Political Science · Western Political Thought
UGC NET December 2023 Political Science
Aristotle criticized popular rule on the ground that masses would resent the wealth of the few, and too easily, fall under the sway of the following:
AThe King
BThe leading citizens
CThe demagogue ✓ Correct
DNone of the given options
Correct answer: (C) The demagogue — Aristotle warns that under popular rule the masses fall under the sway of the demagogue, so the answer is the demagogue.
Explanation
★Aristotle warns that under popular rule the masses fall under the sway of the demagogue, so the answer is the demagogue.
★The demagogue flatters and inflames the multitude, exploiting emotion and prejudice for personal power.
★This corrupts democracy into mob rule, the perverted form in which the poor majority govern in their own interest.
★His broader fear is instability, since extreme democracy slides into demagoguery and then towards tyranny.
★His preferred safeguard is polity, a mixed constitution led by a large middle class that moderates rich and poor.
★This is part of his theory of revolution, where the sense of inequality and factional excess drive constitutional change.
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