Greek democracy: what is it and what were its characteristics

Greek democracy is the system of government considered the basis of modern democracies, especially those that are in force in western countries.

It arose in ancient Athens, back in the distant 6th century BC, although it had very marked differences compared to our modern idea of ​​what is democratic. Below we will take a more in-depth look at how it worked and who had the right to participate.

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The democracy of Ancient Greece

The origin of our modern democracies has traditionally been attributed to the rise of Greek democracy. Actually, the most appropriate way to refer to this system of government is that of democracy. Athenian, since it arose in the city-state of Athens, which is the one with the most information. This same democracy was the one that served as a model for other polis.

The word "democracy" comes from the classical Greek "give", "people" and "krátos", "government, power", coming to mean "the power of the people". Although today democracy is the most widespread system of government in Western countries, taking roots in ancient Athens, there are not few differences between Greek democracy and current. In fact, Athenian democracy is very far from what we would consider a full democratic system.

History and origin of democracy

Before the arrival of democracy, the city of Athens was ruled by the aristocracy, and had passed through different governments that, in essence, could be considered monarchies, oligarchic dictatorships and tyrannies.

This changed in the early 6th century BC. C. thanks to Solon, an Athenian statesman who instituted a series of reforms with which he was imposing the foundations of the Hellenic democracy, although it can be said that his reforms were counteracted by oligarchic governments after his death.

However, it was at the end of the same century that Greek democracy proper was established, thanks to the reforms of another ruler, Cleisthenes. It was this politician who broke the power exercised by aristocrats in making political decisions. He changed the form of government, causing decisions to be made by reorganizing the Athenians into tribes based on where they lived, rather than based on their wealth.

The credit does not go solely to Solon and Cleisthenes. Ephialtes and Pericles also made important contributions to the development of Greek democracy during the 5th century BC. C. The background context was that the Athenians were victorious fighting the invasions of the Achaemenid Empire, perpetrated by Xerxes. It was these victories that motivated the poorest sections of the Athenian population to give their opinion and want more rights, demanding a greater participation in political power. This was granted by the reforms of Efialtes and Pericles during the decade of 460 a. C.

Political organization

Similar to what happens today, Greek democracy was made up of three governing bodies: the Ekklesía, the Boule and the Dikasteria.

1. The Ekklesia

The Ekklesía, also known as the Assembly, was the main and sovereign organ of the Athenian government. This institution would be comparable to that of current parliaments in modern democracies., the legislative power of the time. The members of the Ekklesía were not chosen.

In this institution laws were decided, magistrates were elected and the procedure for war and peace was agreed. The assistants could speak freely, although very few used to do so, and they voted by show of hands or by putting a white or black stone into a ballot box. It was a direct and non-representative democracy.

Any adult male citizen over the age of 20 could participate, and indeed all free men were expected to do so at their meetings. The Ekklesía was an exclusive club, and women, slaves and foreign residents were prohibited from participating..

Any individual who wanted his voice and vote to be heard had to attend the meeting place in person. Being on military service or simply outside the city of Athens made it impossible to be part of the democratic process, since there was no postal vote.

Given the great privilege and luck of being elected, not wanting to attend the Ekklesía was frowned upon. In fact, those who were invited and did not go were known as "idiotai", in which more literal and classic sense it means something like "private citizen". This word is the etymological origin of "idiot".

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2. La boule

The second institution was the Boule, also known as the Council of the Five Hundred, which would come to exercise executive power. The main objective of this institution was to carry out the practical power of the government, meeting frequently to decide which topics would be those that would be discussed in the Ekklesía..

It consisted of a council made up of 500 men. These came from the 10 Athenian tribes, who sent 50 men each to be represented in the Boule. These men were selected by lottery. Elected men were to serve on the council for one year.

3. The Dikasteria

The Dikasteria was the people's courts, serving as judicial branch of ancient Athens. It had 500 men like la Boule, who were known as jurors and were also selected by lottery. To be eligible as a jury, you had to be over 30 years old.

However, anyone over the age of 20 could present their litigation in the Dikasteria, bringing cases to court, and defending the accusation or defense. The verdicts and sentences were approved by the majority government.

The end of Greek democracy

The years in which Athens was a democracy are known as its golden age. However, the enmity with Sparta, another Hellenic power, and the wars with that polis weakened the Athenian institutions. Athens had allied with many cities in the Aegean Sea, which had to pay tribute to her. Sparta used this as a reason for war, besieging Athens. To make matters worse, the plague ravaged Athens, dying Pericles himself.

Despite all this, Greek democracy remained alive for almost a century, even after the end of the Peloponnesian War and the defeat of Athens. Democracy lasted until 322 BC. C., the year in which Macedonia finally put an end to all democratic institutions.

An unthinkable democracy today

Greek democracy has often been idealized. There are few who see in it the perfect form of government, while the current democracies are seen as corrupt and not very functional. However, taking into account the denial of the right to vote of women and foreigners this makes the balance fall clearly in favor of our modern democracies. What's more, the simple existence of slavery makes the state that allows it and even benefits from it is anything but democratic.

There is no doubt that Greek democracy was a great development for the history of civilization Western, and that today's democracies take many elements from it, but in its most advanced and humanist. In addition, and as much as it may surprise, at the time there were also voices who were critical of the conception of what was democratic at the time. Philosophers like Plato and Aristotle saw flaws in this system of government.

For example Aristotle, in his "Politics", wrote that democracy is the perverse form of a regime called government.. In this system the highest priority was to benefit the few, while the benefit of the majority was a matter left to the last minute. In essence, it was not a true democracy, but another oligarchy that cared only for those in power.

Criticisms of this system of government can also be found in Plato's "Republic". Plato considered that offering the posts of the Ekklesía, the Boule and the Dikasteria by lottery it implied that many government positions would be filled by people who would not have the capabilities of a good ruler. In addition, he criticized the figure of the radical democratic person, who in his search for maximum freedom, takes away rights from others.

Bibliographic references:

• Canfora, L., (2004) Democracy. History of an ideology, Criticism, Barcelona.
• González, J. M. and F. Quesada (1988), Theories of democracy, Anthropos,
• Barcelona.
• Dahl, R., (1999) Democracy. A guide for citizens, Taurus, Madrid.