Download Classics response 1 Democracy

Democracy 2,500
The Activity
The year 1993 was celebrated as the 2,500th anniversary of the birth of Democracy,
since its foundation by Cleisthenes in Athens in 508 B.C. Does that make sense? Was
Classical Athens really 'democratic'? Does 'democracy' mean the same thing now as it
did 2,500 years ago?
As you undertake this activity, you should quickly begin to realise that 'democracy' is not a
simple concept. Rather than a static, objective 'thing', democracy is a fluid, subjective, interactive
valuation that means different things to different cultures and at different times. In a UNESCO
conference in 1950 on the theme of democracy, more than fifty nations from a full range of
political systems each insisted that they (and they alone) were a democracy. It was extremely
difficult to establish any common ground. What this means is that there are many different ways
of going about this activity, and many different ways of presenting an answer.
Three central questions emerge from this activity:
1. What is 'democracy'?
2. Was Classical Athens really 'democratic'?
3. What continuity (if any) is there between ancient democracy and modern democracy?
To take these one at a time:
1. What is 'democracy'?
Literally 'democracy' means 'rule of the people' from 'demos' (people) and 'kratos' (power).
Generally we use it in the sense of everybody in the community have, and exercising, the right
to influence their community and govern themselves. Sounds simple? Yes, but in fact once you
start asking who are the 'demos' and what is the nature of the power they exercise, you find that
extremely different interpretations emerge.
Aristotle argued that there were three main elements to 'democracy':
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eleutheria: the right to be free (as opposed to being a slave)
isonomia: equal right to the laws
isegoria: equal right to speak (in a political assembly).
Think: if that is the ideal for democracy, which of those elements still apply today?
Another way of approaching democracy is thinking about what it is not. In the early years of
Athenian democracy, the Athenians set up in public space a striking statue group of the
Tyrannicides, Harmodius and Aristogeiton, who had led a rebellion against the tyrants who
ruled Athens before democracy was set up.
As well as being not a tyranny, not rule by one man, democracy was not oligarchy ('rule of the
few'), and a number of Greek writers and artists compared and contrasted the two forms of
government.
It is also important to remember that, in ancient terms, 'politics' was used much more broadly
than we tend to use it today. 'Ta politika' in Greek means 'things to do with the city' – i.e. how
people participate in their city, how they define themselves as citizens, and how they contribute
to the community. 'Democracy', then, as far as the ancient were concerned, was popular
participation at all levels – voting, speaking, trading, spectating at the theatre, worshipping gods,
etc. etc.
What, then, is 'democracy' in the modern West?
Well, as the UNESCO conference demonstrated, there is no single answer to this question. But
most nations today exercise what we call a 'representative' democracy, where individuals are
elected by the people to represent them and act on their behalf (in Britain these are MPs). In
classical Athens, by contrast, you find 'direct democracy', where citizens all go to the assembly
to speak and vote themselves, and decisions are therefore reached directly.
This is just the tip of the iceberg: what other types of answers can you find to the question of
what democracy is?
2. Was Classical Athens really democratic?
This is a big topic, so here are just a few pointers:
a) Yes it was, because –
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
Athenians invented the term 'demokratia' and used it to describe themselves, and to
contrast themselves with other Greek city-states that were tyrannies or oligarchies.
After the Athenians got rid of their tyrants, Cleisthenes completely reformed the
political system so that citizens (who were reorganised into smaller units based on
geography and not on family connections) all, in theory, had an equal opportunity to
participate in the Boule (the main 'Council') and in the law-courts. According to one
scholar's estimation, between a quarter and a third of the population could serve on
the Council in a decade.
Under this new system, election to office was replaced by lot. Think: why is lot more
democratic than election?
The 'ecclesia' (popular assembly) became the main decision-making body in Athens,
and had the major political, legislative, judicial, military and financial powers, as well
as governing foreign policy.
Any individual who became too powerful or influential could be ostracised – voted
into exile by the people.
Classical Athens witnessed a Golden Age in cultural institutions that were focussed
on the community as a whole – particularly Greek theatre (tragedy and comedy), and
major festivals such as the Great Dionysia and, most importantly, the Panathenaia, a
festival where the whole of Athens ('Pan-Athenaia') would gather on the Acropolis to
celebrate the goddess Athena. This period also saw the construction of some of the
most important temples and buildings, such as the Parthenon.
An artist's illustration of the Panathenaic procession up to the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis.
This, of course, is just the tip of the iceberg. For what other reasons does Athens deserve the
label 'democracy'?
b) No it wasn't, because –
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)
Athens was a slave-owning society, and slaves (surely?) are an anathema in a
democratic system. How do you think Athenians justified the presence of slaves in
their society?
Women had no political rights. How do you think Athenians justified restricting
political rights to men?
Immigrants to Athens (metics or 'resident aliens') had no political rights.
Those under 18 had no political rights. Was this justifiable? Is it today?
Out of 250,000 people living in Athens in the fifth century B.C., only about 42,000
could vote.
Of these, only 6,000 could fit on the Pnyx, the space where the Assembly met to
vote.
A reconstruction of the Pnyx
(vii)
Athenian politics continued to be dominated by the aristocratic elite. What light to our
literary sources shed on this?
In addition, we should be aware that 'Democracy' was not invented by Cleisthenes overnight in
508 B.C. The political system evolved over many decades, and many changes were made to it
across the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. Generally, we think that the system became more
democratic over time. However, in 451 B.C., Pericles, a leading democratic politician, passed a
law in the Assembly which stipulated that in order to be an Athenian citizen both your parents
had to be Athenian – a manifestly undemocratic law passed democratically. Was this a step
backwards for Athenian democracy? How do you think Pericles argued his case?
c) What continuity (if any) is there between ancient democracy and modern
democracy?
This of course is the 64,000 dollar question. You should try to use the ideas and data you have
gathered, as well as the pointers above, to determine how far you think our political system has
anything in common with that of the ancient Athenians. A few pointers to get you thinking:
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How can we describe ourselves as a 'democracy' when we have a monarchy?
Women now have equal rights to men, but how long has this been the case? Was Britain
not a democracy before this?
Why does the USA so often evoke its own 'democracy' in its encounters with countries in
the East? Is this use of democracy anything like what we see in ancient Greece?
One of the most important democratic rights in Classical Athens was the right to vote on
war or peace. How does this compare with the political situation in the modern West?