dahl - prima transformare.doc

8/10/2019 Dahl - prima transformare.doc

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Chapter 1

The First Transformation: To the Democratic City-State

During the first half of the fifth century B.C., a transformation took place in political ideas

and institutions among reeks and !omans that "as compara#le in historical importance to

the in$ention of the "heel or the disco$ery of the %e" &orld. The change reflected a ne"

understanding of the "orld and its possi#ilities.

't its simplest, "hat happened "as that se$eral city-states, "hich from time out of mind had

#een go$erned #y $arious undemocratic rulers, "hether aristocrats, oligarchs, monarchs, or

tyrants, "ere transformed into systems in "hich a su#stantial num#er of free, adult males"ere entitled as citi(ens to participate directly in go$erning. )ut of this e*perience and the

ideas associated "ith it came a ne" $ision of a possi#le political system, one in "hich a

so$ereign people is not only entitled to go$ern itself #ut possesses all the resources and

institutions necessary to do so. This $ision remains at the core of modern democratic ideas

and continues to shape democratic institutions and practices.

But modern democratic ideas and institutions consist of far more than this simple $ision. 'nd

since the theory and practices of modern democracy ha$e resulted not only from the legacy ofpopular go$ernment in ancient city-states #ut also from other historical e*periences, #oth

e$olutionary and re$olutionary, they are an amalgam of elements that do not fully cohere. 's

a result contemporary democratic theory and practice e*hi#it inconsistencies and

contradictions that sometimes result in deep pro#lems.

To help us understand ho" the amalgam "e call +democracy+ came a#out, am going to

descri#e four of its most important sources. n doing so, shall also indicate some pro#lems

that "ill reuire attention in later chapters.

These four sources are classical reece a repu#lican tradition deri$ed more from !ome and

the talian city-states of the /iddle 'ges and !enaissance than from the democratic city-

states of reece the idea and institutions of representati$e go$ernment and the logic of

political euality. The first is the su#0ect of this chapter.

' reek erspecti$e


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'lthough the practices of modern democracy #ear only a "eak resem#lance to the political

institutions of classical reece, our ideas, as suggested in the introduction, ha$e #een

po"erfully influenced #y the reeks, particularly the 'thenians. That reek democratic ideas

ha$e #een more influential than their institutions is ironic, since "hat "e kno" of their ideascomes less from the "ritings or speeches of democratic ad$ocates, of "hich only fragments

sur$i$e, than from their critics. 1These range from mild ad$ersaries like 'ristotle, "ho

disliked the po"er that he thought the e*pansion of democracy necessarily ga$e the poor, to

lato, an outright opponent "ho condemned democracy as rule #y the unfit and ad$ocated

instead a perennially appealing system of go$ernment #y the #est ualified.2

Because "e ha$e no reek eui$alent in democratic theory to 3ocke4s Second Treatiseor

!ousseau4s Social Contract, one cannot pro$ide chapter and $erse on reek democratic ideas.That demokratiain$ol$ed euality in some "ay "as not in dou#t. But e*actly "hat sorts of

euality5 Before the "ord +democracy+ gained currency, 'thenians had already referred to

certain kinds of euality as desira#le characteristics of their political system: euality of all

citi(ens in the right to speak in the go$erning assem#ly 6isegoria7 and euality #efore the la"

6isonomia7 6Sealey 189, 1;


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The Nature of the

Polis3

&e kno", of course 6our 'thenian is saying7, that only in association "ith others can "e hope

to #ecome fully human or, certainly, to reali(e our ualities of e*cellence as human #eings.

The most important association "ithin "hich each of

us li$es, gro"s, and matures is, naturally, our citythe polis. 'nd so it is "ith e$eryone, for it is

our nature to #e social #eings. 'lthough ha$e once or t"ice heard someone sayperhaps only

in order to pro$oke a discussionthat a good man might e*ist outside the polis, it is self-e$ident

that "ithout sharing the life of the polis no person could e$er de$elop or e*ercise the $irtues

and ualities that distinguish men from #easts.

?et a good man reuires not 0ust a polis #ut a good polis. %othing is more important in

0udging the uality of a city than the ualities of e*cellence it fosters in its citi(ens. t goes

"ithout saying that a good city is one that produces good citi(ens, promotes their happiness,

and encourages them to act rightly. t is our good fortune that these ends are harmonious for

the $irtuous man "ill #e a happy man, and no one, think, can #e truly happy unless he is

also $irtuous.

So it is also "ith 0ustice. @irtue, 0ustice, and happiness are not enemies #ut companions. Since

0ustice is "hat tends to promote the common interest, a good polis must also #e 0ust and

therefore it must aim at de$eloping citi(ens "ho seek the common good. For one "ho merely

pursues his o"n interest cannot #e a good citi(en: a good citi(en is one "ho in pu#lic matters

aims al"ays at the common good. kno" that in saying so appear to raise an impossi#le

standard, one "e often fail to meet in 'thens as in all other cities. ?et there can #e no #etter

meaning of $irtue in a citi(en than this: that in pu#lic matters he looks al"ays to the good of

the polis.

Because one aim of the city is to produce good citi(ens, "e cannot lea$e their training to

chance or only to their families. )ur life in the polis is an education, and life in our city must

so form us that "e aspire in"ardly to"ard the common good of all. Thus our out"ard actions

"ill reflect our inner natures. Ci$ic $irtues must also #e strengthened #y $irtues in the

constitution and la"s of the city and #y a social order that makes 0ustice attaina#le. For

e*cellence "ould #e impossi#le if one had to act "rongly in order to #e a good citi(en, or if

in order to act rightly one had to #e a #ad citi(en.

think then that in the #est polis, citi(ens are at once $irtuous, 0ust, and happy. 'nd #ecause


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each seeks the good of all, and the city is not di$ided into smaller cities of rich and poor, or of

different gods, all citi(ens can li$e together in harmony.

do not mean that e$erything am saying is true of 'thens or any other actual city. nstead,

mean it as a model "e o#ser$e "ith the eye of our mind "hen "e praise our city for its

$irtues or critici(e it for its faults.

&hat ha$e #een saying is of course no more than "e all #elie$e.

A$en young lato "ould not disagree. To #e sure, ha$e sometimes

heard him talk cle$erly, claiming to represent Socrates, a#out ho" silly

it is to e*pect ordinary people to rule "isely and ho" much #etter'thens "ould #e if it "ere go$erned #y "ise philosopherssuch as he

fancies himself, suppose. ?et think e$en one "ho despises

democracy as he does "ould agree "ith me so far. t is "hat am no"

going to say that he "ould uarrel "ith, 0oined, do not dou#t, #y

some of the others "ho fore$er critici(e democracy for its

shortcomings, such as 'ristophanes

and, needless to say,

all those 'thenians

"ho ga$e their support

to the Thirty Tyrants.

The Nature of

Democracy

The polis "e democrats stri$e to attain 6our 'thenian democrat might continue7 must first ofall #e a good polis and to #e a good polis it must possess the ualities ha$e 0ust descri#ed,

as "e all #elie$e. But to #e the #est polis it must also #e, like 'thens, a democratic polis.

%o" in order for citi(ens to stri$e for the common good, in a democratic polis, "e need not

all #e alike, or ha$e no interests of our o"n, or dedicate our li$es only to the polis. For "hat is

a polis if it is not a place "here citi(ens may li$e a full life and not #e su#0ect at e$ery "aking

moment to the call of ci$ic duties5 That is the "ay of the Spartans. t is not ours. ' city has a

need for shoemakers and shipmakers, carpenters and sculptors, farmers "ho tend their oli$egro$es in the countryside and physicians "ho tend their patients in the city. Aach citi(en may


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aim at some things that are not the aim of others. The good of one of us, then, need not #e

e*actly the same as the good of another.

?et our differences must ne$er #e so great that "e cannot agree on "hat is #est for the city,

that is, "hat is #est for all and not merely for some. That is "hy, like any good polis, a

democratic polis must not #e split into t"o cities, a city of the rich and a city of the poor, each

city looking to its o"n good. %ot long ago heard lato speak of this danger, and though he is

no friend of our 'thenian democracy, on this, at least, "e agree. For such a city "ill #e cursed

#y conflict, and ci$il strife "ill o$er"helm the pu#lic good. erhaps it "as #ecause t"o cities

had #een gro"ing "ithin 'thens, and the "ealthier fe" came to hate the city go$erned #y the

many "ho "ere pooror so the "ealthy thought them to #ethat the city of the more "ealthy

in$ited the rule of the Thirty Tyrants.

' democracy must also #e of modest si(e, not only so that all citi(ens can meet together in the

assem#ly and thus act as rulers of the city, #ut also in order that all citi(ens may kno" one

another. To seek the good of all, citi(ens must #e a#le to apprehend the good of each and thus

#e capa#le of understanding the common good that each shares "ith the others. But ho"

could citi(ens come to understand all they ha$e in common if their city "ere so large and

their demos so numerous that they could ne$er kno" one another or see their city "hole5 The

ersian empire is an a#omination, not merely #ecause it is a despotism #ut #ecause, #eing so

huge that it d"arfs e$ery person "ithin its limits, it can ne$er #e anything other than a

despotism.

A$en 'thens, fear, has gro"n too large. t is said that our demos no" comprises some forty

thousand citi(ens. =o" can "e kno" one another "hen "e are so many5 Citi(ens "ho

neglect the meetings of the 'ssem#ly, as many no" do, fail in their duties as citi(ens. ?et if

e$ery citi(en "ere e$er to attend the 'ssem#ly, "e "ould #e too numerous. )ur meeting

place on the hill of ny* "ould not hold us all, and if it could, out of forty thousand none

could speak e*cept a fe" orators, yet "hat orator possesses so stentorian a $oice as to #e

heard #y so many53ike an athlete "ho in gro"ing fat loses his s"iftness and agility and can no longer

participate in the games, the enormity of our demos is ill-suited for democracy.

For ho" can a city #e a democracy unless all its citi(ens can assem#le often in order to

e*ercise their so$ereign rule o$er the affairs of the city5 ha$e heard some 'thenian citi(ens

complain that it is an e*cessi$e #urden to trudge up ny* hill forty times a year, as "e are

e*pected to do, starting our meeting in the early morning and staying often until darkness

falls, especially "hen some of us must make our "ay here from the distant parts of 'ttica the

night #efore and make our "ay #ack to our farms the night after. ?et do not see ho" "ecould get our #usiness done "ith fe"er meetings, and sometimes e$en so "e need


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e*traordinary sessions.

But it is not only through the 'ssem#ly that "e in 'thens rule o$er our city. &e also take our

turn in administering the "ork of the cityin the Council, "hich prepares the agenda of the'ssem#ly, in our citi(en 0uries, in the almost countless #oards of magistrates. For us,

democracy is not simply making important decisions and la"s in the 'ssem#ly, it is also

ser$ing in office.

So a polis "ould not truly #e a polis, and it could ne$er #e a democratic polis, unless #oth its

citi(en #ody and its territory "ere no larger than oursand #etter yet that it #e not uite so

large. "ell kno" the danger: that "e are $ulnera#le to defeat in "ar #y a large state. do not

mean other city-states like Sparta, #ut monstrous empires like ersia. &ell, that risk "e must

run, and as the ersians "ell kno", in alliance "ith other reeks "e ha$e #een their matchand more.

'lthough "e may need allies in times of "ar, e$en then "e do not forgo our independence.

Some say that "e and our allies might form a permanent league, in "hich "e could choose

fello" citi(ens to represent us in some kind of council that "ould decide on matters of "ar

and peace. But do not understand ho" "e could yield authority o$er us to such a council

and still remain a democracy or e$en a true polis. For "e should no longer #e a#le to e*ercise

so$ereign po"er, in our o"n assem#ly, o$er our o"n city.

Thirty years ago my father "as among those "ho attended the funeral of those "ho had fallen

in the "ar "ith Sparta, and there he heard ericles, "ho "as chosen to gi$e the eulogy for the

dead heroes. So often did he later tell me "hat ericles had said on that day that e$en no" it

is as if myself had #een there.

)ur constitution, ericles said, does not copy the la"s of neigh#oring states "e are rather a

pattern to others than imitators oursel$es. ts administration fa$ors the many instead of thefe" this is "hy it is called a democracy. f "e look to the la"s, they afford eual 0ustice to all

in their pri$ate differences if to social standing, ad$ancement in pu#lic life depends on

reputation for a#ility, class considerations not #eing allo"ed to interfere "ith merit nor again

does po$erty #ar the "ay, for if a man is a#le to ser$e the state, he is not hindered #y the

o#scurity of his condition. The freedom "e en0oy in our go$ernment e*tends also to our

ordinary life. Far from e*ercising a 0ealous sur$eillance o$er each other, "e do not feel called

upon to #e angry "ith our neigh#or for doing "hat he likes or e$en to indulge in those

in0urious looks that cannot fail to #e offensi$e. But all this ease in our pri$ate


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age 1

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