Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Athenian Democracy
29 Sep 2016
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Lecture 7 - (1) what democracy is (2) plato. Required reading: wolff, introduction to political philosophy, chapter 1, pp. Power to issue and enforce binding commands. Every citizen should have a right to an equal say. Government of, by, and for the people. More direct is more democratic but not necessarily better. Able to remove people from their positions at a moment"s notice. Voters get an opportunity every once in a while to pick representatives and judge their terms. Democracy aims for equal capacity of citizens to process information relevant to decision- making. Watch for the impact of economic inequality on citizens" opportunity to participate in politics. Two ways to limit the scope of democracy i. ii. By assigning the issue to the private sphere. Decisions made by majority vote in an assembly od all citizens. Open debate, subsidized participation, and public-spirited citizens (polites) Only 1/10 of people living in athens were considered citizens.
