Socrates became unpopular in Athens for various reasons. Athens had an instillation of democracy in its government. Unlike the representative democracies of most republics in modern society, Athens was a direct democracy. It was well known that Socrates did not advocate this type of direct democracy, because he had little faith in the common man's ability to contemplate the complex matters of government. He believed in the rule of a group of “Philosopher Kings”. Socrates never ran for political office, but he often participated in debates. Socrates quickly earned a reputation for questioning the wisdom of city leaders. He asked difficult philosophical questions that usually ventured away from the topics under discussion. He believed he was asking questions like, “How do we know this is true?” or “How can we live well