Democracy & Aristotle Essay

country is widely recognized to fool originated from ancient Greece, where much of its political philosophy was developed, particularly by Aristotle. However, antediluvian Rome is also credited with significant contri saveions to the development of republic. Etymologically speaking, the word republic equates to rule and strength from the raft. This is an important notion to consider, as far besides often the notion of land today has eroded into a touch that this rule and strength harps solely within the electoral process. While in that location is no denying the importance of elections, Lawrence Lessig (2004) contends that democracy also means rule by the people and opines that in the American tradition that means control with reasoned discourse and debate.As such, democracy is exercised most by the people when they are actively engaged in civic affairs. Alexis de Tocqueville (2003), the 19th degree Celsius French political thinker best known for his sociological motive power writings on the United States, observed that this is best exemplified by the dialog box system. Unlike the elections, jurors did not just vote over the outcome to be imposed at the conclusion of a trial, but rather, they went through bad deliberation, attempting to persuade each other of the outcome. Results were obtained through argument, such that no juror could simply detach himself from the implications of his vote.Democratic theory, when applied to political governance, operates along cardinal princioples. First, that the members of the democratic society in question harbor equal get at to power, and second, that they enjoy freedoms and liberties which are universally recognized. (Dahl, Shapiro & Cheibub, 2003) In practice, this varies wildly, and as such, various strains of democracy exist, some which are less representative of the democratic essence than others.Democracy is better understood by contrasting it with other forms of governance. Aristotle observed th at in an oligarchy or aristocracy, rulership is granted to a select few while in a monarchy, it is a single individual who holds the power of rulership. For Aristotle, the foundations of democracy lie in civic freedoms, and it is the only political system which permits the private citizen to have freedom. (No author, 2006)Furthermore, this freedom is a double-edged sword, a privilege and a obligation. not only is a government denied unquestioned hegemony over the citizen, but it is the responsibility of the citizen to ensure that the government fulfills its obligations. Additionally, this sense of equality is not contingent on the merits of the individual class, occupation, etc. are not the basis for measuring rights, but rather distributed regardless of their station in life. In that sense, a democracy maintains an equalitarian appraisal of the individuals political worth.The successful wind of a democratic political system requires the separation of powers. This is because in guild for any political system to distribute power in the egalitarian fashion which defines the democratic ideal, it must be able to ensure that no one faction of the political system can attain plentiful power as to influence or control the others, for that would effectively slue and perhaps destroy the democracy itself. (Williamson, 2004)As such, this means that any earth governed under the democratic principle operates under the presumption that its constituents are equal not just its citizens (though it is crucial that they do) but the various institutions as well. Furthermore, the citizens consume various freedoms that cannot be overridden by the government, regardless of how contrary it may be to the governments interests, such as the freedom of political chemical formula through speech and press for the purposes of staying informed and declaring their personal interests. (Barak, 2008)REFERENCESLessig, L. (2004) Free farming How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and deem Creativity. New York Penguin Press.De Tocqueville, Alexis. (2003) Democracy in America. New York Penguin Classics.Dahl, R. A., Shapiro, I. & Cheibub, J.A. (2003) The Democracy Sourcebook. Massachusetts MIT Press.Williamson, T. R. (2004) Problems in American Democracy. Montana Kessinger Publishing.Barak, A. (2008) The Judge in a Democracy. New island of Jersey Princeton University Press.No author. (2006) Aristotle (384-322 BCE) Overview. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved September 30, 2008 from http//www.iep.utm.edu/a/aristotl.htm