Criticism of democracy

Uncommon card · No. 178137

Democracy as a concept and as a practical implementation has been the subject of critique throughout history. Some critics consider that democratic regimes often fail to be true to the highest principles expected of them, while others criticize the values promoted by constitutional democracy in whole or part. Opposition to democracy goes as far back as Plato, who argued for a 'government of the best qualified'. More recently, James Madison extensively studied historic attempts at and arguments on democracy in his preparation for the Constitutional Convention, and Winston Churchill remarked that "no one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time". Critics argue that modern democracies may fail to be sufficiently democratic, and instead function in practice as oligarchies, insofar as governments are more responsive to the preferences of economic...

Read on Wikipedia