III. Democracy
Democracy
 BDCC: Nearly every ideological framework claims to
further the cause of freedom.
 Similarly: Nearly every ideological framework (at least in
recent times) also claims to be in favour of democracy.
Some exceptions: Fascism, extreme religious
fundamentalism/theocracy
1
In blue: De jure, self-described democracies
In red: Swaziland, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Bhutan, Brunei, Oman,
United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Vatican City.
(Hallman, 2006)
Practically every state is a democracy!?
 Surprising? Implausible? Maybe, maybe not.
 It is possible that some political actors who claim to
support democracy – and some states that claim to
be democratic – might simply be hypocritical or
deceptive.
 But, on the other hand, “followers of different
ideologies [might] simply have different ideas about
how to achieve democracy” (BDCC, 15)
2
“Democracy”?
 E.g., in the German Democratic Republic (GDR,
1949–1990) freedom of speech was severely curtailed,
surveillance commonplace (e.g., by the Stasi),
competition for public office effectively outlawed.
 For many, the GDR was anything but ‘democratic’ – a
cynical appropriation of the word.
“Democracy”?
 But, as BDCC note, even authoritarian leaders might
(sometimes) be sincere in claiming to support
democracy.
 E.g., according to Mao Zedong, the “people’s
democratic dictatorship” is a ‘preparation’ for more
open democracy to follow.
Democracy is the (alleged) goal, even if nondemocratic (or anti-democratic) means might have to
be used to achieve it.
3
Another, related, possibility…
Canadian political theorist
C. B. Macpherson (1965):
Democracy can be understood
as either or both of:
a) Government by the people
b) Government for the people
In sense b), even governments that we might think of
as downright oppressive might nonetheless rightly call
themselves “democratic”
An Essentially Contested Concept
 Macpherson’s distinction is consistent with BDCC’s
claims:
• Democracy, like freedom, is an ‘essentially
contested concept’ (16)
• It is an ideal that most ideologies espouse, but, since
people understand democracy in very different ways,
democracy is pursued in very different ways.
4
Democracy: The Word
Demos – the common people, the mob
Demokratia – rule by the common people
In ancient Greece—and, for some, in the present
day—this is commonly understood to contrast with:
Aristoi – the ‘best’, the qualified
Aristokratia – rule by the best; the most qualified
“Vulgar” Democracy
 So, attitudes toward democracy may be conditioned by
attitudes toward ‘the common people’:
• Among the ancient Greeks (and others since): the
uneducated, the unsophisticated, the poor.
• From this perspective, democracy is a form of class
rule: rule by, and for the benefit of, the working
class.
 No surprise: These attitudes have affected the way
democracy has been understood historically…
5
Athenian Democracy I
 A democratic city-state or polis
 Proud of their democracy, but some tension between
democratic and aristocratic factions. (see, e.g.,
Pericles’s Funeral Oration)
 Countermeasures to ‘mob rule’: Citizens paid to
attend assembly, to serve on juries. Some public
offices filled by lottery.
Athenian Democracy II
 The public-spirited citizen (polites) is to be preferred
over the self-interested individual (idiotes).
Why? In part, better decisions. Pericles:
“we are all sound judges of a policy” (17).
 On the other hand, not every Athenian was a citizen:
Women, slaves, resident foreigners were excluded.
In fact, only about 10% of the Athenian population
were citizens.
6
Ostracism
An ostrakon calling for
the banishment of
Themistocles.
Also, by modern standards, Athenian democracy
afforded little protection for individual and minority
rights. Witness the case of Socrates (469–399 BCE)
Beginnings of Political Theory
Plato (427–347 BCE): Not only does
democracy risk rule by the ignorant, it
is also inherently unstable.
The poor selfishly will plunder the rich; the
ignorant will be susceptible to demagogues.
Result? Disorder, leading the people eventually to
accept the rule of tyrants.
7
Aristotle’s Classification of Regimes
In whose
interest?
Rule
by
Public
Self
The one
Monarchy
Tyranny
The few
Aristocracy
Oligarchy
Polity
Democracy
‘True’
‘Perverted’
The many
‘Polity’ and the Mixed Regime
 Polity is preferable to democracy, according to
Aristotle. Citizens of a polity seek the common good
and, therefore, are more apt to implement a mixed
constitution or government.
Limitations on power, “checks and balances”
 Polity also depends on a relatively equal distribution
of wealth. People with “sufficient and moderate
wealth” (a ‘middle class’) have a stake in society and
will therefore seek order and stability. They will
naturally see the good of the polis as their own good.
8
 Athenian democracy, it is said, finds its clearest
theoretical expression (with Aristotle), just as it begins to
be eclipsed by the rise of empire.
First under Philip of Macedonia (382-336 BCE), then
under Aristotle’s one-time student, Alexander the Great
(356-323 BCE), power passes into the hands of an
emperor.
The independent city-state and ‘rule by the many’ fade in
significance.
Republic
 The idea of popular government survives in the
ancient world in the form of republican rule in Rome.
“Republic” < Latin res publica, “the public
business,” literally “the public thing.”
A system of government in which there is no
monarch and governance of the state is carried
out by the people or their representatives.
9
Polybius’s View
 The Greek historian Polybius (c. 200 – 118 BCE)
was a great admirer of the Roman Republic (509 –
ca: 31 BCE).
 Why? A mixed form of government. No one—neither
the one, the few, nor the many—holds all the power.
 Moreover, a republic, in contrast to a democracy,
promotes virtue: The public-minded citizen is given
scope to work for the common good, but is prevented
from seizing too much power.
From Republic to Empire…
 As with Athenian democracy, the Roman
Republic gives way to empire (i.e., after
the rise of Caesar Augustus in 27 BCE).
 The Roman Empire provides the social context (and
later, following the Emperor Constantine [272-337 CE],
the political context) for the development of a ‘universal’
Christian church…
10
Christianity and Democracy
 On the one hand, Christian egalitarianism seems a
natural ally of democracy:
Rich or poor, slave or free, Greek, Jew or Roman, “all
are equal in the eyes of God”
 On the other hand, early Christianity is largely apolitical:
“render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, render
unto to God the things that are God’s” (Luke 20:25)…
Christianity and Democracy II
 Moreover, Christians have often advocated the idea of
political passivity in the face of “God-given authority”:
“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.
For there is no authority except from God, and those that
exist have been instituted by God…” (Romans 12:1)
 Later on, this idea strongly contributes to the rise of
feudalism and the idea of the ‘great chain of being’
11
Ancient Times to Modernity: Highlights
 Italian Renaissance: Re-emergence of the republican
city-state.
Machiavelli’s Discourses (1531) – ‘a government of laws,
not of men’
Harrington’s Oceana (1656) – redistribution of land in a
‘balanced’ republic
 British North America: Re-emergence of the ideal of
democratic government…
Tocqueville
 Alexis de Tocqueville (1805 – 1859);
Democracy in America
 Democracy, says Tocqueville, is the
American ethos; not just in government,
but in civil society as well.
Its promise: Civic virtue through participation
Its danger: “Tyranny of the majority”
12
The Growth of Democracy
 The 19th century: Increasing popularity of democracy
due to social, economic, technological changes.
(Literacy, industrial production, communications)
 Gradual expansion of the franchise; first to propertyowing males, then ‘universal’ male suffrage, later
freed-slaves, much later women, later still Indigenous
peoples...
Self-Protection, Self-Development
 The Utilitarian philosophers, esp. Jeremy Bentham
and John Stuart Mill, argue for representative
democracy with a greatly expanded franchise.
Self-Protection: Each individual has an
opportunity to look out for his or her own interests.
Self-Development: Political participation develops
civic virtue and educates citizens, leading to better
policies and better government.
13
Three Conceptions of Democracy
BDCC outline (34-6) three conceptions of democracy,
each of which connects the democratic ideal to a
different ideological framework:
1. Liberal Democracy
2. Social Democracy
3. People’s Democracy
Liberal Democracy
 The view of democracy that characterizes most Western
democracies.
 Rule by the people (and, usually, for the people), but
majority rule must be limited.
 Strong protection for individual and minority rights (e.g.,
through constitutional provisions for judicial review);
negative freedom
14
Social Democracy
 A common understanding of democracy in Europe,
especially Scandinavia. (Also Canada?)
 Protection of individual and minority rights is
supplemented by a concern for socio-economic
equality; positive freedom.
 Redistribution of wealth, state financing of election
campaigns, public control/regulation of industry and
natural resources.
People’s Democracy
 Formerly the official view of democracy in the Soviet
Bloc, still the official view of the People’s Republic of
China, Cuba, and North Korea (sort of).
 Rule for (but not necessarily by) the people, specifically
the working class, the proletariat.
 “Dictatorship of the proletariat” suppresses the influence
of capitalists and the bourgeoisie, preparing the way for
a “withering away of the state.”
15
Democracy Today
 As we shall see later on, each of these conceptions of
democracy can be seen as under threat in the
‘globalized’ world.
 Also, while it is true that most ideologies supposedly
support democracy, there remains the question of
“democracy for whom?” and also the interaction between
democracy and nationalism in the contemporary world.
Democracy as a Global Issue
Why care about democracy in a globalized world?
 Democracies are generally less likely to go to war
with one another. (Cf. Kant’s requirement for
publicity)
 But at the same time, democratic states may be
slow or reluctant to act in aid of a just cause. (e.g.,
the rise of Hitler)...
16
Democracy as a Global Issue II
On balance, though, the spread of democracy is
(almost unarguably) a good thing…
 Yet this may require ‘peace-building’ and other
interventions – possibly organized by transnational
bodies like the United Nations – that affluent
democracies have sometimes been reluctant to
support.
 Democratization could be helped by reform of UN
institutions (e.g. the Security Council), but it is also in
the interests of transnational corporations to cooperate
in this process
17