Plato and Populism: Can Democratic People Choose Tyranny?

• In Event: Tyranny, Technology, and Character in Ancient Political Thought

Abstract

What is the relationship between populism and democracy? The question is difficult for democratic theorists writing in the liberal tradition to answer because liberalism and democracy are so closely linked. To shed light on this problem, I propose turning to Plato to understand this phenomenon. Focusing primarily on The Republic, I argue that Plato shows that the pillars of the liberal democratic world—equality and liberty—undermine democracy. An excess of liberty and the disorienting experience of absolute equality gives rise to the opposite, first by creating vast economic inequality and second, by embracing a populist demagogue as “protection” for the people against the rich. By embracing the tyrant, the people choose to subvert their democracy and thereby lose both their equality and liberty. I argue that looking at Plato reveals both how populism can undermine democracy and how to begin thinking about preventing democratic tyranny. He also raises interesting questions about choice and to what extent the people themselves can be said to choose tyranny. This work contributes to conversations regarding the role of tyranny in Plato’s political thought, and the emerging body of theory on populism and democracy.

Author

• Thomas David Bunting, Shawnee State Unviersity