Democracy Essay

410 Words2 Pages
Lesson 1: Question Compare and contrast two classic definitions of democracy – representative and participatory democracies. Discuss Aristotle’s view of democracy. What are the key parts of Schumpeter’s definition of democracy? Which of these two types of democracy did the Founding Fathers favor? What was the Founders’ view on the subject of direct democracy and the “will of the people”? Which form of democracy do you think is the best fit for the needs of the United States? Explain your answer Democracy can be interpreted in two different ways. One of them is known as representative democracy. Representative democracy is basically when there is a competition between leaders to earn as much votes as possible. It's the most common form of government used today. The other interpretation or meaning is known as direct or participatory democracy. This kind of democracy is when a government has all or the majority of its citizens participating in some way, either making policy or holding office. Economist Joseph Schumpeter's definition of democracy is that in order to become a leader, you have to go into a competitive struggle with someone else and gain the citizens votes. This form of democracy is sometimes positively viewed as representative democracy and negatively viewed as the "elitist theory of democracy." The Founding Fathers were influenced by Aristotle's definition of democracy, "rule of the many", in other words it meant that middle class people, and even poor people had the power. However, he believed that democracy could easily fall into oligarchy or a tyranny. For this not to happen, a combination of oligarchy and democracy should be formed. The Founding Fathers favored representative democracy. They favored this form of government because it minimized the risk of abuse of power. They believed that the phrase "will of the people" was not
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