If we've become a democracy, it would represent a deep betrayal of our founders, who saw democracy as another form of tyranny. In fact, the word democracy appears nowhere in our nation's two most fundamental documents, the Declaration of Independence and the U. The founders laid the ground rules for a republic as written in the Constitution's Article IV, Section 4, which guarantees "to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.
John Adams captured the essence of the difference between a democracy and republic when he said, "You have rights antecedent to all earthly governments; rights that cannot be repealed or restrained by human laws; rights derived from the Great Legislator of the Universe.
In a democracy, the majority rules either directly or through its elected representatives. As in a monarchy, the law is whatever the government determines it to be. Laws do not represent reason. They represent power. The restraint is upon the individual instead of the government. Unlike that envisioned under a republican form of government, rights are seen as privileges and permissions that are granted by government and can be rescinded by government. So far, so familiar. There lay the trap: Power belonged to anyone who could harness the collective will of the citizens directly by appealing to their emotions rather than using evidence and facts to change their minds.
So it came about that what was in name a democracy was in practice government by the foremost man. Misleading speech is the essential element of despots, because despots need the support of the people.
The happy life is the life according to unimpeded virtue, and that virtue is a mean average , then the life which is in a mean, and in a mean attainable by every one, must be the best.
Thus it is manifest that the best political community is formed by citizens of the middle class, and that those states are likely to be well-administered, in which the middle class is large, and larger if possible than both the other classes rich and poor. Great then is the good fortune of a state in which the citizens have a moderate and sufficient property; for where some possess much, and the other nothing, there may arise an extreme democracy, or a pure oligarchy; or a tyranny may grow out of either extreme … but it is not so likely to arise out of a middle and nearly equal condition.
Larger middle classes produce more stable states. Thus, the middle class is key in the establishment and maintenance of a polity. Because they are not in extreme need nor extreme wealth, their assessment of the common interest will produce the greatest benefit for all members. For Aristotle, the organization of people into states with governments was a key component of their achieving happiness and satisfaction in life.
It is clear then that a state is not a mere society, having a common place, established for the prevention of crime and for the sake of exchange. These are all conditions without which a state cannot exist; but all of them together do not constitute a state, which is a community of well-being in families and aggregations of families, for the sake of a perfect and self-sufficing life. The best way to organize the state is the one that creates the most happiness for its citizens not an easy problem, of course.
For Aristotle, the polity, the ideal democracy, met this criteria — it allowed for the development of virtues that support the common interest, and limited the emphasis on wealth, allowing for the development of a desirable middle class. Comparison of Tyranny vs Democracy proves to be significant when we are studying different types of governments. Tyranny and Democracy may differ drastically in their principles or they could be such government forms, which are derived from one another.
These principles and other details can be studied at Tyranny Definition and Democracy Definition. When you compare Tyranny vs Democracy structure the factors to be considered are majority rule, succession, presence of parliament and constitution. A softUsvista venture! Other Governments -. Federal Monarchy. Corporate republic. Band society. Tyranny vs Democracy. The belief in freedom and equality between people, or a system of government based on this belief, in which power is either held by elected representatives or directly by the people themselves:.
The type of government in which people choose their leaders by voting is called as Democracy. Greek: tyrannos meaing ruler, Lating: from the greek word 'tyrannos' the word, tyranniq was formed in Latin. This led to the French word tyrranie and through that, the English word tyranny. French: Democratie.
Majority rule, People's rights, Power of voting, Prevents monopoly of authority, Promote change, Protect interest of citizens.
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