This essay attempts to disprove platos conclusion that democracy is a bad form of government. This is based on his premis that democracy is a form of government in which citizens make fundamental societal decisions.
World renowned philosopher, Plato, concludes that Democracy is a bad form of government, however, I will attempt to disprove this based on the first premiss of his argument. Premiss 1 of Plato's argument, supporting his conclusion, states that, "democracy is a form of government in which fundamental societal decisions are made by the majority of citizens," and I will attempt to disprove this statement in this essay. If I am successful in proving that democracy is not a form of government in which fundamental societal decisions are made by the majority of citizens, then this will render Plato's conclusion false; that being that democracy is a bad form of government.
In an ideal democracy, all societal decisions should represent the wishes of the majority, however this is generally not the case.
Detail of The School of Athens by Raffaello Sanzio...
English: The School of Athens (detail). Fresco, St...
The Economist Intelligence Unit's 2010 Democracy I...There is one societal decision that is guaranteed to represent the wishes of the majority, and that is the election of a leader. Once the majority has made this sole societal decision, it is then up to the leader to make all subsequent decisions, whether or not the majority approve. This isn't necessarily a bad thing because as Plato's second premiss states, "the majority of citizens are not qualified to make fundamental societal decisions." So, essentially, in a democracy, the majority elects someone who is qualified to make these decisions, because they are not competent enough to do so themselves. An example of this would be decisions related to the economic state of a society. If the majority were to make decisions on this matter, society would seize to function...