> Athens, the poster child of democracy Athens is a significant example of an early democratcy. They were still working the bugs out back then. It's authorita

> Athens, the poster child of democracy Athens is a significant example of an early democratcy. They were still working the bugs out back then. It's authoritarian to enslave people, and it's authoritarian to deny people rights on the basis of sex. They did both. > It's when elected, and especially unelected rulers oppress the populace, with the populace having little recourse, or ways to protest. Yes, but the critical point is it doesn't have to be 51% of the populace. If rules oppress 10% of the populace that can still be authoritarianism. Suppose I agreed with your definition though. That could explain away Japanese internment, but I don't see how it justifies disenfranchising women. They made up close to or even an outright majority of the country. Unless they aren't people, and thus not part of the populace? Surely a minority can't declare everyone else doesn't count and thus claim to be the majority position?