Download Direct Democracy in Ancient Athens

Direct Democracy in Ancient Athens
The Assembly
Ancient Athenians
practiced direct democracy in
several ways. The first way
was through the general
assembly. All citizens were
able to vote, but first they
would debate the issue.
Anyone could choose to speak
for or against a proposal,
responding to the call “Who
wishes to speak?” However, it
was difficult to address a crowd
of thousands, so often only the
best speakers, called orators,
would speak on different sides
of an issue. After the debate,
View of the Pnyx from the Observatory with the Speaker’s platform (bema)
citizens could vote using either
visible right of center. http://www.agathe.gr/democracy/the_ekklesia.html
a show of hands, writing their
vote on a broken piece of
pottery, or voting with either or black or white pebble. Usually there had to be at least 6,000
participating and if there weren’t enough men there, slaves with red ropes would be instructed to
harness nearby folks to get them to the Pynx, or meeting place. If they had red on their robes,
they could be fined. Later, however, pay for participation was introduced and this helped to get
citizens there to vote and made sure that even poor citizens could take time away from work to
participate.
The Council of 500
In addition to the assembly, there was a council that met daily to set the agenda and
carry-out day to day decisions. There were five hundred members that were randomly chosen,
and each served as the leader, or “president” for a month. They met together in the circular
Tholos and even ate there. Some of them were even expected to take turns living there as well.
The Council of 500 were chosen randomly through a selection system. Names were randomly
placed in slots in a device, and then small black and white marble balls were sent through a chute
that would line up with the names. Citizens were chosen and not chosen based on whether or not
they were placed next to a white or black marble.
The Juries
At first the assembly often acted as juries,
groups of people who decided whether someone
was guilty or not guilty of an accused crime or
wrongdoing. Later, however, juries were created.
Jury members were also randomly selected.
There was oftentimes a minimum of 200 citizens,
but there could be over 2,000. Juries were
scattered across the city and the “courts.” Just
like the Council of 500, jurors were randomly
selected through a sorting machine to ensure
fairness and equity. Jurors were also paid to
participate. People defended themselves, but
sometimes had orators speak on their behalf.
Trials didn’t last longer than a day, and they kept
the trials on time by using water clocks—tubes of
water that kept time as they were emptied and
poured out. Jurors voted by using bronze ballots
and were selected through a jury allotment device
like the one pictured here. Ten rows of narrow
slots were used to hold the juror's tickets. The
hollow tube held black and white balls. When
cranked, a black or white ball issued forth,
determining who would serve that day. The
machine assured random selection of the jury
and equal tribal representation.
Reconstruction drawing of the jury-allotment
device (kleroterion). Agora Museum Archives.
According to Aristotle, a pair of such kleroteria
stood at the entrance to each court (Athenian
Constitution 63).
http://www.agathe.gr/democracy/the_jury.html