DEMMIN

demmin, a town of germany, kingdom of prussia, on the navigable river peene (which in the immediate neighbourhood receives the trebel and the tollense), 72 m. w.n.w. of stettin, on the berlin-stralsund railway. pop. (1905) 12,541. it has manufactures of textiles, besides breweries, distilleries and tanneries, and an active trade in corn and timber. the town is of slavonian origin and of considerable antiquity, and was a place of importance in the time of charlemagne. it was besieged by a german army in 1148, and captured by henry the lion in 1164. in the thirty years' war demmin was the object of frequent conflicts, and even after the peace of westphalia was taken and retaken in the contest between the electoral prince and the swedes. it passed to prussia in 1720, and its fortifications were dismantled in 1759. in 1807 several engagements took place in the vicinity between the french and russians. demochares (c. 355-275 b.c.), nephew of demosthenes, athenian orator and statesman, was one of the few distinguished athenians in the period of decline. he is first heard of in 322, when he spoke in vain against the surrender of demosthenes and the other anti-macedonian orators demanded by antipater. during the next fifteen years he probably lived in exile. on the restoration of the democracy by demetrius poliorcetes in 307 he occupied a prominent position, but was banished in 303 for having ridiculed the decree of stratocles, which contained a fulsome eulogy of demetrius. he was recalled in 298, and during the next four years[1] fortified and equipped the city with provisions and ammunition. in 296 (or 295) he was again banished for having concluded an alliance with the boeotians, and did not return until 287 (or 286). in 280 he induced the athenians to erect a public monument in honour of his uncle with a suitable inscription. after his death (some five years later) the son of demochares proposed and obtained a decree (plutarch, _vitae decem oratorum_, p. 851) that a statue should be erected in his honour, containing a record of his public services, which seem to have consisted in a reduction of public expenses, a more prudent management of the state finances (after his return in 287) and successful begging missions to the rulers of egypt and macedonia. although a friend of the stoic zeno, demochares regarded all other philosophers as the enemies of freedom, and in 306 supported the proposal of one sophocles, advocating their expulsion from attica. according to cicero (_brutus_, 83) demochares was the author of a history of his own times, written in an oratorical rather than a historical style. as a speaker he was noted for his freedom of language (_parrhesiastes_, seneca, _de ira_, iii. 23). he was violently attacked by timaeus, but found a strenuous defender in polybius (xii. 13). see also plutarch, _demosthenes_, 30, _demetrius_, 24, _vitae decem oratorum_, p. 847; j. g. droysen's essay on demochares in _zeitschrift fur die altertumswissenschaft_ (1836), nos. 20, 21. footnote: [1] for the "four years' war" and the chronological questions involved, see c. w. muller, _frag. hist. graec._ ii. 445. democracy (gr. [greek: demokratia], from [greek: demos], the people, i.e. the commons, and [greek: kratos], rule), in political science, that form of government in which the people rules itself, either directly, as in the small city-states of greece, or through representatives. according to aristotle, democracy is the perverted form of the third form of government, which he called [greek: politeia], "polity" or "constitutional government," the rule of the majority of the free and equal citizens, as opposed to monarchy and aristocracy, the rule respectively of an individual and of a minority consisting of the best citizens (see government and aristocracy). aristotle's restriction of "democracy" to _bad_ popular government, i.e. mob-rule, or, as it has sometimes been called, "ochlocracy" ([greek: ochlos], mob), was due to the fact that the athenian democracy had in his day degenerated far below the ideals of the 5th century, when it reached its zenith under pericles. since aristotle's day the word has resumed its natural meaning, but democracy in modern times is a very different thing from what it was in its best days in greece and rome. the greek states were what are known as "city-states," the characteristic of which was that all the citizens could assemble together in the city at regular intervals for legislative and other purposes. this sovereign assembly of the people was known at athens as the ecclesia (q.v.), at sparta as the apella (q.v.), at rome variously as the comitia centuriata or the concilium plebis (see comitia). of representative government in the modern sense there is practically no trace in athenian history, though certain of the magistrates (see strategus) had a quasi-representative character. direct democracy is impossible except in small states. in the second place the qualification for citizenship was rigorous; thus pericles restricted citizenship to those who were the sons of an athenian father, himself a citizen, and an athenian mother ([greek: ex amphoin astoin]). this system excluded not only all the slaves, who were more numerous than the free population, but also resident aliens, subject allies, and those athenians whose descent did not satisfy this criterion ([greek: to genei me katharoi]). the athenian democracy, which was typical in ancient greece, was a highly exclusive form of government. with the growth of empire and nation states this narrow parochial type of democracy became impossible. the population became too large and the distance too great for regular assemblies of qualified citizens. the rigid distinction of citizens and non-citizens was progressively more difficult to maintain, and new criteria of citizenship came into force. the first difficulty has been met by various forms of representative government. the second problem has been solved in various ways in different countries; moderate democracies have adopted a low property qualification, while extreme democracy is based on the extension of citizenship to all adult persons with or without distinction of sex. the essence of modern representative government is that the people does not govern itself, but periodically elects those who shall govern on its behalf (see government; representation).