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Greek democracy created at Athens was direct, rather than representative: any adult male citizen over the age of 20 could take part, [41] and it was a duty to do so. The officials of the democracy were in part elected by the Assembly and in large part chosen by lottery in a process called sortition.
The Athenian Revolution (508–507 BCE) was a revolt by the people of Athens that overthrew the ruling aristocratic oligarchy, establishing the almost century-long self-governance of Athens in the form of a participatory democracy – open to all free male citizens.
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.
The Thirty Tyrants' brief reign was characterized by violence and corruption. Historian Sian Lewis argues that the violence and brutality the Thirty carried out in Athens was necessary to transition Athens from a democracy to an oligarchy. [19] However, the more violent the Thirty's regime became, the more opposition they faced. [19]
A democracy is a political system, or a system of decision-making within an institution, organization, or state, in which members have a share of power. [2] Modern democracies are characterized by two capabilities of their citizens that differentiate them fundamentally from earlier forms of government: to intervene in society and have their sovereign (e.g., their representatives) held ...
The ekklesia in Athens convened on a hill called the Pnyx For other uses, see Citizens' assembly (disambiguation) . The ecclesia or ekklesia ( Greek : ἐκκλησία ) was the assembly of the citizens in city-states of ancient Greece .
This is a list of the Greek democracies for which there is some evidence in the Archaic period, following Eric Robinson's book The First Democracies (Stuttgart, 1997). Most of them probably pre-date the establishment of democracy in Athens by Cleisthenes in 508-507 BC.
The Spartans and their allies in Athens installed a dictatorship, called the Thirty Tyrants, but in 403 BC the democrats seized power again and the meetings at the Pnyx resumed. Athens lost its independence to Philip II of Macedon after the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC; but they continued to run their internal affairs democratically until the ...