Athenian democracy, the democratic political system of Athens

The ancient Athenians established a highly developed democratic system. It was established in the 6th century BC on the basis of the victorious struggle between the plebeians and the nobility, through a series of reforms (Theseus, Solon, Cristini). After the Greco-Persian Wars in the 5th century BC, the Athenian democracy was highly developed and entered its heyday.

At this time, the main governing bodies of society were the Citizens' Assembly, the Council of 500, the Jury Court and the Committee of Ten Generals.

The Citizens' Assembly is the highest body of authority and meets every 10 days, 40 times a year. Male citizens over the age of 20 have the right to participate in discussions on the adoption of domestic and foreign policies, laws and decrees concerning the city-state, censorship of public officials, etc. At the meeting, citizens are free to speak and debate.

When voting on proposals, the method of raising hands is mostly adopted, and the election and exile of the individuals concerned are by throwing pottery shards or other methods. The members of the 500-member council were initially composed of 50 members elected by each of the 10 regional tribes, and were later elected by the citizens by lot. Its main responsibilities were to prepare proposals for the Citizens' Assembly and to deal with the day-to-day administration of the city-state when the Citizens' Assembly was not in session.

The jury court has 6,000 jury judges and is chosen by lot from citizens over the age of 30.

It is the highest judicial and supervisory body of the city-state, responsible for hearing and adjudicating various important cases, such as treason, dereliction of duty, etc. The Council of the Ten Generals is elected by the Citizens' Assembly and is responsible for commanding and directing the army and participating in the administration. Later, the power of the council continued to grow, and the chief general gradually assumed real military and political power.

During this period, all public offices in the Athenian state (except for the Council of the Ten Generals) were open to every citizen, including consuls and all other official offices, which were elected by lot, and any citizen could be elected. Under the Athenian democratic system, the political and economic life of the city-state was relatively open and democratic, and every citizen could directly participate in and discuss politics, which not only coordinated the contradictions between different interest groups within the citizens, but also fully mobilized the wisdom and enthusiasm of the citizens. This system was of great progressive significance at the time, and played a positive role in the development of Athens' political, economic and cultural undertakings.

However, its limitations were also significant: women, gentiles and slaves, who constituted the vast majority of the population, were denied citizenship. Even farmers and artisans with citizenship are too busy to fulfill their civic duties on time because they are busy making ends meet. Moreover, due to the inequality caused by private property, the vast majority of political leaders actually come from the aristocracy.

Perikles, Citizens' Assembly, Committee of Ten Generals,

A bifurcated approach should be taken.

Pros: Athenian democracy brought a new system of governance to the Greek city-states, giving the plebeians a privileged part of the country, making the aristocracy less privileged than before, and leaving a valuable spiritual legacy for Western democracy.

Disadvantages: But at the same time, because democracy is restrictive, and it is based on the distribution of property as the size of power, the decline of aristocratic privileges and the rise of merchant aristocracy, in general, did not fully promote democracy, but only the alternation of power between nobles and merchants! In addition, the implementation and reform of the Athenian democratic system had certain privileges for the aristocracy, so it did not have much impact on the aristocracy, but on the contrary, there were problems in the administrative aspect, because the law of banishment and the plebiscite were held every time in the citizens' assembly, and there were often inconsistent rulings in the citizens' assembly.

Furthermore, because Athens practiced a direct democracy, there were great differences in the quality of its citizens, and its so-called democracy was not necessarily democratic, because it was decided by the citizens' assembly, so there would be personal grievances infiltrating it, such as the death of Socrates is the best proof.

In general, it's better to be in China.

Athenian democracy, also known as Athenian democracy, was a system of democracy developed in the Greek city-state of Athens (including the central city-state of Athens and its surrounding region of Attica) in 508 BC. As a result, Athens became one of the first democracies. While other Greek city-states had a variety of democracies, most of which were modeled after Athens, none of them were as strong, stable, and well-defined as the Athenian democracies.

Athenian democracy can be seen as an experiment in direct democracy, because voters did not elect popular representatives, but directly participated in voting on legislative and executive bills.

Athenian democracy is a citizen-led form of local self-government, but its differences from modern democracy are still enormous. First, the right to participate in the Athenian democracy was not based on the fact that the women and slaves of Attica did not have full rights as in modern times; Secondly, the imperfection of the system leads to a very low efficiency. It is impossible to ignore the fact that politicians often slander each other through speeches for the sake of fame and fortune, and that the public opinion of voters is greatly influenced by the political satire drama staged in the theater.

However, since the division of participation was independent of economic class, the degree of voter participation in the Athenian democracy was already very high for that time. This system made a great contribution to the development of Greek civilization.

The main elements of the Athenian democracy were established:

All power in the State belongs to all citizens, and the main organs of democratic politics are the Citizens' Assembly, the Council of 500 and the Jury Court.

The citizens' assembly is the country's high-ranking organ of power, and all major national affairs such as internal affairs, foreign affairs, war, peace, and important appointments and dismissals are discussed and decided by the citizens' assembly.

The highest permanent administrative organ of the state is the Council of 500 members, which is responsible for handling the affairs of the permanent government and convening the citizens' assembly.

The jury court is the highest judicial and procuratorial organ of the state and has the final authority to approve the decisions of the citizens' assembly.

With the exception of the Ten Generals, all official positions in the state are open to citizens of all ranks, and the state ** is elected. Public employees at all levels implement the "public service allowance system".