Week 4: Democracy Flashcards
What is democracy?
‘Rule by the people’
Demos = people, Kratos = power
What is the principle of ‘rule by the people’ in democracy?
It is applied to representative
democracy; means that
citizens elect officials to
make decisions, and hold
them accountable.
Democracy is the dominant principle of…
legitimacy for governments in our historical era, and rulers everywhere
even tyrannical rulers claim democratic credentials as justification for their power
What does the term democracy describe?
an ideal as much as the reality of certain forms of government
When did the number of democracies expand?
late 20th century
List the types of ancient democracies which differ from democracies that emerged in the mid/late 19th century.
- Direct democracy vs. indirect or representative
democracy - Mass Democracy
What is direct democracy? + example
E.g Athenian democracy
- Major decisions were made by citizens meeting at a popular assembly
- A very small minority of the city’s population was granted citizenship (women, slaves, former slaves, foreigners, and minors were excluded)
- No constitutional protection of individual rights
- All citizens were expected to participate in the assembly
List the cons of direct democracy e.g Athenian democracy
- The system did not expand beyond the size of an independent city
- Popular decisions were often random + inconsistent
- Viewed as the rule of an ‘uniformed angry mob’
- Many argued in favour of ‘mixed government’ - monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy
So did the term ‘democracy’ carry a positive or negative connotation amongst educated readers until the 19th century?
Negative
What is a term for ‘really existing democracies’, the political regimes that rule in many contemporary societies?
Mass liberal republic
Modern democracies are built on…
- Republican arrangements
- Liberal principles of the 18th century
List the republican arrangements modern democracies are based on.
Most policy decisions are not made directly by citizens, but they are delegated to representative legislatures and executive leaders who are accountable to the electorate
List the liberal principles modern democracies are based on.
- Political rights are recognized for all citizens
- Social and human rights are recognized for non-citizens as well
- The government is expected to respect such rights and to protect individuals when their rights are threatened by other actors, such as criminals or corporations
Liberal republics already existed before the industrial era under the guise of…
A constitutional monarchy, which represented the interests of a small aristocratic minority
How did the scale of both democratic and non-democratic political systems expand to include large population segments in the political process?
Progressively expanding the right to vote to men without property, to women, to excluded ethnic groups, and to younger adults