Breathe
By Marilú Acosta
Etymologically speaking, democracy comes from the Greek demos ( δῆμος) which is people, krátos (κράτος): government and the suffix -ia, which means quality. Democracy is a word describing a government with the quality of being of the people. The words are not always literal. In fact, Athenian democracy refers to the government of the demoi (plural of demos). Demoi refers to groups and not just any group. The demoi had as members lifelong Athenians, of Athenian parents, married to Athenians of Athenian parents, clearly men, and they decided the government. They were the government of the people. It's not really talking about a general, open population, but a small minority. Aristotle (Greece, 384-322 B.C.E.) considered democracy as one of the six forms of bad government.
Did we just witness the elections of a democracy? Yes, without a doubt. On the one hand, we have in the discourse the etymological literalism of democracy as a people that freely elects its rulers. The word people is highly convenient because it is an amorphous entity, which has neither face nor name, which is so heterogeneous that it tears itself apart and fragments itself. On the other hand we have the demoi, these groupings that are the ones who decide de facto who wins the elections, who runs, how the alliances are formed and most importantly, where the money for the campaigns comes from and where it goes. Finally, we have the citizen with a voting card who exercises his citizenship and freedom to go or not to go and vote. To vote for one candidate or another. To feel a participant or alienated from the democratic process.
