What are the characteristics of democracy in Athens in history?

Democracy in Athens was called "the purest and most typical national form" by Engels. Through the investigation of the social history of ancient Greece from the 6th century BC to the 4th century BC, we can easily find that the democracy in Athens, though simple, has the following distinctive features.

Implement direct democracy.

In Athens, all citizens enjoy full democratic political rights, and their rights are realized through citizens' direct participation in and management of city-state affairs. The highest democratic institution for citizens to participate in politics is the citizens' assembly. Citizens' meetings are held 3-4 times a month. All male citizens over the age of 20 have the right to participate and enjoy equal legislative, voting and supervision rights. At the citizens' meeting, citizens can speak freely or have a heated debate on the motion of city-state affairs, and finally make a resolution by voting or raising their hands according to the principle of "the minority is subordinate to the majority". Once a resolution is made, it cannot be changed at will. This simple way of participating in politics clearly shows the directness of Athenian democracy.

Sovereignty lies with the people, and governance takes turns.

The essence of Athenian democracy is that sovereignty belongs to the people. Berkeley's famous "funeral speech" declared: "Our political system is called democracy because political power is in the hands of all citizens, not a few." City-state power is in the hands of all citizens, which is a very clear expression of "sovereignty lies with the people" The citizens' assembly has the highest decision on state affairs, which is only the concentrated expression of "sovereignty lies with the people". The citizens' assembly is the highest organ of state power, and its main function is to elect government officials. Decide to declare war and make peace, formulate and amend laws, and decide on financial expenditure. And took over all political affairs in the state. The decision-making of "all political affairs" is not based on the will of one person or some people, but on the will of citizens attending the citizens' meeting, which shows that the supreme power of the city-state is in the hands of citizens. "Sovereignty lies with the people" is not only reflected in citizens' decision-making power, but also in citizens' management power. All Athenian citizens can become public officials of the polis through democratic elections, such as consuls, generals, parliamentarians, jurors, etc. And participate in the management of city-state affairs. The acquisition of public office depends on the granting of civil rights, not the appointment and gift of powerful people such as kings.

Advocate the rule of law and prohibit the rule of man.

Democracy in Athens is a national politics based on the rule of law, and its emergence, development and prosperity are full of legal spirit. "Everyone is equal before the law" is the basic political principle of Athenian democracy. There is no such thing as "not punishing doctors and disrespecting Shu Ren" in Athens. Berkeley declared: "When solving private disputes, everyone is equal before the law." Officials must act in accordance with the law, and once they break the law, they will be punished. The powerful Berkeley was accused of dereliction of duty when he was the chief general, and was tried by the court and fined. Athenian citizens regard the Constitution as the supreme law, which is sacred and inviolable. "The format of the law begins with the words' meeting and people's decision' to show its majesty and solemnity. When every citizen is granted citizenship or takes office as a public official, he must swear to "protect the law and be loyal to it". This reflects the sacred position of law in the hearts of Athenian citizens. The law cannot be changed at will. If the new law is harmful to democracy and the city-state, any citizen can sue the initiator of the new law on the basis of "illegal hearing right". If the charges are established, the promoters will be fined and even life-threatening. The jury court also has the power to announce the cancellation of the unconstitutional new law, so the laws in Athens are relatively stable and there is no arbitrariness of "changing orders".

Restriction mechanism of limited intersection

There is a restriction on democratic power in the operation of state power in Athens, which is characterized by the overlapping authority of state institutions. Since Solon's reform in Athens, Solon, as an "arbitrator", urged the opposing sides to take a certain range of power as the "boundary" and restrict each other's power in order to achieve "power harmony". Therefore, Solon began to give the legislative power of the citizens' parliament, the judicial power of the jury court and the administrative power of the 500-member parliament, and made them restrict each other.