Politics and the Street in Democratic Athens

Politics and the Street in Democratic Athens PDF Author: Alex Gottesman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107041686
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
This book examines 'informal' politics, such as gossip and political theatrics, and how they related to more 'formal' politics of assembly and courts.

Politics and the Street in Democratic Athens

Politics and the Street in Democratic Athens PDF Author: Alex Gottesman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107041686
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
This book examines 'informal' politics, such as gossip and political theatrics, and how they related to more 'formal' politics of assembly and courts.

The World of Prometheus

The World of Prometheus PDF Author: Danielle S. Allen
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691094896
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 463

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Book Description
The common view is that democratic legal processes moved away from the "emotional and personal" to the "rational and civic," but Allen shows that anger, honor, reciprocity, spectacle, and social memory constantly prevailed in Athenian law and politics."--Jacket.

Athenian Democracy

Athenian Democracy PDF Author: Peter John Rhodes
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780195221404
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
Athens' democracy developed during the sixth and fifth centuries and continued into the fourth; Athens' defeat by Macedon in 322 began a series of alternations between democracy and oligarchy. The democracy was inseparably bound up with the ideals of liberty and equality, the rule of law, and the direct government of the people by the people. Liberty means above all freedom of speech, the right to be heard in the public assembly and the right to speak one's mind in private. Equality meant the equal right of male citizens (perhaps 60,000 in the fifth century, 30,000 in the fourth) to participate in the government of the state and the administration of the law. Disapproved of as a mob rule until the nineteenth century, the institutions of Athenian democracy have become an inspiration for modern democratic politics and political philosophy. P. J. Rhodes's reader focuses on the political institutions, political activity, history, and nature of Athenian democracy and introduces some of the best British, American, German, and French scholarship on its origins, theory, and practice. Part I is devoted to political institutions: citizenship, the assembly, the law-courts, and capital punishment. Part II explores aspects of political activity: the demagogues and their relationship with the assembly, the maneuverings of the politicians, competitive festivals, and the separation of public from private life. Part III looks at three crucial points in the development of the democracy: the reforms of Solon, Cleisthenes, and Ephialtes. Part IV considers what it was in Greek life that led to the development of democracy. Some of the authors adopt broad-brush approaches to major questions; others analyze a particular body of evidence in detail. Use is made of archeology, comparison with other societies, the location of festivals in their civic context, and the need to penetrate behind what the classical Athenians made of their past.

Political Dissent in Democratic Athens

Political Dissent in Democratic Athens PDF Author: Josiah Ober
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691089817
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 434

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Book Description
Since it was no longer self-evident that "better men" meant "better government," critics of democracy sought new arguments to explain the relationship among politics, ethics, and morality.

Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens

Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens PDF Author: Josiah Ober
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400820510
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 409

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Book Description
This book asks an important question often ignored by ancient historians and political scientists alike: Why did Athenian democracy work as well and for as long as it did? Josiah Ober seeks the answer by analyzing the sociology of Athenian politics and the nature of communication between elite and nonelite citizens. After a preliminary survey of the development of the Athenian "constitution," he focuses on the role of political and legal rhetoric. As jurymen and Assemblymen, the citizen masses of Athens retained important powers, and elite Athenian politicians and litigants needed to address these large bodies of ordinary citizens in terms understandable and acceptable to the audience. This book probes the social strategies behind the rhetorical tactics employed by elite speakers. A close reading of the speeches exposes both egalitarian and elitist elements in Athenian popular ideology. Ober demonstrates that the vocabulary of public speech constituted a democratic discourse that allowed the Athenians to resolve contradictions between the ideal of political equality and the reality of social inequality. His radical reevaluation of leadership and political power in classical Athens restores key elements of the social and ideological context of the first western democracy.

Politics and the Street in Democratic Athens

Politics and the Street in Democratic Athens PDF Author: Alex Gottesman
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1316062430
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 263

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Book Description
This book is the first in-depth study of the classical Athenian public sphere. It examines how public opinion was created by impromptu theatrics and by gossip, and how it flowed into and out of the civic institutions. Athenians did not have hookah bars or coffee shops but they did socialize in symposia, gymnasia and workshops, and above all in the Agora. These represented the Athenian 'street', an informal political space that was seen as qualitatively different from the institutional space of the assembly, the council and the courts where elite orators held sway. The book explores how Athenians of all sorts, such as politicians, slaves and philosophers, sought to exploit the resources of the 'street' in pursuit of their aims.

Athenian Political Thought and the Reconstruction of American Democracy

Athenian Political Thought and the Reconstruction of American Democracy PDF Author: J. Peter Euben
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 9780801481796
Category : Democracy
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
A collection of essays on Athenian democracy, organized in three sections on situating the Athenian democracy in relation to various regimes, exploring how discourse in democratic Athens displayed awareness of democracy's limitations, and creating direct dialogues between the discourse of Athenian democracy and that of contemporary thought. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Ideology of Democratic Athens

Ideology of Democratic Athens PDF Author: Matteo Barbato
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
ISBN: 1474466443
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
The debate on Athenian democratic ideology has long been polarised around two extremes. A Marxist tradition views ideology as a cover-up for Athens' internal divisions. Another tradition, sometimes referred to as culturalist, interprets it neutrally as the fixed set of ideas shared by the members of the Athenian community.

Democracy in Classical Athens

Democracy in Classical Athens PDF Author: Christopher Carey
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1474286372
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
For two centuries classical Athens enjoyed almost uninterrupted democratic government. This was not a parliamentary democracy of the modern sort but a direct democracy in which all citizens were free to participate in the business of government. Throughout this period Athens was the cultural centre of Greece and one of the major Greek powers. This book traces the development and operation of the political system and explores its underlying principles. Christopher Carey assesses the ancient sources of the history of Athenian democracy and evaluates criticisms of the system, ancient and modern. He also provides a virtual tour of the political cityscape of ancient Athens, describing the main political sites and structures, including the theatre. With a new chapter covering religion in the democratic city, this second edition benefits from updates throughout that incorporate the latest research and recent archaeological findings in Athens. A clearer structure and layout make the book more accessible to students, as do extra images and maps along with a timeline of key events.

The New Politicians of Fifth-century Athens

The New Politicians of Fifth-century Athens PDF Author: W. Robert Connor
Publisher: Hackett Publishing
ISBN: 9780872201422
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
A reprint of the Princeton University Press edition of 1972, with new Preface by the author. In this powerful contribution to our understanding of politics in fifth-century Athens, Connor constructs models of Athenian political groupings to explain the rise of the "new politicians," young men who launched a new kind of democracy by appealing to the citizenry at large. With Pericles as prototype and Cleon as exemplar of the new politician, this engaging work provides an important insight into the politics of Athens at the height of its power.