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The Democratic Experiment
The ancient Greeks famously invented democracy. But what was Greek democracy
actually like - and how was it different from the 21st-century kind?
What's in a word?
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politics - from polis, meaning city-state or community
many of the other basic political terms in our everyday vocabulary are borrowed
from the ancient Greeks: monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy and - of
course – democracy
The ancient Greek word demokratia was ambiguous. It meant literally 'peoplepower'. 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.
Greek political systems
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By the time of Aristotle (fourth century BC) there were hundreds of Greek
democracies. Greece in those times was not a single political entity but rather a
collection of some 1,500 separate poleis or 'cities' scattered round the
Mediterranean and Black Sea shores 'like frogs around a pond', as Plato once
charmingly put it. Those cities that were not democracies were either oligarchies where power was in the hands of the few richest citizens - or monarchies, called
'tyrannies' in cases where the sole ruler had usurped power by force rather than
inheritance. Of the democracies, the oldest, the most stable, the most long-lived,
but also the most radical, was Athens.
Sparta Oligarchy: 2 Kings (lead the army in war); Five Ephors (overseersofficials chosen by Assembly to supervise government business); Council (plan
government policy, are judges and pass laws- made up of 28 councillers and 2
kings); Assembly (all citizens over 30- votes by shouting to accept or reject
government plans)
Solon and Cleisthenes
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The origin of the Athenian democracy of the fifth and fourth centuries can be
traced back to Solon, who flourished in the years around 600 BC. Solon was a
poet and a wise statesman but not - contrary to later myth - a democrat. He did not
believe in people-power as such. But it was Solon's constitutional reform package
that laid the basis on which democracy could be pioneered almost 100 years later
by a progressive aristocrat called Cleisthenes.
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Cleisthenes was the son of an Athenian, but the grandson and namesake of a
foreign Greek tyrant, the ruler of Sicyon in the Peloponnese. For a time he was
also the brother-in-law of the Athenian tyrant, Peisistratus, who seized power
three times before finally establishing a stable and apparently benevolent
dictatorship. It was against the increasingly harsh rule of Peisistratus's eldest son
that Cleisthenes championed a radical political reform movement which in 508/7
ushered in the Athenian democratic constitution.
Ephialtes and Pericles
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It was under this political system that Athens successfully resisted the Persian
onslaughts of 490 and 480/79, most conspicuously at the battles of Marathon and
Salamis. That victory in turn encouraged the poorest Athenians to demand a
greater say in the running of their city, and in the late 460s Ephialtes and Pericles
presided over a radicalisation of power that shifted the balance decisively to the
poorest sections of society. This was the democratic Athens that won and lost an
empire, that built the Parthenon, that gave a stage to Aeschylus, Sophocles,
Euripides and Aristophanes, and that laid the foundations of western rational and
critical thought.
The democratic system was not, of course, without internal critics, and when
Athens had been weakened by the catastrophic Peloponnesian War (431-404)
these critics got their chance to translate word into deed. In 411 and again in 404
Athenian oligarchs led counter-revolutions that replaced democracy with extreme
oligarchy. In 404 the oligarchs were supported by Athens's old enemy, Sparta but even so the Athenian oligarchs found it impossible to maintain themselves in
power, and after just a year democracy was restored. A general amnesty was
declared (the first in recorded history) and - with some notorious 'blips' such as
the trial of Socrates - the restored Athenian democracy flourished stably and
effectively for another 80 years. Finally, in 322, the kingdom of Macedon which
had risen under Philip and his son Alexander the Great to become the suzerain of
all Aegean Greece terminated one of the most successful experiments ever in
citizen self-government. Democracy continued elsewhere in the Greek world to a
limited extent - until the Romans extinguished it for good.
Athenian Democracy
 In order to curb the abuses of the oligarchs and the wealthy, power began to
slowly accrue to an Assembly, which was made up of all the free-born, male
citizens of Athens who made decisions and legislation
 Only male citizens over age of 18 could participate in political life (these citizens
could attend, speak and vote in Assembly (made all the major political decisions
of the Athenian State
 Citizens also serve as jurors in the law courts and elect army commanders
 Assembly met every 10 days; groups of 50 Council member take it in turn to be
on 24 hour duty to deal with emergencies
 Male citizens could: serve on Council for one year; could serve on jury panel of
6000 (chosen by lot) for cases = with pay; jurors in law courts given disks for
“guilty” and “not guilty”
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10 chief magistrates elected for 1 year (were accountable for conduct and
expenditures to Assembly) = if not satified, then magistrates could be fined or
sent into exile
Critiquing Athenian Democracy
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The architects of the first democracies of the modern era, post-revolutionary
France and the United States, claimed a line of descent from classical Greek
demokratia - 'government of the people by the people for the people', as Abraham
Lincoln put it. But at this point it is crucial that we keep in mind the differences
between our and the Greeks' systems of democracy - three key differences in
particular: of scale, of participation and of eligibility.
1) A Balanced Scale?
There were no proper population censuses in ancient Athens, but the most educated
modern guess puts the total population of fifth-century Athens, including its home
territory of Attica, at around 250,000 - men, women and children, free and unfree,
enfranchised and disenfranchised. Of those 250,000 some 30,000 on average were fully
paid-up citizens - the adult males of Athenian birth and full status. Of those 30,000
perhaps 5,000 might regularly attend one or more meetings of the popular Assembly, of
which there were at least 40 a year in Aristotle's day. 6,000 citizens were selected to fill
the annual panel of potential jurymen who would staff the popular jury courts (a typical
size of jury was 501), as for the trial of Socrates.
2) Luck by Lot?
The second key difference is the level of participation. Our democracy is representative we choose politicians to rule for us. Athenian democracy was direct and in-your-face. To
make it as participatory as possible, most officials and all jurymen were selected by lot.
This was thought to be the democratic way, since election favoured the rich, famous and
powerful over the ordinary citizen. From the mid fifth century, office holders, jurymen,
members of the city's main administrative Council of 500, and even Assembly attenders
were paid a small sum from public funds to compensate them for time spent on political
service away from field or workshop.
3) An Athenian men's club?
The third key difference is eligibility. Only adult male citizens need apply for the
privileges and duties of democratic government, and a birth criterion of double descent from an Athenian mother as well as father - was strictly insisted upon. Women, even
Athenian women, were totally excluded - this was a men's club. Foreigners, especially
unfree slave foreigners, were excluded formally and rigorously. The citizen body was a
closed political elite.
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however, all the members of a city-state were not involved in the government:
slaves, foreigners, and women were all disbarred from the democracy. So, in
reality, the democratic city-states more closely resembled oligarchies for a
minority ruled the state—it was a very large minority, to be sure, but still a
minority.
4) Power to the people
One distinctively Athenian democratic practice that aroused the special ire of the system's
critics was the practice of ostracism - from the Greek word for potsherd. In this reverse
election to decide which leading politician should be exiled for ten years, voters scratched
or painted the name of their preferred candidate on a piece of broken pottery. At least
6,000 citizens had to 'vote' for an ostracism to be valid, and all the biggest political fish
risked being fried in this ceremonious way. For almost 100 years ostracism fulfilled its
function of aborting serious civil unrest or even civil war. At the end of the fifth century
it was replaced by a legal procedure administered by the jurors of the people's courts.
Power to the people, all the people, especially the poor majority, remained the guiding
principle of Athenian democracy.
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Ostracism: Athenian male citizens could vote yearly “ostracism” of leaders
(names were scratched on a pottery shard called an ostrakon and deposited in a
booth. If there are over 6000 votes he is sentenced. Sentence to exile from Athens
was 10 years
REACTIONS
 All the major Greek philosophers thought democracy was the worst form of
government.
 Plato, in his critique of democracy in The Republic , claimed that it allowed
people to follow all their passions and drives without order or control
 Aristotle claimed that the competing interests in a democracy makes for chaos
rather than purposive and deliberated action.
 in Athens, the democratic Assembly was usually dominated by a single powerful,
charismatic individual; foolish decisions were made such as the Athenian decision
to attack Sicily without any cause or provocation. This ill-considered war
destroyed much of the Athenian fleet and eventually led to the defeat of Athens
by Sparta.
 The position of these charismatic leaders, however, was always very precarious.
The democratic Assemblies could change character overnight; they would often
eagerly follow a particular leader, and then exile that leader often for no reason
(this is Aristotle's central objection to a democracy).
BETTER SYSTEM?
 Both Plato and Aristotle believed that the best form of government is "rule by the
best," or aristocracy.
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NOT "rule by the ruling class”, but rule by the smartest, most temperate, most
mature, most reflective, most educated, and the bravest should be in charge of
government—that is, only the best (the Greek word for "best" is aristos
GOVERNMENT TODAY
 Today’s governments are a fusion of democracy and aristocracy (in Plato's and
Aristotle's sense of the word)
 the principle of government is that the people elect (democracy) the individuals
that they feel are the best and most qualified to represent them in government
(aristocracy
TASK
1. What are the major criticisms of Athenian democracy?
2. What are the major similarities between Athenian democracy and modern
democracy?
3. How did Greek philosophers view democracy? Explain.
4. Research and summarize the major criticisms of Spartan Oligarchy.
5. Which was more effective: Athenian Democracy or Spartan Oligarchy? Explain.
Related Links
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekcritics_01.shtml
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A805952
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A9565437