Ochlocracy: Difference between revisions

The term "Ochlocracy" was originally coined by the Greek historian Polybius to describe a corrupted version of popular rule. The distinction between noble and corrupted versions of governmental systems was a common theme within Greek political philosophy, aligning Ochlocracy with [[File:Auto.png]] [[Autocracy]] and [[File:Oligarchy.png]] [[Oligarchy]] and against [[File:Monarch.png]] [[Monarchism]], [[File:Arist.png]] [[Aristocracy]] and [[File:Dem.png]] [[Democracy]]/[[Republicanism]] [[File:Republicanismpix.png]]. Polybius's predecessor, Aristotle, distinguished between different forms of democracy, stating that those who ignore the law become an ochlocracy. Aristotle's teacher, Plato considered democracy an outdated form of government, and the term is absent from his works. The threat of "mob rule" to democracy is contained by ensuring that the rule of law protects minorities or individuals from short-term demagoguery or moral panic. Some authors, such as Bosnian political theorist Jasmin Hasanović, link the emergence of ochlocracy in democratic societies with the decline of democracy under neoliberalism, in which "the democratic role of the people has been reduced primarily to the electoral process."