ANCIENT GREEK HISTORIANS AND PHILOSOPHERS ON THE NATURE OF DEMOCRACY AND ITS CONFLICT WITH TYRANNY AND OLIGARCHY AND THE MODERN VIEW OF THIS PROCESS

Abstract

Th is article examines the views of Ancient Greek historians and philosophers Herodotus, Th ucydides, Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle on the essence, the formation, the characteristic features, the advantages and disadvantages in democracy as the forms of administration and sociopolitical system. Greco-Persian wars in the account of Herodotus appear not only as an example of armed confl ict, but as a clash of diff erent public and political systems: democracy and despotism. Th e article compares the diff erent points of view, for example, of the supporter of Th ucydides’ democracy, who considered it if not ideal, then best of the actually existing forms of administration, that converted Athens into the fl ourishing state and enemy of democracy of Xenophon, who in every respect gave the preference of oligarchy, but the model of state was considered Spartа. Analyzing the views of Plato and Aristotle on democracy, the author, using concepts of contemporary political science such as “political system” and “political regime”, comes to the conclusion that both great philosophers were not the fundamental enemies of the political system of democracy, since they themselves participated in the work of people’s assembly, other institutions of democracy, in selections and control polis. Plato and Aristotle, in the opinion the author, were the enemies not of the political system of democracy, and the political regime of democracy giving authority into the hands of that poorly educated ochlos, not ready to control the polis. Refs. 10.

Keywords:

democracy, oligarchy, conflict, polis, empire, eastern despotism, the form of administration, political system, political regime