POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

The Challenge of The Qur’an ~ 330 ~ tyrannise the entire population of a country or countries. Although democracy had wide popular support, it has also been subjected to sharp criticism on a theoretical plane. The entire basis of democracy is the belief that people are born equal, with equal rights and that they are free. But the problems afflicting democracy are alluded to in the very first lines of Rousseau’s Social Contract: ‘Man was born free and everywhere he is the chains.’ The literal meaning of democracy—a word of Greek origin—is rule by the people. But in practice it is impossible to establish rule by all the people. How can all the people govern and be governed at the same time? Furthermore, man is said to be a social animal. Far from being alone in this world with the liberty to live as he pleases, he is part of the body of society. On philosopher puts it like this: ‘Man is not born free. Man is born into society, which imposes restraints of him.’ How, then, can a popular government be formed, when all the people cannot have power at the same time? Various theories have been propounded, the most popular of which is Rousseau’s i.e. that it