Governance & Decision-Making
อาริสโตเติล จัด "ประชาธิปไตย" ระบอบที่ไม่ดี เคียงข้างกับ "เผด็จการ" หรือ "ทรราช" เพราะอะไร?
Summary
The system we treat as the best available was classed by Aristotle among the bad constitutions, next to tyranny.
The weakness he saw was majority power exercised without restraint, and the vulnerability to demagogues.
The other was that a majority tends to decide by feeling rather than by reason.
Key points
His democracy is not ours
He meant direct majority rule, without a constitution or courts holding it in check.
He was not endorsing tyranny
His scheme pairs good constitutions with their degenerate forms; democracy is the degenerate form of another.
The criticism still applies
Demagoguery and decision by mood remain risks that modern systems have to be designed against.
Checks and balances are the later answer
What separates modern democracy from what Aristotle criticised is the layer that limits majority power.