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Greek Revival
Athens was a pure democracy in that power was not delegated to representatives but rested solely with the citizen body in assembly. The Ekklesia had meetings four times a month to transact the state’s business including hearing embassies from other city-states andforiegn countries, determining what taxes were needed and how the revenues would be spent, and matters of food supply and defense and the passing and interpreting of laws.
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The first of the world’s democracies was quite different in important respects from democracy as we know it today. It was, as the word means, “rule by the people,” the Ekklesia, or enfranchised citizens assembled together. “Rule” denotes the power to govern. From the time Athens became a democracy under Pericles until its decline in the middle of the fourth century B.C., there was (except for two short periods in 411 and 404 [B.C.]) direct self-government. There was no division into legislative, executive, and judicial branches, each with the power to check or nullify the acts of others, for the Ekklesia never allowed any magistrate, official, or group to have enough power to act independantly.
Other government offices and groups were actually little more than powerless committees of the Ekklesia. Such direct government was possible because the members of the Ekklesia accepted the fact that they should devote part of their time to public service. Actually, only a portion of that time was spent at meetings, for there were hundreds of offices both on the state level and in the subdivisions, the tribes and demes, which also took time. But in thier feeling for doing nothing to the point of excess, the Athenians believed that no man should give his full time to making a living: he must reserve some for service to his community. There were many offices to be filled, and relatively few citizens. The terms of service lasted a year, and no one could have a consecutive second term nor hold two offices simultaneously. So, if direct government was to be successful, each man had to serve when elected. - Bayly Turlington, Socrates: Father of Western Philosopy
Our good friend, The Culture Ghost, brought up an interesting notion over in the comment section of Blondesense the other other day:
…I’m beginning to think a national lottery would be more successful than actual elections. Here’s how it works: if you have a valid driver’s license, you are automatically a “candidate.” Every two years for the House and every four years for the Senate, names are selected by a computer. And you have to serve. The state will step in and make sure your business/career/whatever are secure so you have something to come back to. The same for state and local. Remove the element of “professional politicians.”
I suspect that a room full of people from all walks of life could eventually come to some sort of effective consensus…no lobbyists…no pork…no special interests…
Odd, I’d heard of something like that before: The Athenian Constitution: Government by Jury and Referendum
2 Responses to “Greek Revival”
My idea was always to have everybody vote on everything via the internet. Each voter is given a username and password and everyone is granted access, and votes on everything.
Here I am trying to extricate from the La Brea Tar Pits of politics and you track down the last “sensible” (?) thing I wrote…
Though it sounds nice, doesn’t it?
captcha phrase: “lawmakers who”