Politics - Greek Democracy14th December 2010

TU 110 Integrated Humaities

Contents

1. What, where & when was Ancient Greece?

2. Greek Democracy

3. Differences between Greek democracy and modern democracy

4. Conclusion

1. What, where & when was Ancient Greece?

Ancient Greece - 8thC BCE to 146 BCE

Classical Period – 500 to 336 BCE - In this period Athens reached its greatest political and cultural heights: the full development of the democratic system of

government under the Athenian statesman Pericles; the building of the Parthenon on the Acropolis; the creation of the tragedies of Sophocles, Aeschylus

and Euripides; and the founding of the philosophical schools of

Socrates and Plato.

Ancient Greece was really hundreds of independent city-states or poleis.

Some 1500 separate communities scattered round the Mediterranean and Black Sea shores "like frogs around a pond“ (Plato)

small, independent communities male-dominated bound together by race.membership in the polis was hereditary and could not

be passed on to someone outside the citizen family

Plato fixed the number of citizens in an ideal state at 5040 adult males - the one true criteria of the size of the polis was that all the citizens know one another

Considered to be the seminal culture which provided the foundation of Western civilization.

US Supreme CourtGreek Parthenon

2. Greek Democracy

Origins of the word “Democracy””

Greek EnglishDemos - PeopleKratos - Rule

Greek word “demokratia” was ambiguous. It meant literally 'people-power'. 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.

Origins lie in the ‘Polis’ (City State)

Aristotle "it is necessary for the citizens to be of such a number that they knew each other's personal qualities and thus can elect their officials and judge their fellows in a court of law sensibly."

In the society of the polis – all citizens were intimately and directly involved in politics, justice, military service, religious ceremonies, intellectual discussion, athletics and artistic pursuits

From a Monarchy to a democracy:

1066 B.C. the last king of Athens was replaced by an “archon” (a chief magistrate).

The position of ”archon” was nearly identical at first to a king. They ruled for life and had to be from a royal family.

In 752 B.C. the position of ”archon” was limited to a term of ten years.

In 683 B.C. the office was changed from one ”archon” to nine serving for one-year terms

“Council of the Areopagus,”

Existed long before the democracy, and its powers and composition changed many times over the centuries.

Originally, it was the central governing body of Athens,

Under the democracy, it was the court with jurisdiction over cases of homicide and certain other serious crimes.

After an Athenian had served as one of the nine archons, his conduct in office was investigated, and if he passed that investigation he became a member of the Areopagus. Tenure was for life.

Draco – c. 7th BCEWrote the first constitution featured several major

innovations:

All laws were written, thus made known to all literate citizens, who could make appeal to the Areopagus for injustices

The laws distinguish between murder and involuntary homicide.

The laws, however, were particularly harsh:any debtor whose status was lower than that of his creditor

was forced into slaverydeath penalty was the punishment for even minor offenses.

" For nearly all crimes there was the same penalty of death . A man who was convicted of idleness, or who stole a cabbage or an apple, was liable to death no less than the robber of temples or the murderer." Plutarch (Life of Solon) :

A modern day Greek ‘Draco’…

Draco Malfoy from the Harry Potter series

Used to introduce themes of intolerance and bigotry into a setting where people are often judged solely by their blood lineage rather than their good character or accomplishments

“Draconian“ - marked by extreme severity or cruelty, especially about laws or governments

But…Draco started the ball rolling towards Athenian democracy:

Created the ‘Council of Four Hundred’ chosen by ‘lot’

Served as a kind of balance or check to the power of the Areopagus.

Open to all free men who could furnish themselves with a set of military equipment

Solon (c.640-c.559 BCE)

Divided Athenian subjects into four classes based on their annual agricultural production rather than birth.

The two wealthiest classes were allowed to serve on the Areopagus

The third class were allowed to serve on the Council of Four Hundred.

The fourth class, the poorest, was only allowed to participate in an Assembly; this assembly voted on affairs brought to it by the Council of Four Hundred, and even elected local magistrates.

The Assembly:Included all male citizens over 18 years who were

not serving on the Council of 400 or who were not serving as public officials.

Had to have at least 6,000 citizens in attendanceForty regular meetings per year – there were four

meetings in each 35 day period into which the Council's year was divided.

The first meeting discussed the corn supply, the qualifications of officials, questions of defense and ostracisms.

The second meeting was open to any issueThird and fourth meetings were given over to

debates on religion and foreign and secular affairs. Special meetings or emergency sessions could be

called at any time.

Also, revised Draco’s legal code, especially concerning slavery:all pledges where a man's freedom had been

given as guarantee, freed all debtors from slavery, made it illegal to enslave debtors, and put a limit on the amount of land an individual

could own

CleisthenesInstituted a new political

organization whereby the citizens would take a more forceful and more direct role in running the city-state.

First use of the word “demokratia” (democracy) – rule by the entire body of citizens.

Change the Council of Four Hundred to be the “Council of Five Hundred”

Extended the representation and voting rights to almost all male citizens in Athens

Council of Five Hundred

All male citizens over the age of thirty could serve for a term of one year on the Council and no one could serve more than two terms in a lifetime.

Full time job and those who served were paid a fee

Chosen at random from the villages in the Athenian Polis - suggested that 35-45% of all Athenian citizens had experience on the Council

Decided the agenda for the Assembly to debate and vote upon

Pericles (c.490-429 BCE)

Shifted the balance decisively to the poorest sections of society - laid the foundations of western rational and critical thought.

Equality of justice and the equality of opportunity

Enacted legislation granting the lower classes access to the political system and the public offices, from which they had previously been barred

A citizen who held no official position or who was not a habitual orator in the Assembly was branded as “idiotai”.

Athenian Democracy by the time of Pericles:

3. Differences between Greek democracy and modern democracy

a)ScaleFifth-century Athenian Empire - population of around

250,000 Of those 250,000 some 30,000 on average were full

citizens - the adult males of Athenian birth and full status.

b)ParticipationSelected by lotThought to be the democratic way, since election

favoured the rich, famous and powerful over the ordinary citizen

c) EligibilityOnly adult male citizens Birth criterion of double descent - from an

Athenian mother as well as father - was strictly insisted upon.

Women, even Athenian women, were totally excluded

Foreigners, especially unfree slave foreigners, were excluded formally and rigorously.

The citizen body was a closed political elite.

But is it really so different…?

A Short History of US voting eligibility:

1790 Only white male adult property-owners have the right to vote.

1810 Religious prerequisites for voting removed (Jews/Catholics previously excluded)

1850 Property ownership and tax requirements eliminated. Almost all adult white males could vote.

1870 Former slaves given the right to vote1920 Women’s suffrage granted1924 Native Indian suffrage granted1965 Civil Rights Act enforced protection of voting

rights based on race

Wealth, Race, Gender, Literacy, Religion

All been used to limit voting rights in the

US

Modern American democracy appears to have been true to the Greek model in its earliest form

Since 1790 the two have been drawn further and further apart as voting rights in the US have been extended to almost all citizens.

Main remaining restriction is citizenship:Born in the USABorn outside the USA to one or two US citizensBorn outside the USA

5 years ‘naturalization’3 years ‘naturalization’ if married to a citizenNaturalization test – US history and government

3. ConclusionsAthenian democracy was a radical,

groundbreaking idea

So much so, that it only lasted two hundred years (@600 – 404 BCE) and was not repeated until the late 18th Century in the USA

Was more democratic in some ways than modern systems, less democratic in other ways

How do Athenian democracy and Thai democracy differ?

For example think about:Voting rightsElectionsMeetings

Is there anything that existed in Greek democracy that you believe should be implemented in modern Thai democracy?

Would Athenian democracy work in the modern world, why? Why not?