What’s Wrong with Democracy? What’s Wrong with Democracy? from athenian practice to american worship Loren J.Samons II university of california press berkeley los angeles london University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2004 by the Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Samons, Loren J. What’s wrong with democracy? : from Athenian prac- tice to American worship / Loren J. Samons II. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–520–23660–2 (cloth : alk. paper). 1. Democracy—History. 2. Direct democracy— Greece—Athens. 3. Republicanism—United States— History. 4. Representative government and representa- tion—United States. 5. Political culture—United States—History. 6. United States—Civilization—Greek influences. I. Title. JC421.S32 2004 321.8—dc22 2004008500 Manufactured in the United States of America 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 10987654 321 The paper used in this publication is both acid-free and totally chlorine-free (tcf). It meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48–1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper). To Jim and Brendan For it is not at all pleasant to rail at incurable practices and errors that are far developed,though sometimes it is necessary. the athenian Plato,Laws 660c–d (trans.Thomas L.Pangle) boswell: So,Sir,you laugh at schemes of political improvement? johnson: Why,Sir,most schemes of political improvement are very laughable things. s. johnson Boswell’s Life of Johnson . democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people. o. wilde Soul of Man under Socialism ...a state in which the mass of citizens is free to do whatever it pleases or takes into its head is not a democracy [but rather mob-rule].But where it is both traditional and customary to reverence the gods,to care for our parents,to respect our elders, to obey the laws,and in such a community to ensure that the will of the majority prevails—this situation it is proper to describe as a democracy. polybius 6.4 (trans.Ian Scott-Kilvert) socrates: What device could we find to make our rulers, or at any rate the rest of the city,believe us if we told them a noble lie,one of those necessary untruths of which we have spoken? . Can you suggest any device which will make our citizens believe this story? glaucon: I cannot see any way to make them believe it themselves,but the sons and later generations might,both theirs and those of other men. plato Republic 414b–c,415c–d (trans.G.M.A.Grube,adapted) mene, mene, tekel, upharsin. daniel 5:25 contents list of maps and illustrations xi preface xiii abbreviations xix Introduction 1 1 Athenian Society and Government 19 Athens and Polis Government 20 Athens after Solon’s Reforms 26 Athenian History in the Classical Period 31 2 Democracy and Demagogues: Election, Voting, and Qualifications for Citizenship 41 Qualifications for Citizenship 45 Did the Demos Rule Well? 49 Leaders versus Demagogues: The Case of Pericles 54 Modern Confusion about Election 68 3 Public Finance: Democracy and the People’s Purse 72 The Spoils of Battle and the Fruits of the Earth (483/2–431) 73 War, Taxes, Debt, and Revolution (431–399) 85 Digression: Democracy and the Athenian Self-Image 92 Epilogue: Paying the Public or Funding the Military? (399–322) 95 4 Foreign Policy I: Democracy Imperial 100 Early Athenian Ambitions in the Aegean (ca. 561–490) 101 The Persian Wars and the Creation of the Athenian Empire (ca. 490–463) 105 Reversed Alliances and Continuing Expansion (ca. 462/1–430s) 111 5 Foreign Policy II: The Peloponnesian War 117 The Effects of the Peloponnesian War 117 Digression: Historical Causation and the Aesthetics of History 119 Prelude to War 124 Pericles and the Causes of the Peloponnesian War 127 The Peloponnesian War (431–404) 131 6 National Defense: Democracy Defeated 143 A Fourth-Century Empire? 143 The Rise of Macedon and the End of Athenian Democracy 147 7 Democracy and Religion 163 Digression: Man’s Desire for Society 166 Athens and the Integral Society 168 Modern America and the Religion of Democracy 175 Freedom, Choice, and Diversity 181 Conclusion: Socrates, Pericles, and the Citizen 187 Socrates and Pericles as Citizens and Leaders 198 notes 203 select bibliography 279 index 297 x contents maps and illustrations maps 1. Ancient Hellas 21 2. Peisistratid-Cimonid foreign policy interests 103 3. The Peloponnesian War 126 figures 1. Athenian coin (“owl”), ca. 450–440 b.c. 74 2. Reconstructed Athenian trireme 76 3. First tribute stele 81 table 1. Athenian and Spartan military action in the mid fifth century 136 preface A couple of years ago my wife Jamie and I attended a dinner party in Boston hosted by a close friend. At the party was an eminent sociologist, and as the evening wore on, the conversation turned to sociological methods and sta- tistical sampling as a way of gauging public attitudes. In response to the so- ciologist’s description of the techniques used to ensure representative sam- ples, I laid out several strange facts from my own background: born a Southerner but having lived in the Southwest, the Northwest, and the Northeast; reared among Baptists as a Presbyterian and trained first at a very conservative Baptist college and then at a very liberal Ivy League university, surrounded by a group of friends that were primarily Catholic, but with a sig- nificant admixture of agnostics and atheists; married to a Canadian-born, Northeastern/Catholic-reared and Texas-schooled Episcopalian; and ulti- mately having developed an extremely odd set of beliefs that seem (even to me) insusceptible of easy categorization. How, I wondered, could statistical sampling compensate for the complexities and contradictions within indi- vidual members of a sampled population? I fully expected the sociologist to tell me that individuals’ views and par- ticular influences were not the issue; that, in fact, while such matters were in- teresting, and perhaps even important, they presented a subject outside the field of the social sciences proper. But I was mistaken. “Given a large enough sample,” the sociologist said, “all the influences you mention could be re- flected in the survey results.” At that I balked: I did not see how even a hun- dred thousand interviews could result in anything but the reduction of idio- syncratic complexities to simplified collective categories that mask overlaps and overemphasize distinctions between putatively identified “groups” hold- ing particular views. At this point, my wife deftly interrupted what was in danger of becoming a speech: “Well,” she said, “you are just a statistical out- xiii lier,” and the sociologist seemed to agree (although he had known me for only about three hours). I relate this anecdote to emphasize my doubts about techniques designed to gauge what a complex entity like “the American (or Athenian) people” be- lieve(d) at some given moment. I also seek indulgence for drawing conclu- sions about contemporary America based largely on my own observations. Where American democracy is concerned, what follows are the idiosyncratic views of an ancient historian (not a modern sociologist) and an admitted “statistical outlier” (although one who has lived in several parts of the United States and taught students from all over the country). I recognize that those who think differently might use statistics to show that my conclusions about America are unfounded, and to them I can only confess that I find myself less swayed by statistics than by my own experiences. I cite no statistical data to support my contention that, thanks to mass media (especially television and the Internet), an atomized and hypermobile population, and a federal gov- ernment that reaches into so many corners of life, the “democratic” culture of the big American city—a culture that idealizes freedom, choice, and di- versity—is fast engulfing the older community-oriented culture of the coun- try town and urban neighborhood. I argue that this process exposes America to both the dangers of democratic practices (which the Athenians also faced) and the perils of democratic faith (which the Athenians largely avoided). Reactions from individuals kind enough to have read all or part of it en- courage me to state, at the outset, what this book is not. It is not a call for any particular political action in contemporary America: indeed, it is one of the book’s theses that things generally associated with democratic political ac- tion—campaigning for particular candidates, organizing political parties, or working for amendments to the Constitution—are unlikely to bring about significant positive change in American society or government. If anything, I attempt to persuade the reader that looking to political action to make im- provements in American society reflects a misplaced faith in the political pro- cess, a faith sometimes spawned by the modern idealization of democracy. Seeking to improve society through politics reinforces the view that the so- lutions to human problems are usually political and thus fosters a belief that politics should play a central role in our lives. It is this kind of thinking that I seek to address. So if this work is to be associated with a call for any partic- ular action, that action must begin with changing individuals’ minds. Often after criticizing ancient or modern democracy I am asked to pro- duce a workable alternative. To this reasonable demand I have a two-part re- sponse. First, I believe that the best qualities traditionally associated with xiv preface modern democratic government stem from citizenship and the rule of law, both of which may be separated from democracy per se.