What's Wrong with Democracy?: From Athenian Practice to American Worship

by Loren J. Samons II

Fifth-century Athens is praised as the cradle of democracy and sometimes treated as a potential model for modern political theory or practice. In this daring reassessment of classical Athenian democracy and its significance for the United States today, Loren J. Samons provides ample justification for our founding fathers' distrust of democracy, a form of government they scorned precisely because of their familiarity with classical Athens. How Americans have come to embrace "democracy" in its modern form―and what the positive and negative effects have been―is an important story for all contemporary citizens.

Confronting head-on many of the beliefs we hold dear but seldom question, Samons examines Athens's history in the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. in order to test the popular idea that majority rule leads to good government. Challenging many basic assumptions about the character and success of Athenian democracy, What's Wrong with Democracy? offers fascinating and accessible discussions of topics including the dangers of the popular vote, Athens's acquisitive foreign policy, the tendency of the state to overspend, the place of religion in Athenian society, and more.

Sure to generate controversy, Samons's bold and iconoclastic book finds that democracy has begun to function like an unacknowledged religion in our culture, immune from criticism and dissent, and he asks that we remember the Athenian example and begin to question our uncritical worship of democratic values such as freedom, choice, and diversity.

Genres: Politics, History, Philosophy, Nonfiction

328 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Relstuart]

A fascinating book dealing with the idea of democracy and its history. The author reminds the reader that democracy was something negative to the founders of America. Over time, the meaning of democracy changed and with it, the outlook changed to something positive. As time has continued to pass though, the idea of what democracy means has fluctuated in some ways closer to its origins that were concerning to the creators of American government.

But what if we look back at democracy in Greece and weighed its credibility in history with an eye towards modern governance? Does it hold up as a positive thing for Americans to desire to evolve our society towards? I read this one a bit slower to think about the ideas in it and did a bit of highlighting passages that stood out.

"Having lost most of its historical content, the word democracy has come to stand for "good government" centered around personal rights and the practice of casting ballots. In short, like many successful religions, democracy has been put into a palatable and easily digestible form - a form that is only loosely related to its historical origins and that requires a certain degree of faith within its followers."

We are currently in an election cycle in the USA. The options the people have selected for the highest nation in the land are not terribly palatable to me. I take comfort in the limits in power each person elected/selected in our system of government has. Democracy at it's heart has no limits beyond the will of the people with the most votes.

[castral]

First, the guy who said that the USA isn't mentioned beyond the intro obviously didn't read beyond the intro. The US and ancient Athens are thoroughly compared throughout this entire work, even when it is most absurd to do so.

The Greek historical lessons seem to be quite good and relatively unbiased but I don't have a lot of other knowledge to compare it to, so I'm trusting the author's expertise here.

The questions the author raises about democracy and specifically American democracy for the first 80% of the book are quite good and worthy of asking. I wish that was as far as the author went.

The last 20% of the book (roughly the final 2 chapters) draws conclusions that are completely biased, puritanical, conservative rhetoric that basically feels like the author missed the point of their own previous historical lessons.

So at the end, what's wrong with democracy? A lot, and we should be asking these questions more, but you won't find any answers in this book unless your mind is already made up. What you will find here is a great context to finding the answers elsewhere.

[Caligufel]

I think many people read this book with the wrong expectations. The author stated in the introduction that he is not giving any alternatives or fixes to the problems he's discussing. Hence, this book is not meant to be a book where you find answers on how to "fix" anything. Instead, I would recommend it as a read that challenges your preconceptions on political ideas. You may not agree with the author's ideas, but you will definitely learn something new. It is a relatively old book, but I think the ideas are still very much applicable today.
If you read this as a history nonfiction book, it is extremely fun but could require some prerequisite knowledge on classical Greece to be easily digestible. If you read it as a political analysis nonfiction book, the historical part should still be entertaining enough. Samons's writing style could be dry but his humor does shine through every other sentence.

[Nick]

Athenian democracy was prone to being hijacked by demagogues, and to the extent we forget we are a republic, and over emphasize the idea of everyone having a say through voting, polling, and the court of public opinion, we risk the same thing. Instead we need to champion restraint, civic duty, and values of deliberation, wise leadership, and, well, shared values.

[Rebecca]

Dense, dry at times, but a very interesting critique of democracy. A worthwhile read, to be sure. (Also, there are also some not-so-dry portions.)