It is common to talk about democracy as a certain type of political regime — namely, as a way of organizing the state with specific operating rules, including multiple institutions, commissions and consultation processes. In this way, democracy is considered a system that includes separate bodies of power such as the “legislative,” the “judicial” and the “executive.”

This way of describing democracy is correct and there is no reason to question it. However, speaking about democracy in these terms merely describes its framework or its skeleton. It does not describe the life breath of democracy or the blood that irrigates the system as a whole and sets it in motion.

Just as important, or even more important, is the way of being, or form of life (Lebensform) involved in democratic regimes. The Greeks called this an ethos.

I am a specialist in Greek philosophy and the way in which it has influenced the development of contemporary western democracy and culture. Over the last three decades, I have been constantly revisiting the past and present, the ancients and contemporaries.

It doesn’t matter how many rules we have if no one follows them. If they are not widely respected, then the structure becomes useless or even inoperative.

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