Athenian Democracy and Its Citizens - Coursework Example

Athenian Democracy and its Citizens Introduction Athenian democracy, which existed around 500 BC, de s the system of governance that existedin the ancient Greek city-state of Athens and the adjoining areas of Attica. Athenian democracy is important from a historical perspective, as it is considered to be one of the first of its kinds, in human civilisation. Though there were other Greek cities that followed a similar set-up in governance, but none achieved the prosperity levels or were as enduring as the Athenian democracy. This form of democracy was unique in the sense that, it has been well documented by the historians and philosophers of that age, and it represents a form where the term democracy was not just limited to giving enfranchisement rights to its citizens. It also allowed the citizens to govern themselves through discussions, debates, and voting. This was a unique example of ‘direct democracy’ where the people did not vote to elect representatives who would vote on their behalf, but exercised their rights to decide on various matters, pertaining to legislations and other executive issues. As Madison describes the Athenian democracy where the “citizens...assemble and administer the government in person”, unlike the modern version that we see today, which is based on representation” (cited in Manin, 1997, 2). So it was, seemingly, a perfect situation, where the voices of the citizens were given primary importance on the issue of state governance. “ Prima facie the Athenian democracy would seem to have been a perfectly designed machine for expressing and putting into effect the will of the people” (Jones- 1957, cited in Saxonhouse, 1993, 486). Aristotle a famous philosopher of the 3rd century BC, wrote a treatise known as Politics, that deals with political philosophy, where he speaks on how to govern a country effectively (from his experiences in the city-state of Athens). In this book he discusses about the political community (city), household rules, citizens and their duties towards the state, and moves on to discussing the various constitutions that can be formed to govern a state. In book III sn1, of Politics Aristotle tells us that a citizen can be characterised as someone who has “a share both in the administration of justice and the holding of office”. In regards to democracy, Aristotle believed that it is based on the principle of freedom, which translates into the concept of citizens ruling and being ruled in turn, since in a perfect democratic state all citizens are considered to be equal (Aristotle, Politics 1317b, Book 6, part II). In my article I will discuss Aristotle’s statement as a description of the workings of Athenian democracy and will study to find out as to how far the Athenian citizenry ruled themselves as Aristotle suggested in his book. This article will explore relevant scholarly books and journals to assess as to how the Athenian democracy functioned, and what other elements of Athenian civic life and society did Aristotle neglect in his book Politics. Discussion Democratic system in the ancient city of Athens: During the 5th century BC, Athens and Attica had a population of around 250000 to 300000, with the two states measuring roughly about the same size as that of the modern day England (Thorley, 1, 1996). “What is remarkable about the small states of Athens and Attica is that 2500 years ago its inhabitants created, for period of two hundred years, a society of such vision and achievements that they ever since been the subjects of detailed study...and of admiration”( ibid). The creators of this legendary democratic constitution can be attributed to Pericles (421 BC), Ephialtes (462 BC), Cleisthenes (507 BC), and Solon (594 BC). They were influential leaders of the Athenian constitution, who helped in the establishment of the Athenian democracy. The word democracy (δημοκρατία) is a derivative of two Greek words, meaning power (‘kratos’ or κράτος0) for the demos (Δῆμος). Here the word ‘demos’ has many meanings, each one relevant to the Athenian concept of democracy. The word may stand for district or state (Athenian ‘deme’-smallest unit of the government), or it may also mean ‘people of Athens’. So democracy from the Athenian viewpoint would consist of a small village or state or district (referring to the people/citizens within) and the council of the people/citizens who ruled the state. Athenian democracy had 3 important pillars for governance. These were the Assembly (ἐκκλησία), Council, and the Court. Besides these three main bodies, there were other accessory bodies like the Council of Areopagus (another legal body), the Archons (a form of magistrate bodies), and the generals. The Council of 500 consisted of 500 Athenian citizens, where 50 citizens came from each of the 10 tribes and served for a term of 1 year only. This council represented the full form of Athenian government, and though it could pass decrees on certain matters, its main function was to prepare the agenda for the convention of the assembly. However the main pillar of Athenian democracy was formed by the assembly (Ekklesia, ἐκκλησία) which was a parliamentary body, attended by all male citizens of Athens. Women in Athens were given citizenship status but not permitted to take part in any political ongoing of the state. This assembly was convened to take decisions on all matters important to the Athenian life, from making decrees pertinent to war time manoeuvres to deciding on peace time governance, to taking a decision on whether to give citizenship to a newcomer/foreigner to Athens, this assembly could also try cases of political crimes. Thus it became a forum where any male citizen, irrespective of his financial condition, could exercise his right to vote and also voice his opinion on all matters of state governance. Another very important aspect of Athenian democracy was in the selection process of its community leaders and other government officials, where, “With the exception of a few leaders and officials who were selected because of their needed special skills, all the rest were selected by drawing of lots. With a few exceptions again, no one man could be selected for the same position more than twice in his lifetime” (Andronikos, transl. by Maroussis, 2). However this form of direct democracy came into vogue only after Solon (594 BC) and later Ephialtes in 462 BC, brought in some new reforms that ended the dominance of the Court of Areopagus over the Athenian governance (Aristot. Const. Ath. 25.2). Here in this respect, we find that Aristotle praises Solon the most, when he says “Solon...a truly radical reformer who put an end to an over-extreme oligarchy, released... [The demos] from subjection, and established ... ‘ancestral democracy’... [Here] the Areopagus council was the oligarchic element” (cited in Stockton, 1990, 19). Here we will examine the term ‘citizenship’ from the Athenian perspective, to comprehend its relation to Athenian democracy. In Athens a male member was considered to be a citizen of the state after he had completed his military training as Ephebes. Owing to this rule, a majority of the state dwellers became non-citizens, which included women, children, slaves, and metics or foreigners. This group of non-citizens also included male members who had for some reason failed to pay taxes to the state (known as atimia).Women were considered to be citizens only if they were born in Athens and their husbands were Athenian citizens. A few more restrictions came in after Pericles and Cimon in 450 BC decreed that all Athenian citizens must necessarily be descendants of citizens from both sides of the family (this excluded children resulted from marriages foreign women and Athenian men). Aristotle in his book Politics defines citizens, as individuals who were different from other state residents, like slaves, foreigners and children. Senior residents, as per Aristotle, were also not to be considered to be citizens of Athens, “old men who have been discharged” (Pol. III, 1275a). So according to the definition given by Aristotle, a citizen is an individual who “has a share both in the administration of justice and the holding of office” (Politics III, 1275b, 18-21). From the Athenian perspective we find that its citizens (the eligible male members) could indeed take an active part in the proceedings of the assembly and were also free to take part in the council and the other accessory executive and judiciary bodies. In Aristotelian world, citizenship (which is more of an involved responsibility on the part of the Athenian citizen, than any modern day citizen) is synonymous with taking an active part in governing thus making involved citizenship a necessary feature of good democracy. Thus one major difference between the Athenian mode of democracy and the modern form of democracy that we perceive today is in the fact that, the former allowed more scopes for the common citizen to take active and direct participation in the governing of the state. Though the rights to citizenship were definitely limited, with slaves, women and children being considered as non-citizens, even then, the citizens had more enfranchisement powers than a citizen of the modern world. Regarding the rights of a woman Aristotle gives us an interesting insight. He regards women as inferior beings when compared to their male counterparts. “A husband and father... rules over wife and children, but the rule differs, the rule over his children being a royal, over his wife a constitutional rule...the male is by nature fitter for command than the female... But in most constitutional states the citizens rule and are ruled by turns, for the idea of a constitutional state implies that the natures of the citizens are equal, and do not differ at all. Nevertheless, when one rules and the other is ruled we endeavour to create a difference of outward forms and names and titles of respect... The relation of the male to the female is of this kind, but there the inequality is permanent” (Aristotle, Book I, 12, 1259 a 40). Here Aristotle says that “the natures of the citizens are equal and do not differ at all”, as in a constitution where men and women are both equal, yet they are permanently unequal. So here we find that there is a complete contradiction of terms, and this contradiction is observed in the Athenian democracy where we find women not being allowed to exercise any political rights, though they were accorded some sort of a citizenship under certain conditions. So there is a sharp demarcation between a public life (reserved majorly for the men or the so called rightful citizens of Athens), and a private life (primarily women’s domain), and a woman’s role in the Athenian society remain restricted within her own household and family, and did not extend to include the public domain. “For the woman there is no fulfillment outside the family” (Saxonhouse, 1980, 65) and it is as Hegel describes womanhood in ancient Greek city states as “the everlasting irony in the life of the community” (cited in (Saxonhouse, 1980, 66). So democracy in a true form where all citizens are given equal rights is definitely not a feature of the ancient city of Athens. Another important aspect of democracy is the sense of liberty or freedom. In this respect if we take a look at what Pericles (under whom the Athenian democracy was said to have peaked) had observed, we will find that he describes the Athenian constitution as “le principe de liberté qui préside à tout le régime athénien” or a constitution which is completely based on the principles of liberty and freedom (de Romilly, cited in Andrews, 2004, 540). However freedom is a complex and relative subject, often dependent on the observer’s views. So to get a clear view of freedom or liberty, it is necessary that we take a look at what Aristotle said, “Liberty is a fundamental principle of the democratic form of constitution— that is what is usually asserted, implying that only under this constitution do men participate in liberty, for they assert this as the aim of every democracy...one factor of liberty is to govern and be governed in turn for the popular principle of justice is to have equal share according to number, not worth...” (Politics 1317b, Book 6, part II). Thus, according to Aristotle, in a free democratic all men are free, and all men are equal, having equal shares in the governance of the state, and this free status for an individual forms the basic foundation for democracy. In this context if we examine Athenian democracy we will find that Pericles states “Both in public affairs and in our silent scrutiny of each other’s daily activities, we Athenian citizens conduct ourselves in accordance with freedom. We feel no anger if our neighbor does something to suit his own pleasure, nor do we frown at him in a way that, while inflicting no actual punishment, does nonetheless cause distress”(cited in Andrews, 2004, 543). A complete picture of freedom and liberty is painted by Pericles in his treatise, while describing Athenian democracy. However, there are many scholars who have called this picture of democracy as painted by some Pericles as a mere fantasy, “the mythmakers who give us an amorphous vision of the perfection of ancient democracy where freedom allowed the arts to flourish, where men eagerly participated in a public world, where care for the community did not work in opposition to individual interest, where, in Finleys terms, "they decided on policy in open discussion by counting heads" (1981, 22), and where Socrates execution happened only because of Socrates foolish anti-democratic fervor and not because of any faults in the democracy itself” (Saxonhouse, 1993, 489). A reading of the Thucydides, including the funeral speech of Pericles (Thucydides, 1839), that tries to portray the so called complete democracy of Athens, however brings forth a more subtle picture that speaks of monarchy, under the guise of democracy (here also we find that Aristotle speaks of such a condition where he states “The final form of democracy has characteristics of tyranny: women dominate in the household so that they can denounce their husbands, slaves lack discipline, and flatterers—demagogues—are held in honor. The people wish to be a monarch”- (Book 5, 1313b: 32 41). So we can see that the Athenian state was formed on 3 basic characteristics, which were, “presence of slaves...severe restriction of access to citizenship... [and] exclusion of women from any direct participation in political or governmental activity... [Thus] it is wrong to speak of [the presence of] democracy...in ancient history” (Finley, 9, 1983). Many critics have also argued that in the ancient times most of the scholars were from the elite class of people, and for them democracy would naturally mean not the whole group of citizens but only those who were against the elite ruling classes. This would translate into a democratic system where in sheer numbers the poor classes of people would in a position to exploit the rich. As Aristotle frames it, “the poor are more powerful than the rich, because there are more of them and whatever is decided by the majority is sovereign” (Pol., 1317b3–10). So again we find that equality and freedom may not be the real picture of Athenian democracy, owing to the despotism of the citizen-assembly by the poor classes by their sheer dominance in numbers. Thus, here one views it as having equal say, (as in any modern Stock Holding Corporation), irrespective of the total worth of their holding, one share or a million shares, creates absolutely no difference which is explained by Aristotle as the differences in the geometric and arithmetic equality. Athenian democracy was also not quite the prefect one as visualised by many. During the Peloponnesian wars 10 treasurers were accused of embezzlement and sentenced to death. When 9 of them had been already executed, a mistake from an accountant was found and the embezzlement problem was solved leading to the acquittal of the last treasurer. Again after winning a navy battle in 406 BC, 6 generals were sentenced to death by the citizens’ body for failing to collect survivors from a storm that had wrecked their vessels, and later when repenting the hasty action, they executed the people who had complained against the generals (Hellenica 1.7.1–35). So it goes against what Aristotle says “Justice is a thing of the city-state’ (Book 1, 1253a: 37) and “The political good is justice, and justice is the common advantage” (book 3, 1282b: 16-18). Thus this turns out to be another flaw in the perfect picture of Athenian democracy, where it had been purported that the citizens ruled themselves, thus showcasing a perfect form of democratic city-state. Aristotelian principles are communitarian in nature as it places community before everything else. What is missing from Aristotle’s Politics in respect to Athenian civic life and society is the consideration for individual liberalism and the need for safeguarding citizen’s right to privacy. He also misses out on the fact that since best pertains to only merit, the wealthier people have better scopes of achieving merit, while the women and slaves have no scope at all, thus the basic tenet for democracy, that is, equality for all, simply does not apply in this case. He also does not refer much about the foreigners (as they were non-citizens, like the slaves and the female sections of the society, and also considered to be barbarians, inferior to the Greek citizens), a group mainly involved in trade forming quite an important part of the Athenian culture. So Aristotle though dealing with almost all aspects of Athenian civic life and society does not rise above the prejudices of his own time and class. Conclusion Ancient Athenian democracy, at a first glance does indeed portray a picture of a perfect democracy where all citizens are free to take part in the state governance. However an in-depth study will reveal that behind the depicted delineation there is much discrimination that goes against the basic tenets of democracy. It was only the male members of a certain age group that could actually take part in the processes pertaining to governance in ancient Athens, while slaves, women, children and the elderly, were considered to be non-citizens. It was also seen that the poor dominated the working of the government owing to sheer superiority in their numbers while some historians even allege that Athens under Pericles, was not democratic but showed signs of a monarchic rule. So the claim that Aristotle makes that in a democracy “the natures of the citizens are equal” does not hold true in Athenian democracy. Aristotle in his writings also ignores the concept of liberalism of an individual citizen, the rights to one’s privacy. So the picture of Athenian democracy that some scholars paint as the perfect democracy is not entirely true. This is however an innovative form of democracy, in the sense that it was conceived during the early stages of human civilisation, and it is indeed awe inspiring to study that even as early as in the 5th century BC men had strived to institutionalise the principles of equality, liberty and justice for all. Bibliography Andrews, J. (2004). Pericles on the Athenian Constitution (Thuc. 2.37). American Journal Philology 125, 539-561. Andronikos, M. The Athenian Democracy. Trans. by Anthony G. Maroussis. Accessed at,  http://www.ahepad22.org/articles/2500_democracy.pdf. Aristotle. 1944. Politics 1317b (Book 6 part II). Vol. 21, translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press. London: William Heinemann Ltd. Accessed from, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0058:book%3D6:section%3D1317b Aristotle. 1952. Athenian Constitution: The Eudemian Ethics; On Virtues and Vices. Loeb Classical Library No. 285, Vol 20, translated by H. Rackham. Cambridge, MA., London: Harvard University Press. Finley, M. 1983. Politics in the Ancient World. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 9. Manin, B. 1997. ‘Direct democracy and representation’, in The Principles of Representative Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press. 2. Saxonhouse, A. Feb 1980. Men, Women, War, and Politics: Family and Polis in Aristophanes and Euripides Political Theory, Vol. 8, No. 1, pp. 65-81. Saxonhouse, A. Sep 1993. Athenian Democracy: Modern Mythmakers and Ancient theorists. PS: Political Science and Politics, Vol. 26, No. 3. pp. 486-490. Stockton, D. 1990. The Classical Athenian Democracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 19. Thorley, J. 1996. Athenian Democracy. New York: Routledge, 1. Thucydides. 1839. The English Works, vol. VIII (The Peloponnesian War Part I). Translated by Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury; Edited by Sir William Molesworth, Bart., London: Bohn, 11 vols. Vol. 8. Read More