Ancient and Modern Democracy is a comprehensive account of Athenian democracy as a subject of criticism, admiration and scholarly debate for 2,500 years, covering the features of Athenian democracy, its importance for the English, American and French revolutions and for the debates on democracy and political liberty from the nineteenth century to the present. Discussions were always in the context of contemporary constitutional problems. Time and again they made a connection with a long-established tradition, involving both dialogue with ancient sources and with earlier phases of the reception of Antiquity. They refer either to a common cultural legacy or to specific national traditions; they often involve a mixture of political and scholarly arguments. This book elucidates the complexity of considering and constructing systems of popular self-rule.
Author(s): Wilfried Nippel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2016
Language: English
Pages: 397
City: Cambridge
Cover
Half-title
Title page
Copyright information
Table of contents
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction
1 The History and Structure of Athenian Democracy
Athens – A Special Case in the Greek World
Solon, the Legislator
The Tyranny of the Peisistratids
The Reforms of Cleisthenes
Ostracism
The Road to Complete Democracy
Citizens, Metics and Slaves
The New Approach to Allies and the Leading Role of Pericles
The Popular Assembly and the Council of 500
The Magistracies
The Process of Political Decision Making
The Financing of Public Tasks
Jury Courts
The Crises during the Later Phases of the Peloponnesian War
Legislation and the ‘Judicial Review’
Developments in the Later Fourth Century
Democracy without Theory or Mission
2 The Reception of Ancient Constitutional Theory
Ancient Constitutional Categories
The Reception of Aristotle and Civic Humanism
Mixed Constitution, Ephors, Tribunes and New Republicanism
Alternatives to Aristotelianism
Variants of the Social Contract
3 Ancient Democracy and Social Backwardness
Republic and Territorial State
A Military or a Commercial State
Further Distancing from Antiquity
4 The American Founding Fathers and Their Emancipation from the Ancient Model
Sources of Constitutional Discussion
Lessons from Antiquity
A World-Historical Founding Constellation
Constitution, Basic Rights, Human Rights
Republic and Democracy
5 The French Revolution and Antiquity
Constitution Building and Human Rights
Topics from Antiquity
State of Emergency, Dictatorship and Tyranny
Building a Constitution and Freedom of Opinion
A National Programme of Education
Emancipation: Slaves, Women, Foreigners
Citizens, Voters and Democracy
Gracchus Babeuf
References to Antiquity in Post-revolutionary Constitutions
6 Terror and the ‘Cult of Antiquity’ in Post-Revolutionary Discourse
The Legend of Jacobin Enthusiasm for Antiquity
The Course of Discussion in Germany
7 ‘Ancient and Modern Liberty’ – From Benjamin Constant to Max Weber
Constant on Liberty/Liberties
Fustel de Coulanges and the All-Powerful Ancient State
Burckhardt and the Subordination of the Individual to the State
Acton on the History of the Freedom of Conscience
Max Weber and the homo politicus
8 German Nineteenth-Century Ambivalence Regarding Athenian Democracy
Topical Criticism of Athens
Discussion of Major Athenian Iniquities
Positive Images of Athens
9 The ‘Rehabilitation’ of Athenian Democracy
The Tory View of Athens
Grote’s Liberal Athens
Antiquity and the Present in the Writing of John Stuart Mill
German Reactions to Grote
Discussion in the Theory of the State
10 Models of Democracy and Constitutional Policy in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries
Competing Democratic and Constitutional Models
Caesarism – Autocracy and Democracy
Antiquity in Political Rhetoric
Direct Popular Legislation
The Paris Commune and the Dictatorship of the Proletariat
Referendum Democracy
German Liberty versus Western Democracy
Prussian Electoral Reform and the Relevance of Antiquity
11 Democracy, Führer and Volksgemeinschaft
New Theories of Democracy
Back to Arguments from Antiquity
Fascism and the Cult of Rome
Athenian and Weimar Democracy
Ancient and German Leadership in National Socialism
12 Between Totalitarianism and the Constitutional State
Totalitarianism in Antiquity?
Diverging Historical Perspectives on Athens
The Revived Discussion over the ‘Two Freedoms’
2,500 Years of Democracy?
Democratisation versus the Limitation of Powers
13 Conclusion: Is Athens Still a Standard?
Democracy as the Sole Legitimate Constitution
A Democratic Deficit in Athens?
‘Direct Democracy’ – Back to Athens?
Athenian Democracy and the European Union
Further Reading
Athenian Democracy
Reception of Ancient Political Theory
Athens and Sparta in the View of Modernity
American Revolution and Antiquity
French Revolution and Antiquity
History of Classical Studies
Fascism, National Socialism and Antiquity
Modern Democracy
Index
