| Part of thePolitics series | ||||||||
| Basic forms ofgovernment | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| List of forms ·List of countries | ||||||||
Source of power | ||||||||
Power ideology
| ||||||||
 Politics portal | ||||||||
.jpeg)
Mob rule orochlocracy ormobocracy is apejorative term describing an oppressivemajoritarian form ofgovernment controlled by the common people through theintimidation of authorities. Ochlocracy is distinguished fromdemocracy or similarly legitimate and representative governments by the absence or impairment of a procedurally civil process reflective of the entire polity.[1]
Ochlocracy comes fromLatinochlocratia, fromGreekὀχλοκρατία (okhlokratía), fromὄχλος (ókhlos, "mass", "mob", or "common people") andκράτος (krátos, "rule").[2][3] An ochlocrat is one who is an advocate or partisan of ochlocracy. The adjective may be either ochlocratic or ochlocratical.
Ochlocracy is synonymous in meaning and usage to mob rule ormobocracy, whichwas coined in the 18th century from the sense of "mob" meaning the common rabble that arose from the Latin phrasemobile vulgus ("the ficklecrowd") in the 1680s during disputes over theUnited Kingdom'sGlorious Revolution.
Polybius appears to have coined the term ochlocracy in his 2nd century BC workHistories (6.4.6).[4] He uses it to name the "pathological" version of popular rule, in opposition to the good version, which he refers to as democracy. There are numerous mentions of the word "ochlos" in theTalmud, in which "ochlos" refers to anything from "mob", "populace", to "armed guard", as well as in the writings ofRashi, a Jewish commentator on the Bible. The word was first recorded in English in 1584, derived from theFrenchochlocratie (1568), which stems from the original Greekokhlokratia, fromokhlos ("mob") andkratos ("rule", "power", "strength").
Ancient Greek political thinkers[5] regarded ochlocracy as one of the three "bad" forms of government (tyranny,oligarchy, and ochlocracy) as opposed to the three "good" forms of government:monarchy,aristocracy, anddemocracy. They distinguished "good" and "bad" according to whether the government form would act in the interest of the whole community ("good") or in the exclusive interests of a group or individual at the expense of justice ("bad").[citation needed]
Polybius' predecessor,Aristotle, distinguished between different forms of democracy, stating that those disregarding therule of law devolved into ochlocracy.[6] Aristotle's teacher,Plato, considered democracy itself to be a degraded form of government and the term is absent from his work.[7]
The threat of "mob rule" to a democracy is restrained by ensuring that the rule of law protectsminorities or individuals against short-termdemagoguery ormoral panic.[8] However, considering how laws in a democracy are established or repealed by the majority, the protection of minorities by rule of law is questionable. Some authors, like the Bosnian political theoretician Jasmin Hasanović, connect the emergence of ochlocracy in democratic societies with thedecadence of democracy inneo-liberalWestern societies, in which "the democratic role of the people has been reduced mainly to the electoral process".[1]
.jpeg)
During the late 17th and the early 18th centuries, English life was very disorderly. Although theDuke of Monmouth's rising of 1685 was the last rebellion, there was scarcely a year in whichLondon or the provincial towns did not see aggrieved people breaking out into riots. InQueen Anne's reign (1702–14) the word "mob", first heard of not long before, came into general use. With no police force, there was little public order.[9] Several decades later, the anti-CatholicGordon Riots swept through London and claimed hundreds of lives; at the time, a proclamation painted on the wall of Newgate prison announced that the inmates had been freed by the authority of "His Majesty, King Mob".
TheSalem Witch Trials incolonial Massachusetts during the 1690s, in which the unified belief of the townspeople overpowered the logic of the law, also has been cited by one essayist as an example of mob rule.[10]
In 1837,Abraham Lincoln wrote aboutlynching and "the increasing disregard for law which pervades the country – the growing disposition to substitute the wild and furious passions in lieu of the sober judgment of courts, and the worse than savage mobs for the executive ministers of justice."[11]
Mob violence played a prominent role in the early history of theLatter Day Saint movement.[12] Examples include theexpulsions from Missouri, theHaun's Mill massacre, thedeath of Joseph Smith, theexpulsion from Nauvoo, theMountain Meadows Massacre, the murder ofJoseph Standing, and theCane Creek Massacre.[13][14] Inan 1857 speech,Brigham Young gave an address demanding military action against "mobocrats."
Notes
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)Bibliography
