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Athenian democracy developed around the 6th century BC in the Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, and focusing on supporting liberty, equality, and security [1]. Although Athens is the most familiar of the democratic city-states in ancient Greece, it was not the ...
These activities were often handled by a form of direct democracy, based on a popular assembly. Others, of judicial and official nature, were often handled by large juries, drawn from the citizen body in a process known as sortition. By far the most well-documented and studied example is the Athenian democracy in Athens.
Demokratia (Greek: δημοκρατία dēmokratía) is a direct democracy, as opposed to the modern representative democracy. [citation needed] It was used in ancient Greece, most notably Athens, and began its use around 500 BCE. In a participant government, citizens who wish to have a say in government can participate in it.
In governance, sortition is the selection of public officials or jurors at random, i.e. by lottery, in order to obtain a representative sample. [1] [2] [3] [4]In ancient Athenian democracy, sortition was the traditional and primary method for appointing political officials, and its use was regarded as a principal characteristic of democracy.
Athens valued justice and they had many different reforms as different challenges arose. The Athenian law court was large and decisions were made by majority. This is what gave the courts such a specific and personal feel, since a large group of people were allowed to exercise democratic voting rights. [ 2 ]
The ekklesia of ancient Athens is particularly well-known. It was the popular assembly, open to all male citizens as soon as they qualified for citizenship. [1] In 594 BC, Solon allowed all Athenian citizens to participate, regardless of class.
A kleroterion (Ancient Greek: κληρωτήριον, romanized: klērōtērion) was a randomization device used by the Athenian polis during the period of democracy to select citizens to the boule, to most state offices, to the nomothetai, and to court juries. The kleroterion was a slab of stone incised with rows of slots and with an attached ...
The Pnyx was the official meeting place of the Athenian democratic assembly (Ancient Greek: ἐκκλησία, ekklesía). In the earliest days of Athenian democracy (after the reforms of Kleisthenes in 508 B.C.), the ekklesia met in the Agora. Sometime in the early 5th century, the meeting place was moved to a hill south and west of the Acropolis.