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Democracy in ancient Athens was direct: male citizens voted on laws, war and peace themselves. But women, slaves and resident foreigners were excluded, so only about a tenth to a fifth of the people living there could vote.

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The system took shape through reforms by Solon in 594 BC, Cleisthenes in 508–507 BC and Ephialtes in 462 BC. Any male citizen over 20 could speak and vote in the Assembly, which met on the Pnyx hill and decided on war, laws and grants of citizenship; some votes needed at least 6,000 people present. Many officials were chosen by lot rather than elected, and court cases were decided by paid juries of hundreds of citizens over 30. Once a year the Assembly could hold an ostracism, sending a citizen seen as a danger into exile for ten years; voters scratched his name on a piece of broken pottery, an ostrakon. In the 4th century BC, Attica, the territory of Athens, had perhaps 250,000 to 300,000 inhabitants, of whom only about 30,000 were adult male citizens. The word democracy comes from the Greek dēmos, “people”, and kratos, “power”.

Türkçe oku
Antik Atina demokrasisinde temsilci yoktu: Yasaları, savaş ve barış kararlarını erkek yurttaşlar kendileri oylardı. Ancak kadınlar, köleler ve kentte yaşayan yabancılar oy kullanamazdı; bu yüzden oy verebilenler, Atina'da yaşayanların yalnızca onda biri ile beşte biri kadardı.

Bu düzen, Solon'un MÖ 594'te, Kleisthenes'in MÖ 508–507'de ve Efialtes'in MÖ 462'de yaptığı reformlarla biçimlendi. Yirmi yaşını geçmiş her erkek yurttaş, Pniks tepesinde toplanan halk meclisinde söz alıp oy verebilirdi. Savaşa, yasalara ve kimlere yurttaşlık verileceğine bu meclis karar verirdi; bazı oylamalar için en az 6.000 kişinin hazır bulunması gerekiyordu. Görevlilerin çoğu seçimle değil, kurayla belirlenirdi. Davalara ise otuz yaşını geçmiş yüzlerce yurttaştan oluşan ücretli jüriler bakardı. Meclis yılda bir kez “ostrakismos” oylaması da yapabilirdi: Kent için tehlikeli görülen bir yurttaş on yıllığına sürgüne gönderilirdi. Oy verenler onun adını ostrakon denen kırık bir çömlek parçasına kazırdı. MÖ 4. yüzyılda Atina'yı ve çevresini kapsayan Attika bölgesinde belki 250.000 ile 300.000 kişi yaşıyordu; bunların yalnızca 30.000 kadarı yetişkin erkek yurttaştı. Demokrasi sözcüğü de Yunanca “halk” anlamındaki dēmos ile “güç” anlamındaki kratos sözcüklerinden gelir.

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Background reading: Athenian democracy
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