Political Science 1020E Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Athenian Democracy

• School: Western University
• Department: Political Science
• Course: Political Science 1020E
• Professor: Charles Jones

Document Summary

The po(cid:449)e(cid:396) to issue a(cid:374)d e(cid:374)fo(cid:396)(cid:272)e (cid:271)i(cid:374)di(cid:374)g (cid:272)o(cid:373)(cid:373)a(cid:374)ds (cid:894)joh(cid:374) lo(cid:272)ke"s defi(cid:374)itio(cid:374)(cid:895) Everyone: political power should be distributed equally, every citizen should have the right to an equal say. Indirect: votes choose representatives who then make decisions. More direct is more democratic but not necessarily better. Extreme lack of responsibility: representatives elected for life. Democracy aims for equal capacity of citizens to process information relevant to decision- making. Wat(cid:272)h fo(cid:396) the i(cid:373)pa(cid:272)t of the e(cid:272)o(cid:374)o(cid:373)i(cid:272) i(cid:374)e(cid:395)uality o(cid:374) (cid:272)itize(cid:374)s" oppo(cid:396)tu(cid:374)ity to pa(cid:396)ti(cid:272)ipate i(cid:374) politics. Two ways to limit the scope of democracy: appeal to the democratic ideal, assigning the issue to the private sphere. Decisions made by majority vote is an assembly of all citizens. It was intolerant: no tolerance for unconventional beliefs. Political decision-makers should have judgment, skill, and knowledge. Ruling is a skill only attainable by the few. Philosophical training acquiring knowledge of the human good.