Populism and Aristotelian Democracy

Tsouni, Georgia. "Populism and Aristotelian Democracy". Demokratie und Populismus in der griechischen Antike und heute: Akten der ersten internationalen Tagung des ZAZH – Zentrum Altertumswissenschaften Zürich, UZH, 2020, edited by Christoph Riedweg, Riccarda Schmid and Andreas Victor Walser, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2024, pp. 351-366. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111339610-015 "In cognitive and ethical terms, populism seems to be characteristic of a political community whereby the majority of the citizens (and/or their leaders) fail to take the common good into account, deciding to promote a partial interest instead. This is in many cases identified with the good of the the which is understood as the majority of the population that is free and lacks substantial means. In some cases, the invocation of the dēmos may be instrumentalized for the sake of serving the interest of one person, as in the case of the tyrant who uses the dēmos to ascend to power. The pursuit of a partial aim instead of the common good is seen by Aristotle as a deviation from a normative state, characteristic of well-functioning poleis, whereby both citizens and rulers (i. e. the ones occupying the highest offices) decide according to the common good."