Democracy

Democracy?

There are four key concepts that define what we know as democracy. One such concept is that democracy is the rule of many, this simple definition is taking from the Greek derivatives of democracy, "demos" meaning the many and "kratos" meaning rule. However, ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle differed on their views of this simple concept of democracy being the rule of many. Plato believed that if the many ruled government than that meant the lower, uneducated class would rule over the educated citizenry. In essence, he believed that the poor and uneducated where not properly equipped to partake in government issues. Aristotle's view was that in order to have a productive government than everyone must be able to contribute their thoughts and beliefs through representation in government.

Another concept of democracy is that citizens should be active agents in government. To be an active agent the citizen must be involved and knowledgeable of government issues and policies because they are directly affected by the decisions that are made on their behalf. There are two arguments to the concept of being an active agent; the moral argument suggests that a citizen should not just stand on the sidelines and watch things happen they should be directly involved in their