Athen (Greece)
Plato examined extensively the political system, that he designed as a democracy.
VIII Book, Republic
“is the fine and vigorous root from which tyranny grows, in my opinion".
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0168%3Abook%3D8
Although democracy has many flaws, it is the best system we have today.
Democracy is a system where politicians are a product that is exhibited, as opposed to other products, that is, the others. Not necessarily the best, but the least bad.
Democracy is the political veneer of a commercial society.
Democracies come into existence when the bulk of a society are involved in production and trade beyond the established ruling class' s ability to control or contain it.
And since EQUALITY is the watchword in the marketplace, i.e. the money of the black is accepted as good as the money of the white, or the female's money is as good as the male's, commercial equality leads invariably to political equality.
Fundamentally, once the ideals of commercialism take over a society the role of governance begins to change. Where before, government existed to IMPROVE the citizen, that is, make him a morally better person ... in democracies to be IMPROVED is understood as "to be made richer."
So democratic politicians are perpetually rated on how many jobs they've produced, how big is the GDP, and is everyone richer than they were before.
The morality of the marketplace becomes the dominant outlook of all society and we grasp that Democracy does not create equality - Equality creates democracies.
The Theory of Dual Morality examines this in detail.
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