Om värdet av demokrati

Abstract

On the Value of Democracy, takes as a starting point Aristotle's cross-tabulation of forms of government, which combines the size of the governing body (one, few, many) with the purpose of the governing (in the governors' interest or in the interest of all). Among the six possible combinations, the discussion rules out those which are unrealistic and/or undesirable. This exclusionary process selects two governmental forms for comparison: government by experts (the equivalent of Aristotle's ";aristocracy";, i.e. government of few in the interest of all) and democracy. The comparison counts both intrinsic and instrumental value of these governmental forms. Expert government's instrumental and intrinsic values are circumscribed. Democracy's instrumental value is overrated. The intrinsic value of democracy is theoretical equality of its citizens to influence their government. While this equality may be flawed in practice, no alternative form of government seems better than democracy.