Fundamentals of Greek Democracy

"Everyone must pee over there!"

       When thinking about ancient Greek democracy, especially in relation to our own in the United States, the first characteristic that needs to be acknowledged is that democracy in Greece meant “rule by citizens”.  This might not seem so relevant at first – what democracy of any age allowed non-citizens to participate? – but the discrepancy arises in who was considered a citizen, and how the democracy worked for all Greeks with this stipulation in mind.

          Only 10 to 20 percent of Greeks in any given polis were actually citizens, a privilege that was restricted to adult males who had been a part of the polis for an extended period of time.  But within this group, the democracy in ancient Greece was astoundingly energetic as all “citizens” shared equal participation in the government.

          Major features of Greek democracy took shape in Athens under the direction of Cleisthenes in 508 B.C.  He organized the government from the bottom up, creating what he termed demes to act as the foundation.  Demes were small, local bodies that kept records of citizenship.  The demes were then grouped into ten tribes that handled basic administration duties.  A legislative body was formed that included an assembly of all citizens (called a boule) and a separate council of five hundred members (called the ecclesia).  This structure is very similar to the bicameral legislature of our own government.  Another interesting aspect was that even though the system was designed for all citizens to participate, the demands of daily life meant that some relegated their power to others which gave rise to bureaucracies that handled everything from legal to military matters.  In this we also see a basic form of representative government.

          An evident weakness in Athenian democracy is the lack of separation between powers.  Greek democratic government amounted to one large legislative branch that enforced and interpreted its own laws.  Theoretically this presents an obvious conflict of interests and could easily allow a person or group of people to manipulate the system for their own ends.

Inaccurate interpretation of
Greek citizens

          When compared to 21^st century democracy it is a stretch to consider ancient Athens a true democratic polis.  For the 20 percent who could participate, the system was very fair and widely inclusive.  But by not allowing the other 80 percent that made Greek life possible - like women, immigrants, and of course slaves – through modern eyes Athenian democracy appears more like a giant oligarchy.  But it cannot be denied that the setting stones for modern republicanism were crafted in this ancient society.  And it is impossible to overlook the revolution in art and philosophy that gave rise to modern thought which developed within this system.