<P> Fake parties, phantom political rivals and "scarecrow" opponents may be used to undermine the opposition . In a memo of April 2015, released in October 2016 by WikiLeaks, Clinton campaign leadership explained to the DNC their strategy to make the Republican nominee someone "unpalatable to a majority of the electorate" by elevating someone like Ben Carson or Donald Trump . </P> <P> Plato's Republic presents a critical view of democracy through the narration of Socrates: "Democracy, which is a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and unequaled alike ." In his work, Plato lists 5 forms of government from best to worst . Assuming that the Republic was intended to be a serious critique of the political thought in Athens, Plato argues that only Kallipolis, an aristocracy led by the unwilling philosopher - kings (the wisest men), is a just form of government . </P> <P> Plato rejected Athenian democracy on the basis that such democracies were anarchic societies without internal unity, that they followed citizens' impulses rather than pursuing the common good, that democracies are unable to allow a sufficient number of their citizens to have their voices heard, and that such democracies were typically run by fools . Plato attacked Athenian democracies for mistaking anarchy for freedom . The lack of coherent unity in Athenian democracy made Plato conclude that such democracies were a mere collection of individuals occupying a common space rather than a form of political organization . </P> <P> According to Plato, other forms of government place too much focus on lesser virtues and degenerate into other forms from best to worst, starting with timocracy, which overvalues honour, then oligarchy, which overvalues wealth, which is followed by democracy . In democracy, the oligarchs, or merchant, are unable to wield their power effectively and the people take over, electing someone who plays on their wishes (for example, by throwing lavish festivals). However, the government grants the people too much freedom, and the state degenerates into the fourth form, tyranny, or mob rule . </P>

Who said democracy is the rule of fools