Today, through this interesting article, we'll teach you all about Greek political organization and much more. Don't miss it! You'll learn the most relevant aspects of the origins of democracy in the Western world.
Greek political organization: Genesis of the democratic system
Under quite successful management, the Greek political organization was directly linked to the police. So much so that the city-states of Athens and Sparta have managed to expand to become great powers.
Some features of the Greek political organization
A characteristic aspect of the political organization of the Greeks in their early days was the existence of governmental institutions such as the Citizens' Assembly, the Council and the magistrates, although only the last two had access to the aristocracy that controlled power.
In fact, the process of transformations experienced by Greek society pushed political changes towards greater participation, to such an extent that significant intervention was granted to citizens in economic power who did not belong to the nobility, establishing a plutocracy.
What later triggered democracy, with the participation of all citizens in political affairs, however, only happened in some cities like Athens, since Sparta maintained the aristocratic system.
How the Greek polity was stratified
According to the above, in the city-state of Athens of the Greek culture, the political structure was divided between the following powers:
Legislative
Ecclesia or Citizens' Assembly: Being the highest government body, it was made up of free citizens, over 20 years of age.
Bulé or Council of the Five Hundred: it was a consultative assembly that prepared the bills to be approved by the ecclesia.
Pritanía: established by fifty councilors, it was presided over by the epistats, who were in charge of maintaining the seal and the keys of the State.
Executive
Composed of magistrates authorized for legal matters or archons, and commissioners to lead the army or strategists.
Judicial
Heliea or People's Court: composed of five thousand members representing the Assembly of Citizens.
Areopagus: composed of former archons, it was responsible for judging crimes of intentional homicide.
Efetas: composed of citizens who considered the murders unintentional.
The political organization of the Greeks in the city-state of Sparta was governed by an authoritarian diarchy, following the following hierarchy of authority:
Ephors: these were the five senior magistrates, endowed with full powers to oversee the laws and control the rule of the kings.
Gerousia: made up of the Council of Elders and the two ruling monarchs, all its members belonged to the nobility.
Apella: It was the assembly formed by Spartans over thirty years old.
The polis and its forms of government
During the Middle Ages, the political life of atomized Greece was ruled by a minority of aristocrats and terrestrial kings with only religious powers.
The basic structures of these primitive societies markedly limited the performance of the individual and his participation in collective affairs. The very concept of the individual is the result of the historical and political evolution of these communities.
However, according to s. XNUMXth a. C. In most cities, important political reforms have been carried out that would allow the participation, more or less depending on the polis, of citizens framed in intermediate organisms: phratries, demonstrations and tribes.
Legislators such as Solon and Cleisthenes, in Athens, and Lycurgus, in Sparta, will lay the foundations for new forms of government with the creation of institutions that, although with differences, appear in all the polis:
Assembly, called Ecclesia in Athens and Apella in Sparta. Council, known as Bulé in Athens and Gerusía in Sparta.
Magistrates ensured the administration of all public services and carried out the decisions of the Assembly and the Council.
In Athens, the magistrates received the name of archons (ἄρχοντες: "rulers") and in Sparta the name of Ephors.
Since then, the legitimacy of the government has come from conviction and not from force, and decisions have been made after being freely debated in the institutions. But not everyone could participate in public life.
Democracy restrictions. In all polis, in all times and in any form of government, the only people who had a right to it were male citizens. Neither slaves, nor foreigners, nor women were considered in the government of the polis.
Political evolution: legislators and tyrants
At the beginning of the s. The landowners of VI, after reforms introduced by legislators such as Solon, were forced to share power with the increasingly powerful business class.
Despite this, the discontent of the middle and popular classes brought to power tyrants who ruled personally, without being subject to the laws and whose legislation improved the situation of the urban middle class and the popular classes.
Years later, the continuation of social rivalries (stasis of στάσις) brought about a return to political legality under quasi-democratic regimes.