Information AboutMobocracy |
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BRIEF DISCUSSION One common critique through the history of Political Philosophy of governments where a voting majority is Sovereign is the fear that that majority, acting under emotional influence, or out of extreme self-interest will rupture the Polity . Aristotle in '' Nichomachean Ethics '' described “democracy” as a potentially degenerate form of government specifically because of the tendency of democracy, as he defined it, to act against the direction of “the good”, or what Aristotle described as aim of the politics: the art of taking other arts in combination to produce the most benefit. In later political writing, including the political theory described in '' The Federalist Papers '', warnings were given that a temporary majority could act to take the property or rights of the minority. Walpole used the term to describe “A condition in which the lower classes of a nation control public affairs without respect to law, precedents, or vested rights.” In the late 20th Century the term “mobocracy” gained rhetorical use as ''rule by the mob'' or ''the mob as a ruling class''. Many of the users of this term have opposed democracy entirely, but the more typical use is within the context of a democracy where there is a fear by the user that decisions have short-circuited the deliberative process. Examples of targets of the use of the term have include use of polling to make decisions rather than deliberation; the desire by those who are economically disadvantaged to engage in Redistributive Justice or taxation designed to liquidate the wealth of the upper class; and the desire to restrict rights of minorities based on custom or tradition without reference to existing civil rights structures. The term “mobocracy” is by its very nature a source of endless controversy. Since it refers to a temporary majority forcing issues without regard to established norms or the rights of the minority, it raises the question of just what ''are'' the established norms or the rights of the minority. Established norms may be held to be unjust, or a minority to be privileged (in other words, it may have “too many” rights — such as perhaps the Aristocracy in Feudal times). SEE ALSO |
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