I felt very privileged today to be interviewing a world expert on democracy today, Professor Paul Cartledge.
His special area of expertise is Ancient Greece, but he has written about democracy more broadly, and he discussed the US situation with me quite a lot too, as it is so relevant to his life’s work and he knows many of you are feeling very anxious.
I could have talked to him for days, but all good things must come to an end!
We discussed:
-why the conditions were right for democracy to happen in Athens
-the types of democracy (direct in Ancient Athens v indirect / representative in modern times)
-the influence of Classical Greece and Rome on the Founding Fathers
-the various times democracy was overthrown in Athens (411 BC due to a domestic internal group, in 404 BC due to a group of 30 oligarchs being put in power by the Spartans, and then again after being defeated by Macedonia)
-why democracy is seen as a threat, the attitudes of many writers and thinkers about direct democracy and its limitations for dealing with complex subjects. (We discussed the trial of Socrates, who was convicted to death by jurors in Athens in an impiety trial, and the farce of the Brexit referendum in modern times).
-ostracism (and who we might like to ostracise to Mars if only we had this option available to us today)
-whether the US is still a democracy / what the turning point will be to determine this & the recent ‘Varieties of Democracy’ project figures from Sweden’s university of Gothenburg suggesting that America won’t qualify as a democracy next year
-the extent of a risk of further upheaval in other democracies & the data from the project on the number of autocracies in the world
-how to preserve / resuscitate a democracy (the need for a few brave men, economic sanctions and greater politicisation and education)
-financial incentives for engaging in politics (as was the case in Ancient Greece)
-whether the internet age and age of AI can be democratic, bearing in mind issues like disinformation
-the place of satire (futile or an important indicator of free speech) ?
And more ….
I really recommend getting a copy of Paul Cartledge’s book ‘Democracy - a life.’ I agree with Edith Hall’s comment that if there is just one book to read on the subject, then it is definitely this one.
Many of us will recognise the problems we get with democracy, but we also know that it is the best system we have come up with so far, so we must hang on to it. Or as Churchill’s famous saying goes:
‘Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.’
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