93 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
93 lines
4.1 KiB
Markdown
The **Athenian Polis** or **Athenian Democracy** (594BCE - 322BCE)
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refers to a network of [citizen's
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assemblies](Democratic_Assembly "wikilink") spread out across the city
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of [Athens](Hellenic_Republic "wikilink") where around a fifth of the
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population (as it excluded women, slaves, foreigners and the indebted)
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could participate in direct democracy. It is more accurate to refer to
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this as a [dual power](Dual_Power "wikilink") built in response to
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[class struggle](Class_Struggle "wikilink") than a [genuinely
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libertarian socialist
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society](List_of_Libertarian_Socialist_Societies "wikilink").
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## History
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[Solon](Solon "wikilink") was appointed magistrate of Athens in order to
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maintain peace as class struggle intensified. He implemented reforms
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which laid the basis of the Polis which lasted for centuries. It was
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crushed briefly by Spartans in the Peloponnese War, but revolution led
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to its restoration again. It was crushed a hundred years later after
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Macedonians took the city and destroyed direct democracy in 322BCE.\[1\]
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## Decision-Making
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Athenian men gathered in [assemblies](Democratic_Assembly "wikilink")
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called ''demes ''in order to collectively discuss and make decisions
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that affected the community as a whole. A
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[confederal](Confederation "wikilink") model was used as delegates
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managed each neighbourhood, scaling up the whole city.\[2\]
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## Economy
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Despite being a slave economy, there were very low taxes and little
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restrictions on ownership. People generously and voluntarily contributed
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money, resources and labor hours towards public projects that [benefited
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everyone](Commons "wikilink").\[3\] However, it has been argued by
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[Takis Fotopoulos](Takis_Fotopoulos "wikilink") that slavery ultimately
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led to the demise of Athens, creating an apathetic and unproductive
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population of slaves.\[4\]
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## Environmental Protection
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Athens struggled with [soil erosion and
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deforestation](Ecocide "wikilink") due to an already delicate and thin
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mountainside plus overgrazing. However, the creation of a
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partial-direct-democracy allowed for environmentally-concerned citizens
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to convince other citizens to push for ecological restoration. Including
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the planting of grape gardens (viticulture) and orchards of fruit
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trees.\[5\]
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## Culture
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One serious flaw with Athenian culture was that it practiced
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[slavery](slavery "wikilink"), was extremely
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[patriarchal](Patriarchy "wikilink") and enabled authoritarianism to
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emerge. Only adult male citizens with military training could vote;
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women, slaves, debtors, and all who lacked Athenian blood were excluded.
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At the very most, democracy involved less than a fifth of the population
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(40,000 people).\[6\]
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During the time that the Polis existed, Athens made extremely large
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strides in the area of culture, philosophy and science to the point that
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it is seen as the birthplace of [Western
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Civilization](Western_Civilization "wikilink") and Western Philosophy by
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many. Some of the most major achievements include:
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- The philosophy legends of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
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- The rise of public speaking skills.
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- The first developments in atomic theory.
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- The first historians and economists.
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- The development of the concepts of 'tragedy' and 'comedy' in
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theatre.
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- The reconstruction of several major temples and the great Acropolis
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of Athens.
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- The greatest sculptures and statues in the world at that time.
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- The greatest military leaders of all time, Alexander the Great and
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Xenophon.\[7\]
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## References
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<references />
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1. John A. Rothchild - Introduction to Athenian Democracy of the Fifth
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and Fourth Centuries BCE,
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2. Alfred Zimmern (1956) The Greek Commonwealth: Politics and Economics
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in Fifth-Century Athens
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3.
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4. [Takis Fotopoulos](Takis_Fotopoulos "wikilink") - Direct and
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Economic Democracy in Ancient Athens and its Significance Today
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5. Clive Pointing (2007) [A New Green History of the
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World](A_New_Green_History_of_the_World "wikilink")
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6. [Crimethinc](Crimethinc "wikilink") -
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<https://crimethinc.com/2016/04/29/feature-from-democracy-to-freedom>
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7. [Wikipedia](Wikipedia "wikilink") -
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<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fifth-century_Athens#Arts_and_literature> |