Short Term Flats

However, until recently, this was not the case. Throughout most of the history of thought (in both the West and the East), democracy has been considered to be the worst form of government imaginable. Democracy has been traditionally regarded as a system of mob rule, corruption, instability, and moral decay. Traditionally, political theorists were split between Monarchism (either constitutional, but with a real monarchy instead of a figurehead, or unconstitutional) and Republicanism (which is like democracy, but with restrictions on voting and with a constitution that is strictly constructed; the United States was founded as a Republic, but has since become a Democracy, thanks to the removal of property qualifications for voting, the passage of the 17th Amendment, and the government’s lack of concern for the Constitution). Furthermore, it is increasingly a settled fact in economics that political democracy is a bad (although a democratic economy, the system commonly called “capitalism,” is generally considered by economists to be the only coherent economic system). Economists argue that voters are irrational, that voters and politicians are inherently inclined to short-term thinking, and that corruption is inherent in democracy. There have even been arguments that democracy leads to more war and to more severe wars (through conscription, for example, which makes the entire population of a country potential enemy combatants, encouraging targeting of civilians).

The empirical evidence tends to confirm that the criticisms of democracy are justified. There have been numerous corruption scandals under democracy and special interest spending is the way of life, no matter how many times voters try to vote the crooks out (for example, the Republicans who came into office promising to clean up DC ended up being just as corrupt as the Democrats they replaced). Voters have repeatedly voted for politicians who advocate economically ignorant policies (for example, protectionism, discredited since the days of Adam Smith, continues to get votes). Democracy has led to racist policies in countries where large racial minorities exist (for example, America in the early 20th century). The worst wars in history have been democratic wars (for example, the French Revolutionary Wars, World War I, World War II, and all of the Imperial wars of the American Empire). It is, of course, no coincidence that the Neo-Cons are big fans of democracy and favor exporting it to the Middle East. It is also no coincidence that Woodrow Wilson’s War to Make the World Safe for Democracy was responsible for causing most of the problems of the last century (including WWII, the Cold War, and the “War on Terror”). The Versailles Treaty caused WWII (Hitler and Mussolini came to power because of popular resentment over the mistreatment of Germany and Italy by this treaty) and the mess in the Middle East (by giving the British control of Palestine, allowing them to make the massive blunder of handing Palestinian land over to the Israelis, which has been the root cause of Muslim resentment of the West). Communism was allowed to take over Russia because the Germans decided to send Lenin to Russia to take Russia out of WWI.

How exactly can democracy be considered superior to Monarchism or Republicanism? I agree with advocates of democracy that democracy is superior to communist or national socialist dictatorships, but it is a logical fallacy to claim that democracy and dictatorship are the only 2 possible forms of government. Aristotle claimed that there were 6 different types of government, 3 of which are good forms and 3 of which are bad forms. Aristotle believed that the 3 good forms of government were Monarchy (rule of 1 for the common good), Aristocracy (rule of a few for the common good), and Republic (rule of the many for the common good) and that when perverted they become Tyranny (rule of 1 for his own benefit), Oligarchy (rule of a few for their own benefit), and Democracy (rule of the majority for their own benefit). Can it really be argued that democracy is the best form of government or is that argument only possible when the only alternative to Democracy is considered to be Dictatorship?