Democracy and elite

Modern Age, Spring, 2003 by Mordecai Roshwald

The notion that some people are better suited to rule than others, that political wisdom is peculiar to the few, to an elite, and not to the many, the people, was, as is well-known, developed and vigorously advocated by Plato in his Republic. Plato's concern for excellence in government completely ignored the issue of representation. The authority of government, of good government, was to be derived from its intrinsic worth, and the will of the people, largely ignorant of the way of the pursuit of the political summum bonum, was of no account.

It was Aristotle, with his ear closer to experiential reality, who developed the notion that quality and quantity have to be combined in the working of government (Politics, 1296b). A viable and sensible government is one in which the democratic principle of equality and the oligarchic notion of excellence are deliberately mixed. The interests of the many and the wisdom and preeminence of the few are combined in a "mixed" constitution (Politics, 1294a-b). Aristotle rejected the popular direct democracy of Athens, but he also looked askance at Plato's design of a state in which the philosopher-kings are the absolute rulers, while the rest of the citizens are excluded from the government altogether (Politics, 1264b).

The general ideas of Aristotle, being somewhat peculiar to antiquity, had to undergo changes and modifications before being translated into the modern perception of Representative Democracy. Yet, the fundamental notion, that the wide democratic base of government and the select wisdom and virtue of an elite ought to be combined, became expressed in the principle of representation--the selection of the few by the many and the guidance of the governed by an elite. Modern democracy rejected the direct rule by the people, as practiced in ancient Athens, as it opposed the rule of an elite not accountable to the people, as propounded by Plato. It chose the ingenious way of creative compromise of Aristotle.

Alas, what was advocated and formulated by the Founding Fathers is questioned and undermined today. The prevalent sense of contemporary America seems to be that Democracy is the rule of the people, for the people, and by the people. It is the people who are sovereign in principle, and it is the people who have the right to exercise this sovereignty not only at periodic elections, but also continuously between the elections. The elected representatives, including the President, are there to fulfil their assorted functions, but they must constantly and conscientiously watch the public mood and the popular opinion, and act in compliance with these. It is the popular will and the public sentiment which must be obeyed by the elected officials, even if such sentiment itself may not be consistent.

To be sure, according to the law and the Constitution, the elected officials are not bound by public opinion. They are free to follow the dictates of their own conscience and the conclusions of their own reason. Yet, in practice, more often than not, they obey the voice of the people. The old adage vox popali vox Dei tends to be religiously observed by most elected officials. And if occasionally they do not follow the commands of the majority, they adhere to the wishes of a select group, a minor deity, on whom their election to office depends.