I am contrasting juries and representative systems (republican ideas) with "raw democracy," which is fundamentally mob rule. We haven't always viewed the Athen

I am contrasting juries and representative systems (republican ideas) with "raw democracy," which is fundamentally mob rule. We haven't always viewed the Athenians as "learned men". Polybius judged Athens negatively: he saw the Athenians as an example of mob rule. We also have ancient commentators like the Old Oligarch, who was critical of Athenian democracy (though he saw its utility). Of course the measures I mentioned to curtail mob rule are not completely effective. What I'm saying is, we seem to be in the process of reinventing the wheel and so let's take look at our existing vehicles, which function fairly well.