Participation in Democracy

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Democratic Political Philosophy Paper Assignment 1 Participation In modern democratic societies, participation is a concept that is often taken for granted as a given right that every citizen has the ability to utilize at their own discretion. While modern democracy has established participation as such, it is a concept that has been developed and perfected by many ideologies that are now considered ancient and timeless. There are many factors that go into political participation, including who should be able to participate, who should not be able to participate, how people should be able to participate, and the dangers that could arise out of such a system. To explore these concepts, the ideals of Thucydides in “Pericles’ Funeral Oration,” Joseph Schumpeter in “Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy,” If a society’s political system is to truly embody the ideals of democracy, every adult who is a functioning citizen capable of forming individual opinion based on their beliefs and desires should have the ability to participate in the political process. Since the foundation of democracy is based upon the concept of a government that is created by the people to serve the people, the range of participants must not be limited by factors such as social class. In “Pericles’ Funeral Oration,” Thucydides describes Athenian democracy by asserting that their “constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people,” (73). While the wealthy upper class of historical societies have always been dominant in swaying society to their will, democracy serves to make sure that the interests of everyone else have just as much pertinence when it comes to politics. Although elites may believe that the poor should not have a say because their agenda will serve to bring society down, if someone is contributing or wishes to contribute to

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