The ancient Greek word demokratia was ambiguous. It meant literally ‘people-power’. But who were the people to whom the power belonged? Was it all the people – the ‘masses’? Or only some of the people – the duly qualified citizens? The Greek word demos could mean either. There’s a theory that the word demokratia was coined by democracy’s enemies, members of the rich and aristocratic elite who did not like being outvoted by the common herd, their social and economic inferiors. If this theory is right, democracy must originally have meant something like ‘mob rule’ or ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’.