Buy an essay: Modern Day Ethics

Today, democracy is considered to be the best form of the government. The modern views on democracy stand on the ground that the democracy is the power of people over the government. Traditionally, the modern democracy implies the participation of people in the process of governing through the election of legislative and other branches of power, transparency of power, and public control over statesmen and ruling elite at large. However, such views on the modern democracy are quite different from views of ancient Greek philosophers, such as Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, who were quite skeptical in relation to democracy as the best form of government, whereas today democracy is considered to be the best form of government because it admits the participation of all citizens in the government, which may occur directly or indirectly. In such a context, the question arises concerning the extent to which the modern view on democracy is right and whether ancient Greek philosophers were right in their criticism of democracy as the effective form of government or probably their views are truly out of date and democracy is the best form of government. In this regard, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the modern view on democracy is, to a significant extent, derives from the domination of democracy as the mainstream form of government in leading world’ powers, whereas ancient Greek philosophers, such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, were just seeking the effective form of government and ancient Greek democracy was quite different from the modern democracy and, therefore, it could not be viewed as a model for the modern democracy, but the criticism of ancient Greek philosophers of democracy as a form of government is important to take into consideration, while analyzing the modern democracy and democratic governments because this criticism can reveal drawbacks of the modern democracy unseen at first glance.
In fact, democracy is considered to be one of the most effective forms of government in the contemporary world. The modern society is vulnerable to the overwhelming impact of democracy as the main form of government that provides each citizen with an opportunity to take part in the political life of the country and to influence the government through the system of elections and public control. However, the modern democracy is often idealized and the traditional view on the modern democracy often ignores substantial drawbacks which are hidden within the modern democracy as the main form of government. In this respect, it is possible to refer to works of Plato and Socrates, who were quite skeptical in relation to the government based on democracy. For instance, Plato is quite ironic in relation to democracy: “Democracy… is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder; and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequals alike” (Plato, 2008, p. 112). In fact, his criticism of democracy is grounded on the belief that democracy is not a perfect form of government, where seeming equality is rather pretentious than real. In this regard, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that Plato and Socrates insisted on the existence of oligarchy as a form of the government that was closely intertwined with democracy. To put it more precisely, they believed that oligarchy is the rule of the aristocracy grounded on the wealth with the help of which the aristocracy established the control over the state and controlled the government. In this regard, Socrates and Plato stressed the importance of the development of effective system of government in which the aristocracy could be controlled to make the government serving to the well-being of the entire state. Socrates and Plato argued that oligarchy is close to democracy in regard to the chaos which they wreak in the society. What is meant here is the fact that oligarchy is the rule of a few, who possess wealth. Democracy is similar to oligarchy, according to Plato and Socrates, because they define democracy as the form of government, where masses of people take part in the political life but, because of their lack of knowledge and experience in governance, they cannot participate in the political life and government effectively. In fact, the government turns out to be supported by the majority of the population. As a result, Plato and Socrates develop the idea that the government just needs to rely on the support of the majority to stay in power and maintain the control over the state. Therefore, the government needs to rely on the support of the majority of the population. However, Socrates and Plato argue that, in such a situation, the problem of the minority arises. What is meant here is the fact that the minority may be oppressed by the government as long as the government manages to gain the support of the majority. In other words, Plato and Socrates argue that democracy leads to the oppression of minority.
In this regard, it is possible to refer to the contemporary political system which is also oriented on the majority. For instance, the modern society and the modern government relies on the middle class, which is considered to be the foundation of the modern society. To put it more precisely, the government focuses on the middle class as the main source of support of the government and existing ruling elite. Therefore, the idea of Plato and Socrates that the government can oppress the minority as long as it has the support of the majority is not absolutely absurd. For instance, on relying on the middle class, the modern government can and sometimes does oppress interests of minorities. In this regard, it is possible to refer to the example of the Civil Rights movement, which has revealed the extent to which the modern democracy is imperfect and majority-oriented.