Download or read book Classical Greek Oligarchy written by Matthew Simonton and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-26 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Classical Greek Oligarchy thoroughly reassesses an important but neglected form of ancient Greek government, the "rule of the few." Matthew Simonton challenges scholarly orthodoxy by showing that oligarchy was not the default mode of politics from time immemorial, but instead emerged alongside, and in reaction to, democracy. He establishes for the first time how oligarchies maintained power in the face of potential citizen resistance. The book argues that oligarchs designed distinctive political institutions—such as intra-oligarchic power sharing, targeted repression, and rewards for informants—to prevent collective action among the majority population while sustaining cooperation within their own ranks. To clarify the workings of oligarchic institutions, Simonton draws on recent social science research on authoritarianism. Like modern authoritarian regimes, ancient Greek oligarchies had to balance coercion with co-optation in order to keep their subjects disorganized and powerless. The book investigates topics such as control of public space, the manipulation of information, and the establishment of patron-client relations, frequently citing parallels with contemporary nondemocratic regimes. Simonton also traces changes over time in antiquity, revealing the processes through which oligarchy lost the ideological battle with democracy for legitimacy. Classical Greek Oligarchy represents a major new development in the study of ancient politics. It fills a longstanding gap in our knowledge of nondemocratic government while greatly improving our understanding of forms of power that continue to affect us today.
Download or read book Classical Greek Oligarchy written by Matthew Simonton and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-06-27 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Classical Greek Oligarchy thoroughly reassesses an important but neglected form of ancient Greek government, the "rule of the few." Matthew Simonton challenges scholarly orthodoxy by showing that oligarchy was not the default mode of politics from time immemorial, but instead emerged alongside, and in reaction to, democracy. He establishes for the first time how oligarchies maintained power in the face of potential citizen resistance. The book argues that oligarchs designed distinctive political institutions—such as intra-oligarchic power sharing, targeted repression, and rewards for informants—to prevent collective action among the majority population while sustaining cooperation within their own ranks. To clarify the workings of oligarchic institutions, Simonton draws on recent social science research on authoritarianism. Like modern authoritarian regimes, ancient Greek oligarchies had to balance coercion with co-optation in order to keep their subjects disorganized and powerless. The book investigates topics such as control of public space, the manipulation of information, and the establishment of patron-client relations, frequently citing parallels with contemporary nondemocratic regimes. Simonton also traces changes over time in antiquity, revealing the processes through which oligarchy lost the ideological battle with democracy for legitimacy. Classical Greek Oligarchy represents a major new development in the study of ancient politics. It fills a longstanding gap in our knowledge of nondemocratic government while greatly improving our understanding of forms of power that continue to affect us today.
Download or read book Classical Greek Oligarchy written by Matthew Simonton and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Classical Greek Oligarchy thoroughly reassesses an important but neglected form of ancient Greek government, the "rule of the few." Matthew Simonton challenges scholarly orthodoxy by showing that oligarchy was not the default mode of politics from time immemorial, but instead emerged alongside, and in reaction to, democracy. He establishes for the first time how oligarchies maintained power in the face of potential citizen resistance. The book argues that oligarchs designed distinctive political institutions--such as intra-oligarchic power sharing, targeted repression, and rewards for informants--to prevent collective action among the majority population while sustaining cooperation within their own ranks. To clarify the workings of oligarchic institutions, Simonton draws on recent social science research on authoritarianism. Like modern authoritarian regimes, ancient Greek oligarchies had to balance coercion with co-optation in order to keep their subjects disorganized and powerless. The book investigates topics such as control of public space, the manipulation of information, and the establishment of patron-client relations, frequently citing parallels with contemporary nondemocratic regimes. Simonton also traces changes over time in antiquity, revealing the processes through which oligarchy lost the ideological battle with democracy for legitimacy. Classical Greek Oligarchy represents a major new development in the study of ancient politics. It fills a longstanding gap in our knowledge of nondemocratic government while greatly improving our understanding of forms of power that continue to affect us today.
Download or read book Greek Oligarchies Their Character and Organisations written by Leonard Whibley and published by . This book was released on 1896 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of the governmental structure & organization of the classical Greek Oligarchy.
Download or read book Oligarchia written by Martin Ostwald and published by Franz Steiner Verlag. This book was released on 2000 with total page 100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Intended as an introduction to the definition of oligarchy, this concise study guides the reader through the ideologies of Plato and Aristotle and compares theoretical oligarchy with its practice. Ostwald also examines the benefits and disadvantages of oligarchical citizenship.
Download or read book A Companion to Ancient Greek Government written by Hans Beck and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-01-22 with total page 535 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive volume details the variety of constitutions and types of governing bodies in the ancient Greek world. A collection of original scholarship on ancient Greek governing structures and institutions Explores the multiple manifestations of state action throughout the Greek world Discusses the evolution of government from the Archaic Age to the Hellenistic period, ancient typologies of government, its various branches, principles and procedures and realms of governance Creates a unique synthesis on the spatial and memorial connotations of government by combining the latest institutional research with more recent trends in cultural scholarship
Download or read book On Oligarchy written by David Edward Tabachnick and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Economic power is becoming increasingly concentrated in the hands of the few, even as democratic movements worldwide allow for political power to be dispersed among the many. With their access to influence, the wealthy can shape and constrain the political power of the rest of the world. As the economic dominance of an elite minority coincides with the forces of globalization, is oligarchy becoming the dominant political regime? This collection explores the renewed relevance of oligarchy to contemporary global politics. By drawing out lessons from classic texts, contributors illustrate how the character of oligarchical regimes informs contemporary political life. Topics include the relationship between the American government and corporations, the tension between republican and oligarchical regimes, and the potential conflicts that have opened up between economic management and political life. On Oligarchy deftly illuminates the significance of this regime in the context of pressing global economic and political issues."--Publisher's website.
Download or read book Polis and Revolution written by Julia L. Shear and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-04-21 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores how democracy in Athens was recreated and the city rebuilt following the oligarchic revolutions of the fifth century BC.
Download or read book Greek Oligarchies Their Character and Organisation written by Leonard Whibley and published by Brewster Press. This book was released on 2010-03 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
Download or read book Greed and Injustice in Classical Athens written by Ryan K. Balot and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-10-06 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this original and rewarding combination of intellectual and political history, Ryan Balot offers a thorough historical and sociological interpretation of classical Athens centered on the notion of greed. Integrating ancient philosophy, poetry, and history, and drawing on modern political thought, the author demonstrates that the Athenian discourse on greed was an essential component of Greek social development and political history. Over time, the Athenians developed sophisticated psychological and political accounts of acquisitiveness and a correspondingly rich vocabulary to describe and condemn it. Greed figures repeatedly as an object of criticism in authors as diverse as Solon, Thucydides, and Plato--all of whom addressed the social disruptions caused by it, as well as the inadequacy of lives focused on it. Because of its ethical significance, greed surfaced frequently in theoretical debates about democracy and oligarchy. Ultimately, critiques of greed--particularly the charge that it is unjust--were built into the robust accounts of justice formulated by many philosophers, including Plato and Aristotle. Such critiques of greed both reflected and were inextricably knitted into economic history and political events, including the coups of 411 and 404 B.C. Balot contrasts ancient Greek thought on distributive justice with later Western traditions, with implications for political and economic history well beyond the classical period. Because the belief that greed is good holds a dominant position in modern justifications of capitalism, this study provides a deep historical context within which such justifications can be reexamined and, perhaps, found wanting.
Download or read book Aristotle and Xenophon on Democracy and Oligarchy written by Aristotle and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2010-10-28 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection contains: Aristotle's The Constitution of Athens Xenophon's The Politeia of the Spartans The Constitution of the Athenians ascribed to Xenophon the Orator The Boeotian Constitution from the Oxyrhynchus Historian In bringing together, translating, and annotating these constitutional documents from ancient Greece thirty five years ago, J. M. Moore produced an authoritative work of the highest scholarship. An explanatory essay by classics scholar Kurt A. Raaflaub expands this indispensable collection.
Download or read book The Rules of the Few written by Matthew Scranton Simonton and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This dissertation presents an analysis of the rise and fall of oligarchy (Greek: oligarchia) as a constitutional form in the Greek Classical period. Confining myself to the period when the actual term "oligarchia" begins to be used, I show (Chapter Three) that it emerged as a reaction to democracy (demokratia) on the part of the wealthy elite. Contrary to accounts that treat oligarchy as the default form of human political organization, this study shows that Greek oligarchia was from its inception unpopular and actively resisted by the mass of the free adult male citizenry, the demos. But neither was oligarchy forced upon the people through raw coercion. In my alternative account, I show (Chapter Four) that oligarchic stability can be explained on institutional grounds, through an examination of the specifically oligarchic political and social institutions that successful oligarchs used to maintain equality of power and privilege among themselves while keeping the demos divided and weak through a combination of targeted repression, co-optation, and clientelism. In categorizing and analyzing these practices I adapt theoretical frameworks developed in the "new institutionalism" in social science, which takes a particular view of the origin and function of institutions in society. By introducing to Classics ideas from comparative Political Science I am able to shed new light on an important but understudied topic of Classical Greek political history.
Download or read book Democracy Beyond Athens written by Eric W. Robinson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-09-22 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First full study of ancient Greek democracy in the Classical period outside Athens, which has three main goals: to identify where and when democratic governments established themselves; to explain why democracy spread to many parts of Greece; and to further our understanding of the nature of ancient democracy.
Download or read book Democracy written by Paul Cartledge and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-03-03 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ancient Greece first coined the concept of "democracy", yet almost every major ancient Greek thinker-from Plato and Aristotle onwards- was ambivalent towards or even hostile to democracy in any form. The explanation for this is quite simple: the elite perceived majority power as tantamount to a dictatorship of the proletariat. In ancient Greece there can be traced not only the rudiments of modern democratic society but the entire Western tradition of anti-democratic thought. In Democracy, Paul Cartledge provides a detailed history of this ancient political system. In addition, by drawing out the salient differences between ancient and modern forms of democracy he enables a richer understanding of both. Cartledge contends that there is no one "ancient Greek democracy" as pure and simple as is often believed. Democracy surveys the emergence and development of Greek politics, the invention of political theory, and-intimately connected to the latter- the birth of democracy, first at Athens in c. 500 BCE and then at its greatest flourishing in the Greek world 150 years later. Cartledge then traces the decline of genuinely democratic Greek institutions at the hands of the Macedonians and-subsequently and decisively-the Romans. Throughout, he sheds light on the variety of democratic practices in the classical world as well as on their similarities to and dissimilarities from modern democratic forms, from the American and French revolutions to contemporary political thought. Authoritative and accessible, Cartledge's book will be regarded as the best account of ancient democracy and its long afterlife for many years to come.
Download or read book Thebes written by Paul Cartledge and published by Abrams. This book was released on 2020-09-22 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The riveting, definitive account of the ancient Greek city of Thebes, by the acclaimed author of The Spartans—now in paperback Among the extensive writing available about the history of ancient Greece, there is precious little about the city-state of Thebes. At one point the most powerful city in ancient Greece, Thebes has been long overshadowed by its better-known rivals, Athens and Sparta. In Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece, acclaimed classicist and historian Paul Cartledge brings the city vividly to life and argues that it is central to our understanding of the ancient Greeks’ achievements—whether politically or culturally—and thus to the wider politico-cultural traditions of western Europe, the Americas, and indeed the world. From its role as an ancient political power, to its destruction at the hands of Alexander the Great as punishment for a failed revolt, to its eventual restoration by Alexander’s successor, Cartledge deftly chronicles the rise and fall of the ancient city. He recounts the history with deep clarity and mastery for the subject and makes clear both the di?erences and the interconnections between the Thebes of myth and the Thebes of history. Written in clear prose and illustrated with images in two color inserts, Thebes is a gripping read for students of ancient history and those looking to experience the real city behind the myths of Cadmus, Hercules, and Oedipus.
Download or read book Ancient Greek Government written by Henry Bensinger and published by The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. This book was released on 2013-07-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perhaps the most important legacy of the ancient Greeks is their invention of the form of government we hold most dear: Democracy. Ancient Greeces various cities and their forms of government, and the birth of government by the people, are presented in simple, straightforward language. An excellent resource on both ancient Greece and the concept of democracy.
Download or read book Origins of Democracy in Ancient Greece written by Kurt A. Raaflaub and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2007 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A balanced, high-quality analysis of the developing nature of Athenian political society and its relationship to 'democracy' as a timeless concept."—Mark Munn, author of The School of History
