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”?
Athenians were the first ones to give power to someone who they think will actually be good for that job, and not simply due to noble blood or force. Athenian democracy was also the first to emphasize individualism. It was the idea that the job should be given to the best. After the Persian war a man named Pericles ruled Athens. He created what is known today as direct democracy where you specifically pick your leaders as it differs from Rome’s republic where you elect people to represent you.
This resembles to the U.S. because the people vote on political leaders and laws. The U.S. also mints coins of a common currency. In Greece, Pericles' funeral oration stated that the government of Greece was a democracy (2). It also stated their government favored, “many instead of few”. The U.S. Constitution states the promotion of the “general welfare”.
The idea that franchise should be expanded to the illiterate and those who pay taxes was supported by James Mill. He believed that the central virtue of democracy is it promotes personal self-development in individuals. By participating in political life, citizens enhance their understanding, strengthen their sensibilities and achieve a higher level of personal development. Thus, democracy can be seen an educational experience. BENTHAM developed the notion of democracy as a form protection for the individual into a case for universal suffrage.
Robert Dahl and Charles Lindbolm suggest a pluralist view of democracy suggesting that pressure groups are beneficial to democracy. They enable political participation in national and local politics providing a role for individuals in the system. The work of pressure groups monitors the government and holds it to account and as a result can leak and expose information. As pressure groups aim to influence public policies either by direct action or lobbying and raising awareness of an issue as groups compete to influence policies and the government may take advice from them. Furthermore pressures groups are essential to democracy as they give the opportunity for minorities such as ethnic groups and genders to express distinctive points of view, encouraging people to become involved with decision making and public life forming a link between the government and the people.
Formative Task – Ancient Societies – Sparta. . The Spartans believed that Lycurgus examined all other systems of government and incorporated the best parts to form the Spartans system of government. Polybius and Plato described the Spartan system as a mixed constitution with elements of democracy, oligarchy and monarchy. The inclusion of the two kings was the monarchical element of the constitution.
Paper 3 “1” In Ancient Greece there was the Spartans and the Athenians. The Spartans had a oligarchy type of government while the Athenians had a democracy type of government. The Athenians democratic government was decently equal and pretty advanced for its time. During this time war was popular, but Athens decided to focus more on comfort and civilization then their military. Sparta put a military attitude in its society and made it the first priority to have a powerful army.
Option #2 True representative democracy needs many working parts to succeed. Several of these parts are judicial review by the court, the separation of powers, between the three branches of government, political parties and last but not least elections. I will first define what I see as being a representative democracy that genuinely works for the people, then I will briefly and simply describe these four ideas. Following, I will explain why they are necessary and even helpful to the success of this form of government, while also pointing out some of their weak points. What is a genuinely representative democracy?
There have been numerous meanings attached to the word democracy and over time democracy within government has meant different things to different governments (Heywood, 2007 p.4). The notion of democracy originates from Ancient Greece and has been considered simply by Abraham Lincoln in his 1864 Gettysburg Address as cited by Heywood (2007 pg. 72) as ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people’. This definition suggests that a democratic government should be made up of citizens of a state who develop laws and policies to manage their society in order to protect, progress and provide for all members of their society. According to Maddox (2005 p.489) democracy has a number of guiding principles, including that all human beings are equipped with a sense of right and wrong, the ability to guide their own lives, freedom of expression and toleration of others.
Plato describe in the noble lie how it supposed to cause in them devotion for the city and instill in them the belief that they should invest their very best energies into promoting what they judge to be in the best interest of the city. From what I read in chapter 1 page 23 of the OCR I will say yes that the noble lie was beneficial to be told. From my understanding of a noble lie is that it is a lie that is told in order to keep some sort control over society along with it a sense of organization over a group of people. Once a noble lie is told in this form we can assume that people would realize their destines and understand that they have certain duties to perform for their city. In ancient Greek at least in the phrase of the civilization they called (Muthos) was quite different from what we and the media nowadays call myth, for them muthos was a true story, a story that unveils the true orgin of the world and human being.