Observations on the invention and persistence of democracy

On the eve of the Great American Election, I am reminded of how Athens guessed its way to a system that elevated justice, opportunity and freedom from rule by the few

The Acropolis at Athens, as seen from the Pnyx

Ancient Athenian democracy was not arrived at overnight. It took three consecutive generations of reformers to give Athenians their constitution. There existed no manifesto or developed political theory waiting for someone to implement it, as Lenin implemented Marx, though ideas of liberty and equality were clearly being discussed in 6^th century BC Greece, and Pre-Socratic philosophers in the east Aegean were writing codes of physics and ethics. Rather, democracy was incrementally arrived at as a necessity because every other form of government fell short of expectations. Then, as now, democracy divided the financial and intellectual elite. A faction of well-to-do Athenians engineered its downfall with the help of outside powers at the first opportunity, as a faction of well-to-do Americans appears to be plotting to do today.

What I hope to demonstrate in retelling the story of Athenian democracy is that a) democracy is an imperfect form of government that is more accountable and more sustainable than other imperfect forms of government. We expect perfect policy design and perfect justice from it, but it requires patience. b) The perception of democracy as meandering and the allure of strongman rule as more efficient are chimeras. Democracy was never self-driving. It took a few enlightened leaders to sustain it in its better form, but it seemed often to hang on by the skin of its teeth. c) If we lose it now, we will simply have to reinvent it, and that is more difficult than maintaining it.