Prof. Paul Eidelberg Justice is the central theme of Plato's greatest dialogue, the Republic. Let us proceed step by step. Socrates was a poor man.
Poor men tend to be partisans of democracy.
Because democracies usually equate justice with equality. As a consequence, democracies give the poor the same rights as the rich. Not that Socrates was a partisan of oligarchy. But he also saw that democratic equality is a boon to the ignorant and even to scoundrels. Socrates was a philosopher, a seeker of truth.