Name the founders of democracy?

Question

Am assigned to research on "democracy", and to give names of founders and / or authors of democracy.

Answer 1

The ancient Greeks - but beyond that, you're on your own. Start with Plato.

Answer 2

Foxymoron needs to know that Plato was against democracy as he understood it. Anyway the Greek notion of democracy was significantly different from ours.

For the founders of modern representative democracy, have a look at some 18th century authors like Rousseau and Tom Paine.

Answer 3

Plato. Oliver Cromwell was an autocrat who handed over power to his son, Robert - no hint of democracy there then. George Washington et al might have had some vague ideas about democracy, but look at the USA today. Karl Marx came up with the idea of sharing wealth through-out the populace (Communism) and that didn't work. If you make home-made soup, you'll notice that the scum comes to the top. C'est la vie. Democracy doesn't exist.

Answer 4

Oliver Cromwell set up the first form of democracy in the UK after a bloody civil war. Round heads Vs Royalists

Despite claims from our brethren across the Atlantic ocean the UK houses of parliament where set up and running as a form of democracy way before the USA was formed. It united the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Wales under one rule and protectorate, which has functioned pretty much unbroken for the last 350 odd years.

Looked upon as a saviour in the UK, however your ill advised to mention his name in Ireland.

Answer 5

the earliest thinker i can find is Plato, born 427 BC, who discussed democracy. he said that a 'just' state is one in which the different classes fulfill their appropriate roles. he said there were 4 types of unjust state- timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny. he classified them like this: timocracy is a state dominated by a drive for military honour; in oligarchy wealth is the sign of merit; democracy: a state which is ruled by the people as a whole; tyranny: the ruler has absolute power. he also suggested that these were also personailty types and that there was symmetry between the state and the individual.

in his discussion of democracy he says that state democracy ignores the principle of training to rule which he believed to be essential to the 'just state'. the democratic individual, like the democratic state, entertains a wide variety of pleasures without distinguishing those which are based on good desires from those which have their source in evil. he does not permit Reason to rule over inappropriate desires. idle whims dominate, injustice is inevitable.

Socrates was Plato's mentor and hero, so if he discussed democracy that would be an earlier source. Socrates was put to death in 399 BC.

Rousseau also discussed democracy. he was born in 1712 in Switzerland. His famous piece, 'The Social Contract' was published in 1762.

Rousseau classified democracy as the direct participation of all citizens in all major decisions. he believed that if all citizens voted on any issue without consulting each other then the 'general will' of the people would be evident. this has been widely disputed by others as it would require the entire populace to be equally informed and his expectations of people voting without forming factions is unrealistic.

I got this from 'Philosophy: The Classics', by Nigel Warburton. p12, 105

Answer 6

The Chartists, Mahatma Ghandi,Abraham Lincon.

Answer 7

The Athenians of ancient Greece are generally credited with founding democracy.

"Solon (594 BC), Cleisthenes (508 BC), and Ephialtes of Athens (462 BC) all contributed to the development of Athenian democracy."

Answer 8

Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin.

Answer 9

Jim Gilchrist,Boris Yeltsin,Anthony Barnett,Eric Bjornlund,Holmes etc......

Answer 10

George and Jeb Bush.