Philosophers in ancient Greece established a hierarchy among musical activities, with composition and cognitive knowledge being superior to performance and listening. Music's status was further solidified as an object during the Enlightenment, when the doctrine of aesthetic contemplation emerged. Eventually, a concept of universality evolved, which (the author argues) was proffered as an artistic analogue for universal "truth." Today, some recognize that musical creativity can be "manifested in performance," that most concepts of composition are Western and elitist, and that these concepts run counter to avowed goals in multicultural music education as well as to most forms of musical practice throughout the world.

Strong relationships exist between modern popular music and the democratic societies that produce and consume it. Some of the music may sound revolutionary, and much of it does advocate changes in the status quo. Nevertheless, it is the music of the masses, the music of democracy, music that could not and did not exist in anything like its modern forms prior to: 

1. The evolution of democratic societies.
2. Massive capitalism-driven economic improvements for the proletariat.
3. The invention and evolution of electronic technology.

It is the music of, by, and for the great masses of us. Music educators should persist in teaching this music in all its contexts, some of which are not easily accessible through performance alone. This article cites numerous examples of social and political meanings of popular music in democracies.

||CHINESE ABSTRACT
中文摘要
流行音樂與民主的關係：對流行音樂教學法的啟示
Jere T. Humphreys
Arizona State University—Tempe, U.S.A.
現代流行音樂與生產消費流行音樂的民主社會之間有著緊密的聯繫。有些音樂可能聽起來具有革命性的特
點，事實上很多音樂確實對現實社會的變化與發展起到了推動作用。可以說大眾的音樂以及民主的音樂在
以下的幾個條件成熟之前是不可能存在的：1、民主社會的進步與變遷；2、大規模的資本運行模式所帶來
的基層人民的經濟水準的提高；3、電子科技的出現和發展。流行音樂被大眾創造並服務於大眾。音樂教育
工作者們應該在音樂所存在的社會背景中教音樂，這些音樂中有的是不能單單通過表演而獲得的。本文引
用了很多事例來闡釋流行音樂在民主制度下的社會意義以及政治意義。