Not all democracies are created equal, and the Churchill quote is a grand feat of equivocation that paints many different systems as if they were a single immutable institution.

Athenian democracy was a direct democracy where any citizen could get up and talk. Where officers were needed it mostly used a lottery system [0] instead of elections precisely because they were afraid that elections just become a popularity contest that favors the incumbent oligarchic interests.

Generals were an exception because they had to be skilled at war. Handling money was also a skilled profession, and favored the rich so that the money could be recovered from their estate in the case of embezzlement. Politics, on the other hand, was not seen as a skilled profession, and what was important was loyalty to democratic ideals.

Looking at the quality of politicians we have and the power of entrenched oligarchic interests in our society, it really makes me appreciate the wisdom of the ancients.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy#Officeholde...

It’s better to live in a virtuous aristocracy than a corrupt Democracy, and but a virtuous democracy is better than both.

It’s easy to idolize Athenian democracy, but by the time of Thucydides, it was on its last legs.

The only question is “what comes next.”

The answer history gave was “2500 years of subjugation to foreign rulers.”

Something to consider as modern Greece integrates into the EU: they have no tradition of independent democracy.

For example, Greece is currently raising cash by letting the Chinese take over the Piraeus.

To Americans that sounds horrible!

But the Greeks have been pimping their country for over two millennia, and aren’t about to stop now.