Download This PaperThe Original Meaning of 'Democracy': Capacity to Do Things, Not Majority Rule
7 Pages Posted: 27 Oct 2007
Date Written: September 2007
Abstract
That the original meaning of democracy is "capacity to do things" not "majority rule" emerges from a study of the fifth and fourth century B.C. Greek vocabulary for regime-types. Special attention is given to -kratos root and -arche root terms. Paper delivered at the American Political Science Association meetings, Philadelphia, 2006.
Keywords: democracy, demos, Greece, Athens
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Ober, Josiah, The Original Meaning of 'Democracy': Capacity to Do Things, Not Majority Rule (September 2007). Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics Paper No. 090704, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1024775 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1024775
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