Greek Democracy


Years ago, I watched a miniseries called I, Claudius. I remember one scene where two people were talking, and one made a comment something along the lines of how great the Greeks were. To this, the other, older and wiser, man stated that there was nobody like the Greeks, "not even the Greeks."


Greek democracy has been hailed as the very ideal of political thought, a rule by the people. Yet what we, in the 21st century, call democracy and what a Greek back in the day called democracy were significantly different.


So, what is democracy a' la the Greeks? What were its strengths and weaknesses? Let's go back in time and find out.


Let us reason together

Myth: The idea of having a government where the voice of the people decided issues originated in Greece.


That fact is, many cultures around the world had some form of village or tribal council to discuss local matters and make decisions. In fact, some cultures in India had some form of a representative government independent of Greece. (Reference the Sangha and Gana.)


Nevertheless, the Greeks, particularly the Athenians, took this idea of a government by the voice of the people to new heights. Here, all matters were up for popular debate and vote, and the majority won.


Minus specifics, the best summary of Greek democracy, in their own translated words, is “the rule of the majority is law.”


Government – Greek style

When we speak of democracy in ancient Greece, we refer particularly to the government of Athens. However, the actual business of running things fell to the task of three groups.


The Ecclesia or Assembly

This was the general assembly of eligible voters – all males who were citizens, over the age of 18, and had completed military training. It is here that the voters made their decisions. Who would be elected to different positions? Do we declare war? What should the taxes be? Here is where the direct democracy happened.


The Boule

The Boule (Bull-Le) was a council of 500. Athenian citizens were divided into 10 "tribes" (each tribe having nothing to do with families), and each tribe provided 50 members to the Boule. Once a year, the members were selected by lot out of the different tribes and served for the whole year. There was no running for the office of Boule.

Picture of Bouleuterion by Elelicht.*


The role of the Boule was largely administrative; they oversaw city finances, the military, and the proceedings of the assembly.


The courts

Like today, courts are to handle conflicts between individuals, or an accusation against someone for breaking the law or doing something they shouldn't do. The rules were simple:

The Jury by John Morgan.


The coin's other side

A direct government by democracy sounds like a great idea, yet direct democracy, as practiced by the Greeks, has some real drawbacks.


No Bill of Rights

In a society where "the rule of the majority is law," there can't be any legally established rights. For example, a person in court can be convicted of any crime that a majority of a jury can be persuaded to vote for.


Demagogues

In Greek society, a Demagogue is someone who knows how to work a crowd into enough of a frenzy to have them vote his way. With a demagogue controlling the vote, the ideals behind the democracy were eliminated.


When in Rome and beyond

The Romans built upon the idea of the Greeks by electing representatives for a body called the Senate.


This is a republic.


This form of government is more stable than a pure democracy as it is less prone to the mob's excitement.


Later, when it came to creating the United States Constitution, the founders learned from the weaknesses of a democracy and chose a republican as the form of government.


Thus, the idea of a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people” becomes the standard by which the modern term “democratic government” is based.


On the web

Ancient Greece Government...in five minutes or less

This short but enlightening video shows how Athens transformed into a democracy.


Athenian Democracy Solon and Cleisthenes

Solon and Cleisthenese are credited with establishing Greek democracy. This video tells the story.


Boule - Ancient Greek Terms

This video explains what the Boule was and how it functioned.


Why Socrates Hated Democracy

This video discusses Socrates' objection to how democracy was run in Athens, as well as lessons we can learn today for modern elections.


* Licensing for the photo of Bouleuterion via Creative Commons 3.0.


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