"THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!" DEMOCRACY IN ACTION: COMMUNICATIVE ACTION ROBERT MILTON EVERTON B.A. Simon Fraser University 1989 M.A. Simon Fraser University 1992 DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN APPLIED SCIENCE in the SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION O ROBERT MILTON EVERTON 2003 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY June, 2003 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or part, by photocopy or other means, except for scholarly and other not-for- profit use, without permission of the author. APPROVAL NAME Robert Everton DEGREE PhD TITLE OF DISSERTATION: q-his is what D~~~~~~~ ~~~k~ ~ik~w Democracy in Action: Communicative Action EXAMINING COMMITTEE: CHAIR: Prof. Richard Gruqeau Prof. Pat Howard Senior Supervisor Associate Professor, School of Communication, SFU Prof. Alison Beale Supervisor Associate Professor, School of Communication, SFU prof. Yuezhi Lhao Supervisor Assistant Professor, School of Communication, SFU Prof. Roman of ~ommunication,?%~J Prof. Warren Magnusson External Examiner Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Victorig DATE: 25 June 2003 ii PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser University the right to lend my thesis, project or extended essay (the title of which is shown below) to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay "This is What Democracy Looks Like" Democracy in Action: Communicative Action Autho~ (Signature) Robert Everton (name) 144Jf:. O3 (date) DEDICATION To all those who have or who will take up the struggle to establish democratic governance, especially those whose involvement has andlor will cost them dearly. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank those, both within the academy and outside, who have contributed in any manner to making this dissertation possible. Within the academy this would include, on one hand, my supervisory committee: Alison Beale, Yuezhi Zhao, and especially my supervisor, Pat Howard, who meticulously edited a massive project, and on the other, the External Examiners, Roman Onufrychuk and Warren Magnusson, both of whom subjected this volume to thorough scrutiny. As well I wish to thank Nick Witherford-Dyer and Myles Ruggles for having reviewed the initial draft and provided both feedback and encouragement. Any errors omissions or over-statements are obviously my responsibility alone. Most importantly I wish to thank those members of civil society, be they in Vancouver, Chiapas, Quebec City or elsewhere, who have taken upon themselves the gargantuan task of struggling to establish a democratic society. Above all I wish to acknowledge the enormous contributions provided by those, around the globe, working with forms of non-violent direct action and who understand a democratic society today to necessarily be both post-capitalist and post-patriarchal. TABLE OF CONTENTS . APPROVAL ................................................................................. 11 ... ABSTRACT .................................................................................. 111 DEDICATION.............................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................ v TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................ vi GLOSSARY.................................................................................. xii PART ONE: INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY A . INTRODUCTION ..................................................... 2 B . METHODOLOGY .................................................... 9 1. HISTORICAL INFORMATION ................................. 10 2 . ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE ............................. 10 3 . EVIDENCE OF PREHISTORIC CIVILIZATIONS ........... 11 4 . PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION ................................. 14 CHAPTER 2 THE PUBLIC SPHERE OF CIVIL SOCIETY A . THE PUBLIC SPHERE ........................................................ 15 B . C~VILSOCIETY ................................................................ 24 1. EARLY HISTORICAL USAGES .......................................... 25 2 . "CIVIL SOCIETY' SINCE 18TH CEh-Y ........................ 30 3 . STATE .CIVIL SOCIETY .CAPITALIST ECONOMY ......... 34 4 . CIVIL SOCIETY AND DEMOCRACY ................................. 42 C . CONCLUSION ................................................................... 47 PART TWO: EARLY DEMOCRATIC PRACTICES CHAPTER 3: ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY WHEN MALE CITIZENS GOVERNED DEMOCRATICALLY 52 A . SUMMARY OF ATHENIAN DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS ...... 54 1 . ORGANIZATIONAL FORMS ................................................. 54 a . ASSEMBLY ........................................................................... 54 b . BOULE .................................................................................... 55 c . JURY COURTS ....................................................................... 56 2 . DEMOCRATIC MECHANISMS ............................................... 57 a . PER DIEM ............................................................................. 57 b . GRAPHE ................................................................................. 58 c . EUTHYNAI .............................................................................. 59 d . OSTRACISM ........................................................................... 59 e . ROTATION .............................................................................. 61 f . SORTITION ............................................................................ 61 3. DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS ........................................................... 62 a . ISONOMIA ............................................................................... 63 b . ISEGORIA ........................................................................... 63 B THE EVOLUTION OF DEMOCRACY IN CLASSICAL GREECE 64 1 . SOLON ................................................................................... 66 2 . CLEISTHENES ...................................................................... 76 3. EPHIALTES' REFORMS ........................................................... 80 4 . PERICLES ............................................................................ 83 C . OBSERVATIONS OF AHTENIAN DISCURSIVE DEMOCRACY ..... 87 D . CONCLUSION ........................................................................ 90 CHAPTER 4 . WHEN WOMEN GOVERNED IN EUROPE AND THE NEAR EAST 92 I: DEMOCRATIC PRACTICES PRIOR TO CLASSICAL GREECE 92 A . ETRUSCANS .......................................................................... 93 vii ETRUSCAN DEMOCRATIC PRACTICES ............................. B . PHOENICIANS ................................................................ C . HEBREWS ....................................................................... D . MESOPOTAMIA: THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION? ....... 1 . ASSYRIANS ............................................................ 2 . BABYLONIANS ...................................................... 3 . SUMERIANS ................................................................... 4 . ASSEMBLIES AND RULERS ............................................ E . EBLA ............................................................................... F . CATAL HUYUK ............................................................... GODDESSES. PRIESTESSES AND MATRISTIC RELATIONS 11: OLD EUROPE ................................................................ A . GODDESS FIGURINES ..................................................... B . THE EVIDENCE FOR MATRISTIC RELATIONS ................ 1 . ARCHEOLOGICAL SETTLEMENT EVIDENCE ............... 2 . ARCHEOLOGICAL BURIAL EVIDENCE .......................... 3 . HISTORICAL EVIDENCE ................................................. a . TACITUS ......................................................................... b . JOHANN JACOB BACHOFEN ............................................ c . ROBERT BRIFFAULT ...................................................... 4 . LINGUISTIC AND MYTHOLOGICAL EVIDENCE ............. C . "MINOAN" CRETE ......................................................... D . OBSERVATIONS ................................................................ E . CONCLUSION .................................................................... CHAPTER 5 REINVENTING DEMOCRACY IN THE SWISS CANTONS A . HISTORICAL CONTEXT FOR SWISS DEMOCRACY ............. 137 B . EARLY SWISS ASSEMBLIES ................................................ 141 SWISS CONFEDERATION .................................................... 144 C . THE RHAETIAN FREESTATE ........................................ 150 ... Vlll 1. RHAETIAN COMMUNES. RHAETIAN LEAGUES ................... 152 2 . DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL ... 159 3 . THE FAHNLILUPF. INSTITUTIONALIZED INSURRECTION ... 162 4 . THE DECLINE ..................................................................... 165 D . SWISS COMMUNICATIVE ACTION ...................................