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Athens, the other democracy. 5th century BC.
PEBARTHE Christophe.

Athens, the other democracy. 5th century BC.

Past Tense
€23,00 €0,00
N° d'inventaire 25687
Format 14.5 x 22
Détails 318 p., paperback.
Publication Paris, 2022
Etat Nine
ISBN 9782379336058
Athenian democracy was apparently imperfect, limited, and reduced to a tiny fraction of the population. It would therefore be incomparable, even contradictory, with our contemporary democracy. In this new and entirely renewed history, Christophe Pébarthe returns to ancient documents and demonstrates that it was a regime where the people effectively governed themselves. He describes, among other things, how the Athenians ensured that their deliberations produced the best decisions and how their institutions guaranteed the lifelong education of citizens. He engages in an unexpected reading of famous tragedies, such as Antigone . These tragedies answered the questions raised by the establishment of democracy: is the law always right? How can we ensure that the opinion expressed corresponds to the general interest? In short, the Athenians had the same questions as we do and shared the same concern for improving their political system. Using the Greek example, the author shows correspondences with the criticisms made against our own political regimes, linked to representativeness, elites and "populism". What if reconciling with the history of Athens allowed us to rediscover the forgotten origin of the democratic project?
Athenian democracy was apparently imperfect, limited, and reduced to a tiny fraction of the population. It would therefore be incomparable, even contradictory, with our contemporary democracy. In this new and entirely renewed history, Christophe Pébarthe returns to ancient documents and demonstrates that it was a regime where the people effectively governed themselves. He describes, among other things, how the Athenians ensured that their deliberations produced the best decisions and how their institutions guaranteed the lifelong education of citizens. He engages in an unexpected reading of famous tragedies, such as Antigone . These tragedies answered the questions raised by the establishment of democracy: is the law always right? How can we ensure that the opinion expressed corresponds to the general interest? In short, the Athenians had the same questions as we do and shared the same concern for improving their political system. Using the Greek example, the author shows correspondences with the criticisms made against our own political regimes, linked to representativeness, elites and "populism". What if reconciling with the history of Athens allowed us to rediscover the forgotten origin of the democratic project?