论古代民主与专制的定义问题

To Definite again the Democracy and Despotism in the Ancient History

民主与专制定义方面的问题 ,往往导致有关研究者在相同材料上得出不同结论。本文讨论了某些有影响的学说 ,研究了“耕”、“战”、“权”三者之间的关系 ,以一个社会全体正式成员中能够合法地直接间接参与决策的人数的比例 ,来判断古代社会权力结构的性质 ,由此提出了一套定义 ,其中重要的是关于民主的定义 :“古代的民主政治是指 ,在一个共同体之内 ,在牵涉到大多数人关心的利害问题上 ,是由全体正式成员或至少多数正式成员合法地直接间接来进行决策的一种制度。”

Different definitions of democracy and despotism have usually resulted in prolonged disputes over the natures of political systems in ancient history. This article has discussed some influential theories concerned, studied the relations among the rights of the citizens to access to the basic resources that sustain life, to use the weapons to fight, and to take part in the decision making of the society, judged the character of one polity by the number of, particularly by the rate of the formal citizens eligible to participate in the decision making of the society, and then given a series of definitions on the different political systems in the ancient history.