POLI 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: French Americans, Direct Democracy, Liberal Democracy
15 Oct 2014
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Poli 100 lecture 5 sept 15th, 2014. Representative democracy: subplanted direct, rule by someone elected by the people. Historical background: originates from greek: demos- the people & katros power or rule, classical example: ancient athens, which had a form of direct rule by its citizens. Excludes: women ,children, slaves & foreigners: office holders were subject to constant rotation & chosen by other citizens, considered to be a less desirable form of government by the likes of plato & Aristotle, who tended to equate it with mob rule: remained a negative term in political history until relatively recently. Even the american constitution was arranged so as to avoid being overly democratic . The french / american revolutions: both proclaimed democracy as a central goal, america: was concern over establishing a system of majority tyranny inherent to. Pure democracy : directly elected legislature (house of rep) had limits placed on its power.
