Greek Philosophers' Point of View
When I say "rule by the people," I really mean rule by the people; the Greek democracies were not representative governments, they were governments run by the free, male citizens of the city-state. All major government decisions and legislation were made by the Assembly; the closest we've come to such a system is "initiative and referendum," in which legislation is popularly petitioned and then voted on directly by the electorate. The Greek democratic states ran their entire government on such a system.
All the members of a city-state were not involved in the government: slaves, foreigners, and women were all disbarred from the democracy. So, in reality, the democratic city-states more closely resembled oligarchies for a minority ruled the state—it was a very large minority, to be sure, but still a minority.
While we say in our history books that the democracies of the Greek city-states were great accomplishments, they, nevertheless, had numerous problems. All the major Greek philosophers thought democracy was the worst form of government. Plato, in his critique of democracy in The Republic , claims that it allows people to follow all their passions and drives without order or control; Aristotle claimed that the competing interests in a democracy makes for chaos rather than purposive and deliberated action. Democracy did not seem to work very democratically at all, in fact. In Athens, the democratic Assembly was usually dominated by a single powerful, charismatic individual; this individual often dominated the Assembly because of his presence or oratorical skill rather than his individual worth. As a result, the democratic governments could make some surprisingly foolish decisions, such as the Athenian decision to attack Sicily without any cause or provocation. This ill-considered war destroyed much of the Athenian fleet and eventually led to the defeat of Athens by Sparta. The position of these charismatic leaders, however, was always very precarious. The democratic Assemblies could change character overnight; they would often eagerly follow a particular leader, and then exile that leader often for no reason (this is Aristotle's central objection to a democracy).
It's vitally important to understand that the major philosophers of Greece, and some important historians, such as Thucydides, disapproved of democracy. For the next major democracy was American democracy, and the founders of that democracy were avid readers of Plato, Aristotle, and the Greek historians, and essentially agreed with them about the nature of democracy. Both Plato and Aristotle believed that the best form of government is "rule by the best," or aristocracy. This word did not mean for them "rule by the ruling class," as it did in early modern and modern Europe; they really believed that only the smartest, most temperate, most mature, most reflective, most educated, and the bravest should be in charge of government—that is, only the best (the Greek word for "best" is aristos ). American government is a fusion of democracy and aristocracy (in Plato's and Aristotle's sense of the word); as a representative democracy, the principle of government is that the people elect (democracy) the individuals that they feel are the best and most qualified to represent them in government (aristocracy). Look closely at American electoral politics and you will see that all politicians shift between these two poles in their political rhetoric. Sometimes being too "democratic" can be either a positive or negative characteristic; sometimes being to "aristocratic" will be presented as a positive or negative characteristic.
All the members of a city-state were not involved in the government: slaves, foreigners, and women were all disbarred from the democracy. So, in reality, the democratic city-states more closely resembled oligarchies for a minority ruled the state—it was a very large minority, to be sure, but still a minority.
While we say in our history books that the democracies of the Greek city-states were great accomplishments, they, nevertheless, had numerous problems. All the major Greek philosophers thought democracy was the worst form of government. Plato, in his critique of democracy in The Republic , claims that it allows people to follow all their passions and drives without order or control; Aristotle claimed that the competing interests in a democracy makes for chaos rather than purposive and deliberated action. Democracy did not seem to work very democratically at all, in fact. In Athens, the democratic Assembly was usually dominated by a single powerful, charismatic individual; this individual often dominated the Assembly because of his presence or oratorical skill rather than his individual worth. As a result, the democratic governments could make some surprisingly foolish decisions, such as the Athenian decision to attack Sicily without any cause or provocation. This ill-considered war destroyed much of the Athenian fleet and eventually led to the defeat of Athens by Sparta. The position of these charismatic leaders, however, was always very precarious. The democratic Assemblies could change character overnight; they would often eagerly follow a particular leader, and then exile that leader often for no reason (this is Aristotle's central objection to a democracy).
It's vitally important to understand that the major philosophers of Greece, and some important historians, such as Thucydides, disapproved of democracy. For the next major democracy was American democracy, and the founders of that democracy were avid readers of Plato, Aristotle, and the Greek historians, and essentially agreed with them about the nature of democracy. Both Plato and Aristotle believed that the best form of government is "rule by the best," or aristocracy. This word did not mean for them "rule by the ruling class," as it did in early modern and modern Europe; they really believed that only the smartest, most temperate, most mature, most reflective, most educated, and the bravest should be in charge of government—that is, only the best (the Greek word for "best" is aristos ). American government is a fusion of democracy and aristocracy (in Plato's and Aristotle's sense of the word); as a representative democracy, the principle of government is that the people elect (democracy) the individuals that they feel are the best and most qualified to represent them in government (aristocracy). Look closely at American electoral politics and you will see that all politicians shift between these two poles in their political rhetoric. Sometimes being too "democratic" can be either a positive or negative characteristic; sometimes being to "aristocratic" will be presented as a positive or negative characteristic.
