"For the real difference between democracy and oligarchy is poverty and wealth. Wherever men rule by reason of their wealth, whether they be few or many, that is an oligarchy, and when the poor rule, that is a democracy. "This is from Politics by Aristotle (Forms of Government Book III, Chapters 7-8, last paragraph).
Aristotle used wealth and birth as criteria to differentiate between democracy and oligarchy. In a democracy, political power is held by the poor majority, while in an oligarchy, power is held by the wealthy few.
Direct democracy is doing something by the government andrepresentative democracy is a democracy where citizens delegae authority to elect represntatives
Direct democracy is doing something by the government andrepresentative democracy is a democracy where citizens delegae authority to elect represntatives
Democracy- a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. Oligarchy- a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few. Got it?(:
a direct democracy people vote on policies directly, a representative democracy people vote for representatives who then present a plan
a direct democracy people vote on policies directly, a representative democracy people vote for representatives who then present a plan
direct democracy is a type of government wee every citizen can vote on every issue. representative democracy is a type of government were people vote for representative who deiced issues in there name.
Democracy in and of itself is a liberal idea. The opposite of this is absolute monarchy with several different political forms in between. Socialism and communism are more extreme forms of democracy than representative democracy, that also include rights of the state or collective body having more precedence than the rights of the individual. In an absolute monarchy only the monarch has rights. In a representative democracy the rights of individuals and minorities take precedence over the rights of the state. A non-liberal democracy might be considered as a plutocracy (or oligarchy) where only a small group, the wealthy in this case, or enlightened leaders in an oligarchy, have specific rights and control the lives of everyone else. Though by definition these are not true democracies.
Democracy in and of itself is a liberal idea. The opposite of this is absolute monarchy with several different political forms in between. Socialism and communism are more extreme forms of democracy than representative democracy, that also include rights of the state or collective body having more precedence than the rights of the individual. In an absolute monarchy only the monarch has rights. In a representative democracy the rights of individuals and minorities take precedence over the rights of the state. A non-liberal democracy might be considered as a plutocracy (or oligarchy) where only a small group, the wealthy in this case, or enlightened leaders in an oligarchy, have specific rights and control the lives of everyone else. Though by definition these are not true democracies.
"For the real difference between democracy and oligarchy is poverty and wealth. Wherever men rule by reason of their wealth, whether they be few or many, that is an oligarchy, and when the poor rule, that is a democracy. "This is from Politics by Aristotle (Forms of Government Book III, Chapters 7-8, last paragraph).
an oligarchy is ruled by an elite group; an absolute monarchy is ruled by a single individual.