That is, the slave owners' democratic political system in ancient Greece and Athens. Its formation is the product of the disintegration of primitive society and the formation of slavery system, the struggle between clan nobles and civilians and the development of slavery economy. As early as the end of the 7th century BC, the contradiction between aristocrats and civilians in Athens had developed to a very acute degree. Monarchy is different from aristocracy, which is a system of collective leadership and implements the rule of law principle of equal consultation and the minority obeying the majority. In 594 BC, Solon, the arbitrator elected by both sides, reformed, abolished debt slavery (that is, all debts mortgaged by citizens of the polis), reclassified citizens of the polis according to the amount of property, improved the power of the citizens' assembly, and set up a 400-member conference and jury court as the highest administrative and judicial organs, which adjusted the interests of different classes in the citizens' collective and laid the foundation of democracy in Athens. The tyrannical rule of peisistratus (about the end of 7th century BC-527 BC) and his descendants (560 BC-5 BC10, with two interruptions) objectively attacked the gentry and nobles, improved the economic status of small farmers as citizens, and promoted the economic and cultural development of Athens. In 508 BC, Cleisthenes's political reform replaced the consanguineous organization as the administrative unit of the country, and replaced the 400-member conference with the 500-member conference, thus expanding its own authority. A team of 50 people was set up to handle daily administrative affairs, and a committee of ten generals was set up. This reform promoted the development of Athenian democracy, completely removed the obstacles of clan system, and marked the final establishment of Athenian democracy. An important measure in Cleisthenes is to formulate the "exile law of pottery pieces". The victory of the Persian War greatly promoted the development of the slave ownership economy in Athens, caused the change of the power contrast between different classes of Athenian citizens, and led to the reform of Ephialtes in 462 BC (or 44 BC1year) and Perikles in 443 BC. These reforms deprived the aristocratic parliament composed of imperial consuls of power, and handed over the power to the citizens' assembly, the people's court and the 500-member parliament respectively, thus bringing the development of democratic politics to a new level. The military colonial system, various social welfare donations, subsidies to citizens and large-scale construction have enabled small producers, who account for the majority of citizens, to enjoy a certain guaranteed material and spiritual life. During the reign of Pericles (443 BC-429 BC), Athens reached its peak in economy, politics and culture, and became a hegemonic country and the main cultural center to control the situation in the Greek world. Characteristics of democracy in Athens during the reign of Pericles: 1. Officials at all levels (except the ten generals) are open to the public by lottery; 2. The 500-member conference is governed by the people's jury, and the aristocratic conference loses all political rights; 3. Pay wages or subsidies to citizens who hold public office or engage in city-state activities. In the past, nobles were in power for free, so it was difficult for civilians to hold public office without income. 4. Expand the scale and authority of the jury court to make it the highest judicial and supervisory organ.
People's sovereignty and rule alternate in this paragraph.
The basic characteristics of Athenian democracy are people's sovereignty and rule by turns. The citizens' assembly, the 500-member parliament and the people's court fully embody the characteristics of democratic politics. The citizens' assembly is the highest authority, which is responsible for deliberating and deciding all state affairs. All legal citizens have the right to participate, know, speak, vote and be elected. The most important procedure of the citizens' assembly is to debate the bill. Eloquent speech depends on rich knowledge, and fierce debate promotes the development of advocating and explaining knowledge. The 500-member Council is a subsidiary body of the General Assembly, which is responsible for preparing proposals for and presiding over the General Assembly. When the General Assembly is not in session, the Council is the representative of the highest authority of the General Assembly and is responsible for supervising the administrative officials to implement the resolutions of the General Assembly. The people's court is a daily judicial organ, and the qualifications of senior public officials are also the final judgment of the people's court. The characteristics of Athenian people's sovereignty are also reflected in many small-scale administrative and military organs.
Edit the significance and limitations of Athenian democracy in this paragraph.
The influence of Athenian democracy
With the prevalence of ancient monarchy, Athenian democracy provided a new situation of collective management for mankind, and created democratic operation modes based on the legal system, such as differential election system, tenure system, parliamentary system and proportional representation system. The core of Athenian democracy is the direct participation of citizens. In principle, citizens have the right to decide and manage state affairs through elections and hold government posts at all levels. This advanced ancient political system created a wide range of opportunities for citizens to participate in politics, stimulated citizens' freedom and pioneering spirit, and promoted the social, economic and cultural development of Athens, which was historic and progressive. Specifically: 1. Democracy is conducive to correct decision-making. 2. Democracy helps to correct mistakes. 3. Democracy helps to supervise the government to serve the public and reduce the possibility of abusing power for personal gain. 4. Democracy is conducive to the extensive and in-depth development of culture.
The limitations of Athenian democracy
1. It is easy to lead to the tyranny of the majority, and mediocrity leads to the mistakes of the country. 2. Naive at the operational level, reasonable procedures are not equal to reasonable results. 3. It is a democracy within the citizens of the city-state. Only adult male citizens are allowed to participate in this people's congress at will. In order to truly enjoy the rights. While giving full play to its positive role, it contributed to the prosperity of Athens' politics, economy and culture, and at the same time brutally stifled and restricted the self-development ability of another part of society. It is not only the catalyst of great civilization, but also the violent machine of social injustice, which is its greatest historical limitation.