What is democracy? Democracy stands for the rule of the people.[1] It is a derivative of the Greek term dēmokratiā, which is created from the fusion of words dēmos and kratos, meaning people and rule respectively.[2] It was established in the fifth century BCE and represented the political structures of some Greek city-states, specifically Athens.[3]
A democratic society has many features. Firstly, members of the dēmos have the right to express their opinions with the other members in the community.[4] Next, they have the freedom to vote and all the votes are given equal value.[5] Furthermore, people in a democratic society have the opportunity to learn about a policy and its substitutes in sufficient time.[6] Additionally, members in a democratic society have fundamental rights of communication, casting votes and equality in society.[7]
Such a society contains features that most people prefer.[8] For instance, democratic society prevents the brutal conduct executed by the autocrats.[9] It helps people defend their basic interests.[10] Furthermore, these basic rights that are guaranteed in a democratic society might not be available to someone in another form of government.[11] Moreover, democracy provides a chance for people to live under the laws of their liking.[12] Last but not the last, a democratic society provides people with the maximum level of equality politically.[13]
However, despite all of this, are the rights of people truly protected in a democratic society? Is democracy truly “for the people?”. By analysing the evidence from the ancient past and the modern world, one can conclude that while democracy states that it is “of the people” and “by the people”, in reality it is not really “for the people”. Freedom and democracy are not synonymous with each other. This can be proven when we compare the first democratic society of the world, Athens, to the democracy of the modern world.
Athens became a democratic society in the 5th and 4th century BCE.[14] In the Athenian democracy, male members of the society had the same political rights as other male members.[15] They had the freedom of speech.[16] They were free to participate in the government institutions and controlled the political structures of the society.[17] The male citizen population of Athens ranged from 30,000 to 60,000 and made up the main democratic body of Athens.[18] They usually met once a month on the Pnyx hill and voted for decisions by holding their hands up.[19] The most popular vote won and the decision was considered final.[20] There were nine presidents elected by the members of the assembly who prepared and evaluated the voting process.[21]
This system of democracy had many benefits. It was a way to keep checks on the misuse of authority, to provide equivalent power to the male members of the citizen body, and to ensure that that every region in Athens was given equal say in the matter in question.[22] Because the process of choosing people for positions in the office was at random, it was difficult to attempt to dominate the assembly or the decision-making process.[23] However, is this system truly democratic? The people being selected for office were usually those that owned land in their families.[24] Only male citizens were allowed to speak and they were the minority group of Athens, while the majority which consisted of women, foreign residents and slaves were excluded from any sort of political process.[25] Usually, the most influential speakers in the assembly would get into trouble.[26] Their speech sometimes was deemed as a conspiracy against the Athenian institution and would have severe consequences.[27] Lastly, according to Paul Cartledge from Cambridge university, the term demokratia is quite confusing.[28] In the ancient time, it meant people-power.[29] However, to whom did this power belong to? Was it actually the majority of the citizens or was it those deemed as duly qualified citizens by the law? Recently, there has been a theory that this term was coined by the aristocrats of the Athenian city-state who did not like being outvoted by people they deemed as inferior.[30] Hence, it must have meant something like the ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’.[31]
A famous example of the violation of rights promised in a democratic society is the sentence of death given to Socrates, a Greek philosopher.[32] He became hated in Athens, not only because he would criticize Athenian democracy in public, but also because the Athenians believed he was a supporter of the thirty tyrants.[33] He pointed out the flaws in people’s knowledge and this earned him their ire.[34] Hence, in order to get rid of him, the Athenians charged him with crimes of impiety, corruption of youth and disrespect for the authority. He was sentenced to death by poison.[35] It is evident that despite claiming to be a democratic society, the freedom of speech granted to individuals by the democracy in Athens resulted in the death of Socrates. However, this did not only happen in the past. There are examples of violations of democracy and freedom of speech in the modern world too. One such example is that of Jamal Khashoggi. Jamal Khashoggi was a Saudi journalist who covered major stories such as the rise of the Osama Bin Laden and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.[36] He worked for the Saudi government but was forced into exile once he fell out of favor.[37] In The Washington Post, he would frequently criticize the policies of the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Muhammad bin Salman.[38] As a result, Muhammad planned the killing of Jamal Khashoggi and Khashoggi was tortured and dismembered in a Saudi consulate in Istanbul.[39] While the royal family constantly denies any part in the murder of the journalist and the Saudi ruler’s reputation has been ruined,[40] the masterminds of the murder have walked free from the trial held behind closed doors of Saudi Arabia.[41] A further mockery of justice was made by the democratic nations of the world. The US defended their ties with Saudi Arabia.[42] France, UK and Canada placed sanctions on those involved in the murder but did not include Saudi ruler in it.[43] Germany, Finland and Denmark were the only ones to cancel their arms deals with Saudi Arabia.[44] There appeared to be limited action involved against the real murderer of Khashoggi.
In our modern world, elections are central to a democratic society.[45] They institute legitimacy, personal freedom, public goals, representation and participation.[46] A legitimate ruler in democracy provides everyone with the freedom of speech and legal protection, including the minority and the opposition.[47] They place limits on their power.[48] The actual power lies in the hands of the public.[49] The winner of the elections represent the popular views of the public.[50] Laws are made with the consent of the community.[51] No elite is allowed to represent the view of people without their permission.[52]
However, modern democracy has its flaws as well. Let us look at America. The claim that America’s style of government is a direct democracy has been looked at in suspicion, specifically by American people themselves.[53] According to Yascha Mounk, “The preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy”.[54] If the policies did reflect public opinion, then the government would have legalized Marijuana, colleges would be free, gun control would be stricter than it is, abortions would be more accessible, and the parental leave would be paid.[55] A two decade study conducted by Gilens and Page found out that the congress and executive branch would adopt the policies suggested by the elite class, while stopping the ones that the elites were not in support of.[56] The majority had little effect on the public policies.[57] One such example would be Donald Trump.[58] He had claimed to be the voice of people once he became the president, yet filled up the seats of administration with members of the elites that he went up against.[59] Clearly, the democratic government is not really “for the people” because it only focuses on the interests of the elites.
In conclusion, it is true that by analysing the evidence from the ancient past and the modern world, one can conclude that democracy in reality is not really “for the people”. Freedom and democracy are not synonymous with each other. The murder of Socrates and Khashoggi violated the fundamental rights of people guaranteed by democratic nations. Also, by focusing on the elite, a democratic government violates the very foundation of morals that it stands on. Hence, the nations of the world are only democratic in name as has been the case in the past. However, it is important to keep in mind the limited sources preserved from the ancient world from which we have to construct our narratives. From the fifth century BCE, the few sources that have survived are in the form of art.[60] There are in the form of poetry, plays, and sculptures, which do not provide us with solid evidence and are open to predictions from scholars.[61] Similarly, the fourth century is filled up with philosophical text and inscriptions on temple buildings.[62] Evidences from both this time period reflect the biases of the author (in the case of philosophical texts) and the artist (in case of art pieces). Hence, we can never accurately conclude if the Athenian society was truly like scholars believe it to be. But from the evidence collected so far, it seems reasonable to assume that democracy was not really for the people.
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[1] “Robert A. Dahl.,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed December 3, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/democracy/Features-of-ideal-democracy [2] Dahl, “Britannica,”. [3] Ibid. [4] Ibid. [5] Ibid. [6] Ibid. [7] Ibid. [8] Ibid. [9] Ibid. [10] Ibid. [11] Ibid. [12] Ibid. [13] Ibid. [14] “Mark Cartwright.,” Ancient History Encyclopedia, accessed December 1, 2020, https://www.ancient.eu/Athenian_Democracy/ [15] Cartwright, “History,”. [16] Ibid. [17] Ibid. [18] Ibid. [19] Ibid. [20] Ibid. [21] Ibid. [22] Ibid. [23] Ibid. [24] “DEMOCRACY IN ANCIENT GREECE.,” Facts and Details, accessed December 1, 2020, http://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub406/item2005.html [25] DEMOCRACY, “FACTS,”. [26] Cartwright, “History,”. [27] Ibid. [28] DEMOCRACY, “FACTS,”. [29] Ibid. [30] Ibid. [31] Ibid. [32] “Richard Kraut.,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed December 3, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Socrates [33] Kraut, “Britannica,”. [34] Ibid. [35] Ibid. [36] “Jamal Khashoggi: All you need to know about Saudi journalist’s death.,” BBC NEWS, accessed December 1, 2020, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45812399#:~:text=Investigators%20concluded%20that%20Khashoggi%20was,consulate%20for%20disposal%2C%20he%20added. [37] Khashoggi, “BBC,”. [38] Ibid. [39] “The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica.,” Encyclopedia Britannica, December 1, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mohammed-bin-Salman [40] “Editors,” Britannica. [41] Khashoggi, “BBC,”. [42] Ibid. [43] Ibid. [44] Ibid. [45] Kirkpatrick, Jeane J. "Democratic Elections and Democratic Government." World Affairs 147, no. 2 (1984): 63. Accessed December 4, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20672013. [46] Jeane J., “Elections,” 63. [47] Ibid., 63. [48] Ibid. [49] Ibid. [50] Ibid. [51] Ibid.,64 [52] Ibid. [53] “Yascha Mounk.,” The Atlantic, December 1, 2020, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/03/america-is-not-a-democracy/550931/ [53] “Mounk,” Atlantic. [54] Ibid. [55] Ibid. [56] Ibid. [57] Ibid. [58] Ibid. [59] Ibid. [60] “Simon Hornblower.,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed December 3, 2020, https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Greece [60] Hornblower, “Britannica,”. [61] Ibid. [62] Ibid.