akritas
02-24-2007, 02:25 AM
What is your opinion for the Athenian Democracy?
Can we compare the today democracy with a rule that was in work 2500 years ago ?
Is Periclean Gold age the better Athenian democracy?
:wacko: :wacko:
The architects of the first democracies of the modern era, postrevolutionary 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:
ofscale, of participation and of eligibility.
First, 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 5000 might regularly attend one or more meetings of the popular Assembly, of which there were at least 40 a year in Aristotle's day. 6000 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.
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 the 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.
As Plutarch notes
"Pericles created allowances for public festivals, fees for jury service and other grants and gratuities. He succeeded in bribing the masses wholesale and enlisting their support against the Areopagus."
Generally, one finds payment (2 obols) for the following:
1. Rowing the fleet and hoplite campaiging
2. Service as jurors in the popular courts (6000 annually)
3. Legal business of the empire (generally 700 officials at large throughout the empire)
4. Pay for service on various state boards of magistrates (generals, archons, etc.) and the Council of 500.
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 – and especially unfree slave foreigners - were excluded formally and rigorously. The citizen body was a closed political elite
The opportunities created by Pericles for Athenian citizens placed a premium on citizenship itself. Citizenship opened the way for potential service at the expense of the state, and Athenians became zealous at protecting this privilege. The assembly passed laws restricting citizenship to those who could show that both father and mother were full-blooded Athenians. This proved embarrassing to Pericles himself when he tried to get his two sons by his mistress and second wife, the notorious Aspasia, a courtesan from Miletus, recognized as Athenians, and had to get a special exemption passed by the assembly. Regardless, there is no doubt that non-Athenian metics benefited from Pericles' enterprises as well, particularly trained rowers and skilled laborers, and that thousands migrated to Athens and especially to its port, the Piraeus, at this time.
Pericles simultaneously guided both Athens' foreign policy through the creation of empire, and its domestic policy through the rise of "radical democracy." Radical democracy meant "pay for service," that is, Athenian citizens were paid by the state to participate in public affairs.
Reference:
The Democratic Experiment (Paul Cartledge)
Can we compare the today democracy with a rule that was in work 2500 years ago ?
Is Periclean Gold age the better Athenian democracy?
:wacko: :wacko:
The architects of the first democracies of the modern era, postrevolutionary 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:
ofscale, of participation and of eligibility.
First, 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 5000 might regularly attend one or more meetings of the popular Assembly, of which there were at least 40 a year in Aristotle's day. 6000 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.
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 the 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.
As Plutarch notes
"Pericles created allowances for public festivals, fees for jury service and other grants and gratuities. He succeeded in bribing the masses wholesale and enlisting their support against the Areopagus."
Generally, one finds payment (2 obols) for the following:
1. Rowing the fleet and hoplite campaiging
2. Service as jurors in the popular courts (6000 annually)
3. Legal business of the empire (generally 700 officials at large throughout the empire)
4. Pay for service on various state boards of magistrates (generals, archons, etc.) and the Council of 500.
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 – and especially unfree slave foreigners - were excluded formally and rigorously. The citizen body was a closed political elite
The opportunities created by Pericles for Athenian citizens placed a premium on citizenship itself. Citizenship opened the way for potential service at the expense of the state, and Athenians became zealous at protecting this privilege. The assembly passed laws restricting citizenship to those who could show that both father and mother were full-blooded Athenians. This proved embarrassing to Pericles himself when he tried to get his two sons by his mistress and second wife, the notorious Aspasia, a courtesan from Miletus, recognized as Athenians, and had to get a special exemption passed by the assembly. Regardless, there is no doubt that non-Athenian metics benefited from Pericles' enterprises as well, particularly trained rowers and skilled laborers, and that thousands migrated to Athens and especially to its port, the Piraeus, at this time.
Pericles simultaneously guided both Athens' foreign policy through the creation of empire, and its domestic policy through the rise of "radical democracy." Radical democracy meant "pay for service," that is, Athenian citizens were paid by the state to participate in public affairs.
Reference:
The Democratic Experiment (Paul Cartledge)