Disadvantages Of Democracy Essay

Few can argue that seeds planted by Enlightenment political thinkers, such as John Locke and Immanuel Kant, laid the groundwork for modern democratic and republican forms of government prevalent today; however, these thinkers were only building upon ancient ideas. For the Athenians, Democracy is viewed as a shining beacon of individual freedom; however, for Socrates and Thucydides, Democracy is nothing but an easily corruptible form of government playing to the whims of the masses. The American form of government isn’t viewed as a traditional democracy but a republic because the forefathers were most afraid of tyrannical government. After the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin is rumored to have described the

By providing equal say to each member of society, power is provided to the many in favor of the few. It is through the creation of minority groups that democracy fosters systemic divisions within a states citizenry, thereby producing conflict and inequality. As a result, state leadership finds itself at a crossroads, where many warring constituencies vie for power. To fill the need, partisan politicians emerge and play to the masses while amassing great power. This result is no different today than ancient Greece, where Socrates noted a penchant for people to have “some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness” (Plato, The Republic). These champions are usually out to protect the rights of the masses instead of the minorities, whom are pushed to the side and forgotten or made scapegoats. Once again, a door is left ajar to the capacity for democratic governments to be majority-inclusive, creating inequality, which is supposed to be the enemy of democracy. A truly democratic, free government cannot be wholly democratic as the minorities must be protected from the majority and the majority protcted from the minority. After all, inequality is “the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears above ground is a protector…and the protector of the people [has] a mob entirely at his disposal, he is not restrained from shedding the blood of kinsmen” (Plato, The