The truth of what I have just said may be illustrated by the following arguments. We cannot say that every example of one-man rule is necessarily a kingship, but only those which are voluntarily accepted by their subjects, an which are governed by an appeal to reason rather than by fear or by force. Nor again can we say that every oligarchy is an aristocracy, but only those in which the power is exercised by the justest and wisest men, who have been selected on their merits. In the same way a state in which the mass of citizens is free to do whatever it pleases or takes into its head is a democracy. But where it is both traditional and customary to reverence the gods, to care for our parents, to respect our elders, to obey the laws, and in such a community to ensure that the will of the majority prevails- the situation is proper to describe as democracy.
Polybius, the Histories, Book VI, 4. (IInd century b.C.)
En la democracia falsamente entendida el impulso hacia la libertad se reparte entre todos, se cuela en las casas de los ciudadanos. Allí, el padre se comporta como un muchacho y teme a sus hijos. Allí, el hijo toma el papel del padre y no teme a los padres y lo único que quiere es ser completamente libre. Allí, los superiores se presentan como inferiores. Los profesores tienen miedo a los alumnos, los adulan, y los alumnos ya no tienen respeto por los profesores. Disminuye el respeto ante las leyes. Ya no se quiere soportar a ningún señor, a ningún guía, todo se interpreta como se quiere.
Platón, (V a.d.C.)