Three Forms Of Government: Democracy, Aristocracy And Monarchy

Democracy; coming from the Greek word, Demokratia, meaning rule by the people. Today’s definition of democracy is that it is a government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. If this was the definition back in the times of ancient Athens, they were nowhere near democratic. Yes, for the most part, Athens was ruled by the people, but more often than not the power of the people would be taken away or restricted. Athenians were not democratic because of this reason.

In the final scaffold scene, Dimmesdale  demonstrates the freedom of asking for forgiveness for his sin that he committed with Hester Prynne. Dimmesdale’s guilt has eaten away at his earthly body and spiritual soul. Dimmesdale earthly body has been decaying and slowing worsening over time. The people in the community have noticed these changes in his figure. Dimmesdale even punished himself by whipping the skin around his heart into the letter of A.  Each day Dimmesdale’s body is affected because of how guilty he feels inside.

The period from 1776 to 1815 witnessed the successful effort of the new United States in establishing a country. During that period the new country won its independence, constituted itself as a nation, developed a political system, expanded geographically, and defended itself from external and internal threats. There were four major crisis that the United States faced in this period are the Battle Long Island, Battle of Valley Forge, War of 1812, and the Battle of New Orleans, which I thought it was the major crisis that the United States faced.

In the era of the contemporary United States, a country that has had the longest standing democracy, we are used to thinking very highly of its system. However, throughout our history, there have been a couple of critics to the system of democracy. It comes as no surprise that democracy does have its issues. One of the first pieces of literature where democracy was mentioned and analyzed at a deeper level was The Republic by Plato. This ancient Greek philosopher did not completely agree with democracy, regardless of the fact that ancient Athens was the first civilization that gave rise to it. In fact, in a numerical list that he composes on which are the best ways of ruling, Plato puts democracy at one of the lowest levels. In order, Plato’s list of types of government from most desirable to least desirable looks like this: 1.) Republic (The ideal city) 2.) Timocracy 3.) Oligarchy 4.) Democracy 5.) Tyranny. Additionally, In The Republic, Plato tells us his beliefs and values on certain aspects of life through the eyes of Socrates. So, even though Plato himself does not appear in The Republic and instead Socrates does, nonetheless, Plato and Socrates shared the same ideology when it came to democracy. As we know, Plato did not agree with democracy. As a result, in this paper, I will explore the greatest intellectual strengths and weaknesses of Plato’s view on democracy.

Democracy, as it is used today, means “ the people rule.” A democracy is a form of government ruled by the people of the country through elections and representation. A democracy is really a form of republic known as a democratic republic. A republic is a government where officials elected by a small group of people that make the important decisions.

The word democracy commonly translated as “rule of the people” or in more cliché terms “government by the people, of the people and for the people” has its root in the Greek word “demos”. In Greek itself, “demos” has three meanings as applied in ancient Greece and particular in the polis or city-state of Athens (Blackwell, 2003).

Along with the idea of democracy, the Athenians formed the idea of isonomy; all citizens have rights, such as the right to vote, speak before the Assembly, hold positions of office, and receive equal treatment before the law. This new Athenian rule included a body of annually chosen citizens who managed ports, military installations, state properties, and prepared the agenda for the Assembly called the Council of Five Hundred. This style of government led to the style of government that much of Western Civilization and in particularly the United States. When comparing the two governments, the idea that the citizen’s rule through the concept of direct democracy gave way to the current form of rule known as representative democracy. In the United States, representative democracy is used to elect the congress, senate, president, and many other local, state, and federal positions of rule. Another comparison is the Athenian Assembly compared to today’s congress. The congress is a way for average citizens who have the ambition and qualifications to create policy to have a role in government. It does not take the bountiful funds and high societal status to be congressman as it does to be a senator or president. The Council of Five

Democracy is often referred to as the rule of the many, but Aristotle called this definition incomplete. In his book “Politics”, he explained that in a city if the majorities are aristocrats and if they have political authority, then it is an aristocracy not a democracy. He therefore defined democracy as when “free people have authority and Oligarchy as when the wealthy have it” (1290b). Plato viewed Democracy as a flawed system with too much inefficiency that would make any implementation of a true democracy not worth it. While Aristotle viewed democracy as a system that could work if it is limited to certain restrictions and if it is the regime that best fits the culture of the people to be governed. This essay will focus on Plato’s view or rather his critiques of democracy. In this essay it will be argued that democracy does not have its merit and that Plato’s view on democracy as a flawed system is more prevalent or more compelling if the current political arena around the world is observed.

It’s that time of year again where you are voting for your choice of government, what will you choose? Monarchy. Oligarchy. Tyranny. Democracy. They were all different forms of government back in Greece, every form of government had the goods and the bads. Every city had their own laws, army, and money, but by far their government was the most important. That’s why we the ancient Greek cities are called city-states. Democracy and Oligarchy are two of the four governments, they both have the goods and bads, but which is really the best?

The word ‘capitalism’ can be defined in our modern society as large businesses and factories that control their rate of production and the way that profits are distributed throughout employees of the company. Being in control means that a company has the ability to know at all times where its money is and what said money is being used for. By doing this, they can earn as much money as possible. However, capitalism was not always centered around businesses and factories. In fact, the concept itself dates back to the Protestant Reformation in the 16th and 17th centuries. In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, author Max Weber discusses the origins of capitalism as we know it today. He argues that modern, 21st century capitalism

“In a democracy the poor will have more power than the rich, because there are more of them, and the will of the majority is supreme” - Aristotle. This quote lays out the main idea behind Democracy. The idea that the people deserve equality and freedom. Equality in race, colour and religion, and freedom of speech, and will, unless it is against the will of the majority of the people. Democracy endeavors to achieve a balance in freedom of an individual, whilst not violating the majority's will. Democracy was developed in Ancient Greece. The word itself comes from the greek term ‘demokratia’ (‘demos - the people’ and ‘kratos - rule’. Democracy was first used in the Greek state, Athens. Athens used a direct form of Democracy, as people knew each other. Nowadays, there are an abundant amount of countries that are ruled under democracy, such as New Zealand, Switzerland, Ireland, and Austria.

Democracy is often referred to as the rule of the many, but Aristotle called this definition incomplete. In his book “Politics”, he explained that in a city if the majorities are aristocrats and if they have political authority, then it is an aristocracy not a democracy. He therefore defined democracy as when “free people have authority and Oligarchy as when the wealthy have it” (1290b). Plato viewed Democracy as a flawed system with too much inefficiency that would make any implementation of a true democracy not worth it. While Aristotle viewed democracy as a system that could work if it is limited to certain restrictions and if it is the regime that best fits the culture of the people to be governed. In this essay it will be argued that Plato’s view on democracy as a flawed system is more prevalent or more compelling if the current political arena around the world is observed.

Democracy is a form of government where people choose leaders through elections and social construct that are based on the equality of everyone within the state. It is a form of government were majority and public opinions combine to choose leaders with respect to the social structure of a particular society, taking into consideration the social laws, rules, traditions, norms, values, and culture. Plato and Aristotle tow of the most influential figures in Greek philosophy. Both Plato and Aristotle were big critics of democracy as a poor form of government. Aristotle’s views about democracy hold that democratic office will cause corruption in the people, if the people choose to redistribute the wealth of the

Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination.

the form of democracy practiced in ancient Greek city-states. The nature of democracy in most modern societies has elicited many other definitions of democracy. In the words of Sithole (1994:153) “democracy is a form of governance in which the supreme power or authority in a society is vested in the people and that power is exercised by the people directly or indirectly through an institutionalized system of representation involving periodically held free and fair elections”. Beetham (1995:55) also asserted that democracy is a “mode of decision-making about collectively binding rules and policies over which the people exercise control and the most democratic arrangement to be that where all members of the collective enjoy effective equal rights to take part in such decision making directly - one, that is to say, which realizes to the greatest conceivable degree the principles of popular control and equality in its exercise...”. According to Powell (1982:6), the basic features of democracy