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by susan greenberg on September 14th, 2004

susan greenberg

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What is the etymology of the word democrat?

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  • by allanbz on September 17th, 2004

    allanbz

    It is from the Greek. Demos is "people." Kratos is "rule" or "power."

    Democracies originated in ancient Greece, forming in response to a breakdown in oligarchic (government by the aristocrat class) rule. Democracies would typically empower a larger portion of its citizenry to decide in matters of interest to the state.

    Democracies in Greece were not the representative democracies we have today. All governments were centered on the polis, or city-state. The ancient Hellenes did not form nation states, only loose confederations of allied poleis. The paradigmatic and most radical Greek democracy was the Athenian. Its constitution was described by Aristotle and (pseudo?) Xenophon, both somewhat opposed to it, and is attested to by numerous inscriptions and preserved speeches.

    The concepts of rule by the people arose again in the Enlightenment, and was put forth and implemented by the United States of America, first under the Articles of Confederation, then again under the Constitution, but more along the lines of the Roman republic, in which governmental offices were selected by election of representatives after campaigning, and structured according to the bicameral colonial governments, which in turn were structured like the British parliamentary system.

    Real democracy as practiced in Athens was not elective, as today; elections favor the rich, powerful, and famous, or the tools of such.

    At the last stage of Athenian democracy, suffrage was universal (if by universal we mean all males over the age of 20), and the people met in Ekklesia ("called out," or Assembly) to decide matters some forty plus times a year.

    The Boule ("will," "counsel," or Council) of 500 men were chosen by lot (randomly), fifty from each tribe, from among those over age 30 who put themselves forth; this Council assembled an agenda that the Ekklesia would debate, and execute the will of the Ekklesia once decided, by themselves or through magistrates, also chosen by lot.

    The few elected offices were chosen by the Ekklesia, such as the ten strategoi, ten taxiarkhai, and two hippiarkhoi chosen each year. Most magistracies lasted for a year, no one could hold the same office twice in most cases, and all magistracies, elective or by lot, were subject to a review and an accounting at the end of their term.

    A rotating prytany ("presider," "presidency") was rotated by lot through the ten tribes for a tenth of the year, and in each prytany, four Assemblies were gathered, and a randomly chosen official from the prytany for that prytany sat as Epistates ("set over", President) for one day.

    Thus the first and last democracy.

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