economic power/resources
Program: redistribution of wealth to promote equality, public
financing of campaigns and elections, public control over natural
resources and major industries, worker’s control in the workplace
People’s Democracy


Prevailing view of democracy in communist societies
Rule by the common people (proletariat/ working class) closer to
original Greek idea of democracy

Democracy means rule by and for the benefit of the numerically largest
social class
 In modern industrial society this class is the working class, or what Marx
called the proletariat


Differences within communist ideologies as to how this rule is
actualized
In most (China, Vietnam, Cuba, North Korea), it means rule by the
Communist Party
Mao’s “people’s democratic dictatorship”
People’s democracies rule in the interest of the working class, and thereby
claim to be democracies, and even more democratic than liberal or social
democracies


An Essentially Contested
Concept


While almost universally popular, democracy is a term
(like freedom) whose meaning is deeply disputed
Different people, adhering to different ideologies, define
democracy in quite different ways



Splits/divisions even within ideologies – among liberals,
conservatives, Marxists, etc.
For some, the concept is closely connected with a
particular social class; for others it is not
For some, democracy means not only majority rule, but
the protection of minority rights; for others, it means
nothing of the sort
Democracy as an Ideal



Democracy is not itself an ideology, but an
ideal—an aim or aspiration—that different
ideologies define in different and sometimes
radically divergent ways
It is an ideal that most ideologies espouse
Just what those ideologies are, and how they
define democracy and allied notions such as
liberty (or freedom), we will discuss throughout
the quarter
Discussion Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Why were the ancient philosophers Plato and Aristotle convinced
that democracy was a bad form of government? Do you find their
arguments persuasive? Explain.
What have Machiavelli and other political theorists meant by the
term republic? How, if at all, is a republic different from a
democracy?
Is the United States best described as a democracy, a republic, or
a democratic republic? Explain and defend your position.
What were the 3 principal conceptions of democracy in the
twentieth century? How do they differ from one another, and
which, in your view, is the best way of thinking about democracy?
Ball and Dagger maintain that democracy is not an ideology but an
ideal. Why do they say this? Are they right or wrong? Does it
make sense to say that democracy is an ideology? Why or why
not?