Question

Aristotle collects 85 different constitutions and analyzes them. Interestingly he does NOT consider democracy the best form of government. He says in a democracy, everyone thinks they are entitled to an opinion and it is easy for a demagogue to come in and promise everything to the masses ( the middle class) and become a tyrant! He says the best men should become leaders, who genuinely care about the entire community and who have been raised to be virtuous leaders. Is he right? Do we do this ? Do we even elect virtuous leaders? Who is an example of a virtuous leader? How can we come closer to this ideal?  

Answer 1

One of the most interesting things about democracy according to Aristotle is that it’s not only made up of virtuous leaders who care about their country and people but also about responsible citizens who know the leaders they elect. In the event of the citizens not knowing about who they elect, they would elect mediocre leaders who would use their power to get what they wanted. Secondly, it’s not pure democracy because it’s not people who decide on the policies but their representative who are elected by majority who decide them. this would mean that people who are elected by the majority people would either work for the majority who voted them or would misuse their power because they would be backed by the majority again. All our societies today are ruled by the power elites who use their wealth to acquire power and use their power to acquire wealth. This would mean that most of the leaders today are not pure politician but business people who would use their wealth to acquire power. When they donate more money to the party they support, they would be granted a seat to represent the party. When they come to power, they would run the country as a businessman and not as a leader who would care for everyone in the country. This would mean that only when people know that the person who they elect is chosen for their virtues and not for their wealth and social status, people would be able to establish an ideal democracy. Until then, the country would be ruled by the power elites while the common men would be satisfied with the policies they make without having any say in them.

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