The Case for Democracy

Abstract

The case in favor of democratic government is presented here in two parts: theoretical and moral arguments, and some claimed practical benefits. We begin where most political theory begins, with some assumptions about human nature. POLITICAL THEORY AND MORAL ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF DEMOCRACY Human Nature Plato and Hobbes aside, most leading models of human nature are perfectly compatible with self-government. Here are five leading examples:1. Machiavelli thought that there are two kinds of people: the few and the many. It is the nature of the few to dominate others; the many just want to be left alone. People are, metaphorically, either sheepdogs or sheep. Machiavelli advocated republican government as the best way to accommodate the natural drives of both groups. Republics accommodate the few by allowing them to lead, but limit their power through a system of checks and balances, where ambition checks ambition and power checks power, as the few jealously watch each other. The many pose a different set of problems. Their single-minded attachment to their own interests makes them naturally selfish and uncooperative. Machiavelli saw two ways for a republic to check the tendency of the many to be uncontrollable – use religion to scare them into behaving, or instill popular virtu through political participation. Machiavelli assumed that ordinary people will eventually grow too sophisticated to be cowed into good behavior by threats of hell and damnation, so although religion might be an effective means of social control in the short run, at some point it will no longer serve. This leaves political participation as the only long-term alternative to oppression.