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Plato accuses democracies of exhibiting various flaws. What are these? Do

you agree that democracies exhibit them?

Democracy, like timarchy, oligarchy and tyranny, was judged by Plato to

be inferior to his ideal state system (Plato, Republic, 544c). Although
Plato judged democracy to be very attractive and pleasurable to most
people like gaily coloured things are to women and children (Plato,
Republic, 557c) he identified a number of inherent flaws in the
democratic structure of the state and of the democratic society which
prevent it from achieving the justice that Plato requires in his ideal state.
These flaws are all caused by the all-encompassing desire for freedom and
liberty that characterises democracies. This excessive desire would, Plato
claimed, inevitably lead to the emergence of a tyrant and transformation
of the democracy into a tyranny (Plato, Republic, 562c). In this essay, I
shall examine Platos criticisms of democracy and then attempt to show
that his criticisms are valid, if a little too simplistic, and that despite
Platos focus on the democracy of the ancient Greek world the criticisms
he makes are still valid when applied to modern democracies such as the
democratic system in Britain today. I shall conclude by agreeing that
democracy is most certainly an imperfect form of society as Plato
declares, though perhaps not quite so imperfect as he claims it to be.

Let us begin with justice; before he discusses democracy in full, Plato sets
out very clearly what true justice within a state is every member of
society performing its allotted role and not interfering with anything else
(Plato, Republic, 434c). Every individual must therefore stick to one
particular career the career that its character is best suited for, as this
will allow for greater productivity that will benefit the state as a whole
(Plato, Republic, 370c). The three main sections of society Plato defined
as the Guardian Rulers who knew best how to govern the state, the
Guardian Auxiliaries who performed the role of the military and the rest of

the population who farmed, crafted things and took care of all other
businesses (Plato, Republic, 434c). Without proper education to instil this
belief in all members of the state there will always be those who want to
choose their own path and do what they want instead of what is best for
them in Platos ideal society everyone would believe in working for the
greater good, but in the democratic society liberty, freedom and equality
are the commonly accepted principles (Plato, Republic, 557a, b). The
democratic state allows everyone to choose for themselves their own
activities and careers, meaning that people no longer do what they are
best at but rather whatever they want everyone is free to join the
military, practice in whatever business they choose, become a politician or
some combination of all of these (Plato, Republic, 561d). The democratic
promotion of equality as a necessary principle allows citizens to treat all
pleasures equally as well, so that there is no moral restraint on any
actions that bring the citizen pleasure; self-control, embarrassment and
moderation are cast out of the democratic world, Plato claims (Plato,
Republic, 560d), and without them all forms of pleasurable activity
become viable. The freedom to enter politics mentioned above was
particularly criticised by Plato, as he believed that only those with the
right character to lead (the Guardians) who had been educated and
trained to know how to govern the state should be in a position of power
(Plato, Republic, 558b). Democracy, on the other hand, permits anyone
to become a politician so long as they profess themselves the peoples
friends (Plato, Republic, 558c) all that is required to rule is popularity
because in all other respects everyone is treated as equal, despite
individual character and ability (Plato, Republic, 558c). It is thus possible
for poor-quality leaders to take control who in truth know nothing about
how to run the state but have learnt how to control the masses (Plato,
Republic, 488d, e), so that they will unavoidably damage the running of
the state.
All of the flaws noted so far detract in some way from Platos notion of
justice as everyone fulfilling their own role in society and not venturing
outside their own business, but Plato also argues that at its core

democracy undermines the idea of all forms of authority; as democracy is

fundamentally based on freedom and liberty the concept of having
authority over others becomes somewhat ridiculous to democratic
citizens. It becomes natural in democracies to disregard the authority of
legal structures, of teachers, even of parents, so that those who respect
authority are despised as servile and weak-willed (Plato, Republic, 562d).
Politicians, because of their reliance on popular vote, are expected to act
as servants of those they rule whilst their subjects issue commands to
them (Plato, Republic, 562d). Plato claims that the desire for liberty will
eventually become total and politicians will anger the voters with any
legislature that imposes even slightly on civil rights (Plato, Republic,
563d). Furthermore, it becomes incredibly easy for a charismatic politician
to emerge with popular support and become a tyrant, which Plato claimed
would happen after a struggle between the governing faction and the rich
(Plato, Republic, 565a-d).

Thus, although Plato allowed that democracy was very attractive and
pleasing in the short run (Plato, Republic, 557e) he claimed that the
pursuit of liberty always led to the breakdown of justice and authority in
society and would gradually transform into tyranny. But do democracies
truly exhibit the flaws discussed here, or was Plato unjustified in judging
democracy so harshly? As stated above, I will argue here that Platos
criticisms of democracy are well-founded, if a little too strong and
simplistic, and that they can apply to some extent even to modern
democracies.
Firstly, however, the validity of Platos criticisms should be examined
individually. Firstly, the freedom to pursue any career path desired is most
certainly exhibited in democracies; it is part of fundamental liberal
thought to allow everyone freedom to work in any field that they like, for
to force citizens into working in a particular field would be akin to slavery.
That said, democracy doesnt allow people to progress at a particular
career without some skill in their field someone may choose to become a

doctor, but without the right skills they will not succeed. Democracy will
not allow for the maximum productivity that Plato thought justice but
neither will it put incompetents into inappropriate roles except perhaps in
politics something I will look at later. The treatment of all desires and
pleasures as equal is, to an extent, another fundamental truth of
democracy, as all opinions on the subject are treated as equally valid;
there will be a wide variety of values and beliefs on what pleasure is
acceptable and unacceptable in any democracy, and there will be no
definitive right and wrong save that dictated by the nature of the society.
By this, I mean that there are moral values inherent in any democracy
values of freedom, equal opportunities and civil rights for all. Everyone is
free to pursue any pleasure or desire that does not conflict with the rights
of anyone else, so there is at least a degree more of order in this respect
than Plato credited democracy for. The subversion of authority in
democracy can be seen in modern democratic society; many young
people gain respect from their peers by disrespecting authority figures
such as teachers or in some cases the law those in positions of authority
are now expected to serve the general majority. The ultimate and total
breakdown of all laws in democracy that Plato describes is possible but
not entirely likely; the masses will always want laws to protect them from
criminals and from each other to provide the security to pursue liberty
freely and to exercise their civil rights. Platos attack on democratic
politics as popularity contests is however quite accurate; in a democracy it
is only the will of the voters that determines which politicians will succeed,
with only the appearance of competence being required to being elected.
Politicians only have to know how to be popular and not how to run a state
well, and the voters themselves never concern themselves with the actual
suitability of the politicians to their job. It is therefore theoretically easy
for a charismatic tyrant to emerge in democracies just as Plato claimed.

The focus on liberty to the exclusion of all else within a democracy creates
several flaws within democratic society; productivity is not maximised due

to free career choice, there is no definitive moral code (though individual

rights are protected), authority figures are criticised and disrespected
(though they are retained), and politics becomes a game for those skilled
at influencing the public and not for those skilled at actually running the
state. These flaws are identified by Plato in his Republic, though he does
exaggerate them slightly, and democracy always necessarily exhibits
them to some degree.

1498 words.

Bibliography
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Plato, The Republic, translated by Desmond Lee (2nd edn. 2003)

London: Penguin Books Ltd.