Healthy Democracy
In book six of Aristotle’s, the Politics, Aristotle lays out two major tenets of a true, healthy, democratic regime. The first is that members of a healthy polity must understand being ruled and then ruling in turn. Within this overarching assumption there is the idea that each citizen should have an equal share, as well as the belief that the poor have more authority as they are a larger population in the polity. The second is that each member of a healthy democracy, polity, should have the ability to live as one wants. Aristotle believes that this is the key tenant of a democracy. He specifically says that, “Now the presupposition of the democratic sort of regime is freedom...One aspect of freedom is being ruled and ruling in turn…Another is to live as one wants.” (Aristotle 183) I agree with both of these two tenets and I will further delve into the reasoning behind this belief as the paper progresses. Before I do so I think it’s crucial to address Aristotle’s belief that there are several forms of democracy, and not all of them are representations …show more content…
As I mentioned earlier Aristotle coins these as presumptions, or items that must be there for a democracy to be seen as true. The first of these elements is that elections should be among all citizens. He specifically states that, “Election to all offices from among all [the citizens]”. (Aristotle 184) I wholeheartedly agree with Aristotle on this tenet. I think that if a polity is truly a democracy there should be no restricted person, or class, when it comes to who can run for political office. It is crucial that no individual be restricted based off of economic status, ethnic background, or race. This unrestricted pool sets a precedent that anyone has the ability to lead and make decisions, as well as allows for new ideas and thought processes to be
In book six of Aristotle’s, the Politics, Aristotle lays out two major tenets of a true, healthy, democratic regime. The first is that members of a healthy polity must understand being ruled and then ruling in turn. Within this overarching assumption there is the idea that each citizen should have an equal share, as well as the belief that the poor have more authority as they are a larger population in the polity. The second is that each member of a healthy democracy, polity, should have the ability to live as one wants. Aristotle believes that this is the key tenant of a democracy. He specifically says that, “Now the presupposition of the democratic sort of regime is freedom...One aspect of freedom is being ruled and ruling in turn…Another is to live as one wants.” (Aristotle 183) I agree with both of these two tenets and I will further delve into the reasoning behind this belief as the paper progresses. Before I do so I think it’s crucial to address Aristotle’s belief that there are several forms of democracy, and not all of them are representations …show more content…
As I mentioned earlier Aristotle coins these as presumptions, or items that must be there for a democracy to be seen as true. The first of these elements is that elections should be among all citizens. He specifically states that, “Election to all offices from among all [the citizens]”. (Aristotle 184) I wholeheartedly agree with Aristotle on this tenet. I think that if a polity is truly a democracy there should be no restricted person, or class, when it comes to who can run for political office. It is crucial that no individual be restricted based off of economic status, ethnic background, or race. This unrestricted pool sets a precedent that anyone has the ability to lead and make decisions, as well as allows for new ideas and thought processes to be