Some Problems of Democracy

Classical Greek democracy was the social organization of the free “men” (not women) of a city-state (polls), who had either enough leisure to occupy themselves with matters of common interest or—in the late Athenian democracy— were compensated for their loss of time by public funds. The kind of equality at the bottom of this classical democracy was that of free (self-determined) men (family fathers) as opposed to the status of slaves, who were owned by private citizens or by the city-state.

Excessive wealth or poverty among free men was viewed as dangerous to the stability of the community. The very rich might easily become tyrants while the extremely poor multitude could become the social basis of popular dictator...