This is part two in a series on the history of consensual government as it developed in the West. We will spend the next couple of posts looking at ancient Athens. Click here for part one.

This ideal, or dream of democracy, was given to us by the ancient Greeks. The thought of sharing power among the many rather than the few never even occurred to the Sumerians, Hittites, Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, or the great enemy of Greek freedom – the Persians. Consensual government is a product of Western civilization and finds its starting point among the ancient Greeks.

The shape of Athenian democracy, however, was very different from modern liberal democracies. During 507 – 321 B.C., Athens was the closest thing this world has seen to a direct constitutional democracy. For this to be possible, certain social structures, customs, and institutions had to be in place – unique conditions rarely experienced in human history. The entire population of Attica, the surrounding area of Athens, was probably between 200,000 and 300,000.¹ Athens itself had about 30,000 enfranchised adult male citizens. Slaves and women were not allowed to vote. (Slaves alone may have been a quarter of the population of Athens.) Nonetheless, because the voting population was so low, they could all assemble in one place, listen to speeches and debates, and make important decisions for the polis. This form of direct democracy is not possible in any contemporary democracy. Athenian democratic success largely owes its achievement to outstanding and talented leaders such as, Solon, Cleisthenes, and Pericles – men who were articulate and could balance the rule of law with pragmatic, political, and economic concerns for both the aristocracy and “mesoi” – the emerging middle class. The strength of democracies rests equally with leaders that work towards the common good and the average citizen.

In addition, Greece was culturally unified. Herodotus speaks of the unity during the Persian wars between Sparta, Athens and the rest of Greece of their unity against the hated “barbarian” Xerxes,

Again, there is our common brotherhood with the Greeks: our common language, the altars and the sacrifices of which we all partake, the common character which we all bear – did the Athenians betray all these, of a truth it would not be well. Know then now, if ye have not known it before, that while one Athenian remains alive, we will never join alliance with Xerxes.²

The ancient Greeks would find cohesion in the same language, customs, and traditions. They shared a common belief and reverence in the gods of Homer. Family piety was common as they sought to honor their ancestors who were born from the land that they worked and died for. Sports played an important role in every polis and even wars were stopped so the soldiers could participate in the games that would involve all of Greece. They also shared a common interest in art, philosophy, literature, and history – human pursuits that sparked a love for beauty, discussion, rationality, and free inquiry. Though there were ethnic differences between Dorians, Ionians, and Phrygians there was much more to unite them as well. Common institutions held the Greek spirit together.

Athenian direct democracy simply would not be feasible in today’s contemporary political situation. The ancient Athenians were particular to their own time and place and to try to recreate what they achieved 2,500 years ago in today’s world would not be wise. Since the rise of the nation-state during the nineteenth century modern democracies have become too large for direct participation. An examination of Athenian democracy is still valuable, however, as an aid in discovering ideas and clues that would help us understand our own time, how democracies work, and how to improve them. No democracy is perfect but a study of the past can give us ideas that we can apply today. Western civilization should not be seen as static, either. It is evolving, changing, adapting, and growing. The Greeks were fascinated with other cultures and implemented what was useful and seemed good to them. Herodotus admired elements of Egyptian and Persian culture. Thucydides had an affinity to Spartan society. Democracy itself is an evolving concept and the twenty first century brings a whole set of different challenges and opportunities to consensual rule that the Greeks never faced. By carefully studying the past we can learn how to adapt and incorporate ideas that may be helpful today. On the other hand, the Athenians did make mistakes. But they made different mistakes than we are making today. The important thing about the past is that it can serve to correct our own mistakes, if we are willing to listen responsibly and learn from those who have gone before us.

Athenian democracy was different from any democracies in existence today. Even so, they were guided by ideas that still resonate with contemporary democracies – ideas of freedom, equality, rule of law, legal checks on majority rule, citizen participation, public audit of elected officials, and citizen control of the military. The basic structure of Athenian government consisted of the assembly, council, and elected officials (generals that held military posts and sometime served as political leaders or archons). The Athenians believed all these posts were to function under the rule of law.

The rule of law was essential to Athenian democracy. Pericles in his funeral oration explains that it is the laws which provide equal opportunity for everyone to participate in the governing bodies of Athens,

Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves. Its administration favours the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his position.³

The idea that law should provide equal justice to all was a revolutionary concept in the ancient world and Pericles believed it was among the most important institutions of Athenian democracy. It created equality, freedom, and a citizenry that respected both the magistrates and the laws. Nonetheless, slaves and women were disenfranchised and the idea of equality was more of a political idea and did not seem to spread to economic or social spheres of society. Perhaps the Athenians did not fully understand this contradiction or realize what to do with the powerful idea of democracy.

1 Woodruff, First Democracy: The Challenge of An Ancient Idea. (New York: Oxford University Press), 2005, 32.

2 Herodotus, The History of Herodotus, Great Books Of The Western World, Vol. 6, ed. Robert Maynard Hutchins, (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952), 287.

3 Thucydides, The Peloponnesian Wars, Great Books Of The Western World, Vol. 6, ed. Robert Maynard Hutchins, (Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952), 396.