Athenian Democracy

Athens developed the unique principles of government that resulted in the emergence of the first democracy in Western civilization.

Date: Sixth century b. c.e.

Category: Government and politics

Summary The development of Athenian democracy began in the late seventh century b. c.e. as a result of social and economic tensions in the city-state between the ruling nobility and the common population. In an effort to address the turmoil, the Athenian aristocrat Solon, around 594 b. c.e., divided society into four census groups based on wealth and established a city council of four hundred citizens. Eligibility for council service was extended to include not only the aristocracy but also a broader segment of the city-state’s overall population. All male citizens, regardless of wealth, were permitted to vote in the Ecclesia, or Assembly of the People. Under Solon’s reforms, wealth, rather than birth, determined who would hold political office. Solon’s reforms eased strife in Attica temporarily, but social and political divisions continued to fuel instability which eventually gave way to a tyranny under Pisistratus. His rulership resulted in a decline ofaristocratic authority in the city with a commensurate growth in the governmental power of the demos, or citizen population, which provided Pisis-tratus political support.

Following overthrow of the tyranny in the late sixth century b. c.e., Athenian nobles attempted to restore their rule in the city but were stopped around 508 b. c.e. by constitutional changes introduced by the statesman Cleisthenes. Under his reforms, the entire citizen population of Attica was enrolled in demes, or village units; a regional cross section of demes was then grouped into territorial tribes. The tribal arrangement distributed all citizens, rural or urban, regardless of clan, family, or wealth, into ten new political divisions, thereby diminishing the role of local and factional interests in the politics of the city-state. These changes served to form a more homogenous system of government.

Athenian government was now delegated to two bodies: a boule, or council of five hundred citizens that replaced the older Solonian Council of Four Hundred, and the Ecclesia. The boule handled the daily affairs of government and prepared legislation to be acted on by the citizen assembly, and the Ecclesia dealt with the larger matters of government, such as foreign policy. These two organs governed in conjunction with ten magistrates called strategoi who were each elected annually by tribe, rather than appointed by lot as were all other officials of the city. Through these reforms, Athenian government was now in the hands of the demos, with only the poorest citizens unable to hold government office. Later reforms introduced by the statesmen Ephialtes and Pericles in the fifth century b. c.e. removed the remaining vestiges of oligarchic authority and gave way to full direct democracy.

Ostracism

According to Aristotle, Cleisthenes ofAthens introduced the practice of ostracism (ostrakophoria) during a reform of the Athenian constitution around 508 b. c.e. It was first used in 487 b. c.e., to ostracize Hipparchus, son of Charmus, and fell out of use after the ostracism of Hyperbolus c. 417 b. c.e. Prominent men who were ostracized include Aristides of Athens, Themistocles, Cimon, and Thucydides, son of Melesias.

In midwinter, Athenians gathered to decide whether to hold a vote on ostracism. At this vote, citizens would write the name of another citizen who they judged to be threatening the stability of the state. When enough votes were gathered, the person was ostracized. He had to leave within ten days and remain away for ten years, although he retained his property and his citizenship.

Significance The principles of government which evolved in ancient Athens contributed to the broadening of democratic ideas in the Hellenistic world and to the unique political tradition that emerged in later Western civilization.

Athenian Democracy Further Reading

Hansen, M. H. The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes: Structure, Principles, and Ideology. Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1991. Rhodes, P. J., ed. Athenian Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

Stockton, David. The Classical Athenian Democracy. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Donathan Taylor

See also: Athens; Cleisthenes of Athens; Ephialtes of Athens; Four Hundred, The; Government and Law; Pericles; Pisistratus; Solon.