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Democracy owes its origin to ancient times of people like Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. It was first fashioned by the people of ancient Athens who coined the word from their Greek word ‘demokratia’ meaning ‘people’ and ‘power’. Traditionally, textbook accounts show that the earliest instances of democracy arose in the sixth century BC in various city-states of the Greek world (Robinson 2004, 1). Initially, it was less prevalent in many parts of Greece but over the fifth and fourth centuries BC also called the classical era, democracy became more common and continued to appear more in the Greek world. Athens which was the home of Socrates was the first city in Greece to adopt ‘Demokratia’. Athenians were proud of the radical new form of government, where all the male citizens had a voice and not just those from the wealthy, established families as in the neighboring cities (Evans 2010, 2). Many members of Athens’ military alliance on the islands and coasts of Aegean transformed into an empire and it became democratically governed. The long Peloponnesian war of 431-404 BC fought by the Athenian and Spartan coalitions intensified the trend of democratization within the Aegean alliance for the Athenians favored democratic factions in their sphere of influence in contrast to the Spartan preference for oligarchies in theirs (Robinson 2004, 2). The result of this war was the defeat of Athens by Sparta at the end of the fifth century which led to the overthrow of many democratic regimes. Despite that, literary sources show that democracy continued to grow in the fourth century.
After the intervention of the Peloponnesian war which was characterized by autocracy, Athens itself re democratized and many Aegean states retained their popular institutions. Many states within the mainland of Greece started adopting democratic governments. Before the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, democracies had been established among the Greek states while oligarchies had been overthrown.
The classical era was succeeded by the Hellenistic era which extended from the third to first centuries BC (Robinson 2004, 3). Writings show that spread of democratic institutions in Greek cities continued after the end of the Classical era. The Greek city-states were thought to have lost their independence during this period and thus also their means of democratic government. The influence of the Greek world now dominated the Macedonian kingdoms and individual city-states experienced a generally decreasing autonomy. This kind of democracy was borrowed by the Romans and took some of their governmental ideals from the Greeks. It became part of the Greek urban culture that democracy was the only appropriate form of constitution for an autonomous Greek city (Erskine 2009, 209). Roman influence grew from the second century BC and true democracies became rarer and ultimately faded as it paved way for the middle Ages (Robinson 2004, 3). At the same time, it extended to other parts of Europe.
Though democracy was not directly instituted in the Middle Ages, many democratic ideas were prevalent throughout the period. Christianity was there during this period, which taught that men were created equal in the eyes of God (Erskine 2009, 209). This was deeply ingrained into the society of the Middle Ages and the democratic idea of equality was understood by many of the people. Feudalism government was major in this period which stressed that all people have certain rights and courts were established to defend these rights (Robinson 2004, 4). These courts led to the rise of today’s modern courts of justice to instill democracy. Another important gateway to democracy was in 1215 AD when Magna Carta opened the door to a more democratic system in England. This made the concept of democracy to be more prevalent in Europe. The first step to modern democracy was in America’s pursuit of democracy in the declaration of independence in 1776 (Evans 2010, 2). Since then, revolutions against monarchies and democratic governments began to develop. Before the end of the 19th century, almost all western European monarchies had adopted a constitution that gave some power to the people.
The early philosophers and scholars differed in their views towards democracy. Plato for example is depicted to support a society of classes; guardians, soldiers, and the masses; Aristotle disagrees with the idea of having a society of classes. Plato believed that Aristocracy was the ideal form of government and democracy according to him would lead people to tyranny. In a democratic government, nothing guarantees that a ruler elected by the people is virtuous enough to know what is best for the masses. He even compares it to an elaborate and expensive ship that needs an expert navigator at the helm to accomplish a safe and successful journey. Democratic government according to him does not work because ordinary people have not learned how to run the ship of the state. They are not familiar enough with things like economics, military strategy, conditions in other countries, and the confusing intricacies of law and ethics (Plato & Allan 1991, 4). Unless the masses were educated into philosophy and arts, they would not apt to choose a ruler who would represent their true needs. This is why he considers Aristocracy as the best as long as the ruler is compromised with the harmony of the population.
In conclusion, early philosophers had divergent views over democracy which led to some of them like Aristotle being executed. Ancient democracy descriptions are found in Aristotle’s political books and Plato’s dialogues especially the Republic. Athens had been the model of all the democracies all over classical Greece and democracy was the most common form of constitution found in other Greek city-states. In modern times a democratic government is considered one of the more ideal forms of government considering the value of freedom to choose the path of life. However, Plato’s criticisms should be kept in mind when determining the merit of a democratic government.
Bibliography
Erskine, Andrew. A companion to ancient history. John Wiley and Sons, 2009.
Evans, Nancy. Civic Rites: Democracy and Religion in Ancient Athens. University of California Press, 2010.
Plato, Allan. The Republic of Plato. Basic Books, 1991.
Raaflaub, Kurt, Wallace, Robert W. & Ober, Josiah. Origins of Democracy in Ancient Greece. University of California Press, 2008.
Robinson, Eric W. Ancient Greek democracy. Wiley-Blackwell, 2004.
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