Talk about your understanding of Athenian democracy.

Some understanding of Athenian democracy

Anhui Hu

I. Basic characteristics

1. All citizens are rulers and jointly hold the supreme power of the country. If the citizens' assembly is the highest authority, all citizens can participate.

2. relatively equal within the citizens' collective takes turns to govern, which is a relatively direct democracy. For example, all public positions in the country are open to all citizens except the position of ten generals; Set up a 500-member parliament, and the tribes take turns to govern. The election of officials is generally conducted by drawing lots.

3. the law is supreme. When solving the contradictions and struggles between the ruling class and factions, they basically follow certain legal procedures.

It is the product of small countries and few people. Athens is a small city-state. At its peak, the total population of Athens, including slaves, was about 455,000.

Second, the essence.

It is a democracy under the dictatorship of a few slave owners based on slavery, which protects the interests of slave owners.

Third, the impact

1. Positive impact.

(1) It attaches importance to citizens' individual freedom and sense of responsibility, and provides a new form of collective management.

(2) It created the Athenians' national character of being eager for knowledge and willing to explore.

(3) The creation of democratic atmosphere made ancient Greece achieve brilliant achievements in many cultural fields. The emergence of humanists such as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle promoted the prosperity of Athenian culture.

(4) The theory and practice of its democratic regime provided the ideological basis for the later bourgeois theory in Europe and America, and became the source of modern western political thought and practice. Such as differential election system and mass supervision.

(5) Guaranteed the independence and development of the polis.

2. Negative effects.

(1) Democracy in Athens is only the democracy of a few male citizens, and women, slaves and immigrants are excluded from democracy. It is a narrow democracy and cannot adapt to the rapid development of Athens' politics and economy. In the heyday of Athens, the number of people attending the citizens' assembly usually did not exceed 3000. Farmers and craftsmen, as ordinary citizens, are often unable to attend the ten-day citizens' meeting for their livelihood. During the period of Perikles, the scope of Athenian citizens was further narrowed, and it was stipulated that only those whose parents were Athenian citizens could become Athenian citizens, thus Athens lost the possibility of supplementing free citizens from other city-states.

(2) All public offices are elected by lottery and take turns to be in power. People with both ability and political integrity can't be firmly in power, and it is very likely that extreme democratization and anarchy will occur, leading to political corruption and social unrest.