And since the people are the majority, and the opinion of
the majority is decisive, such a government must necessarily be a
democracy. Here then is one sort of democracy. There is another, in
which the magistrates are elected according to a certain property
qualification, but a low one; he who has the required amount of
property has a share in the government, but he who loses his
property loses his rights. Another kind is that in which all the
citizens who are under no disqualification share in the government,
but still the law is supreme. In another, everybody, if he be only a
citizen, is admitted to the government, but the law is supreme as
before. A fifth form of democracy, in other respects the same, is that
in which, not the law, but the multitude, have the supreme power,
and supersede the law by their decrees. This is a state of affairs
brought about by the demagogues. For in democracies which are
subject to the law the best citizens hold the first place, and there
are no demagogues; but where the laws are not supreme, there
demagogues spring up. For the people becomes a monarch, and is many in
one; and the many have the power in their hands, not as individuals,
but collectively. Homer says that 'it is not good to have a rule of
many,' but whether he means this corporate rule, or the rule of many
individuals, is uncertain.
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