Political and Civic Institutions

2020 ◽  
pp. 53-70
Author(s):  
Ian Worthington
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Radical Democracy ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Civic Institutions

The chapter breaks from the main narrative to discuss and explain various key political and civic institutions, shedding light on how different Athens was politically in the Hellenistic period. There is a survey of Classical Athenian radical democracy to show what the constitution used to be like, followed by a consideration of the restrictions on the constitution and political participation under Macedonian hegemony and Roman rule. There is also a discussion of two major civic institutions: the ephebeia and the guilds.

officials, Greek, accountability of

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Fröhlich
Keyword(s):  
Political Thought ◽  
Archaic Period ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Political Regimes ◽  
Legal Proceedings ◽  
Civic Institutions ◽  
Ordinary Citizens

From the end of the Archaic era to the end of the Hellenistic period, all officials of Greek cities were required to render their accounts (euthynai) through procedures, which varied according to political regimes and times. Most of the time a board of controlling officials examined the accounts. This examination would take place at the end of the officials’ terms of office, but sometimes a partial examination took place during the terms. The controlling magistrates could initiate prosecutions against officials. In democracies, ordinary citizens could also sue magistrates in court. The procedure for holding officials accountable is called euthynai (correction) in the ancient sources. Many literary texts and epigraphic sources show the importance of the practice, particularly during the Classical and the Hellenistic periods. It was one of the most important features of civic institutions. From the End of the Archaic Period onwards, the Greek cities took a series of measures to prevent abuses of power by officials: accountability was only one of these measures. In fact, in Greek political thought, tyrannical power is characterised as aneuthynos (e.g., Herodotus 3.80.3), which broadly means “not subject to legal proceedings” or “uncontrolled.” Officials had to render their accounts (mostly logon apodidonai or tas euthynas didonai in Greek), at the end of their time in office as well as while in office. In most poleis, a separate body of magistrates was tasked with examining these accounts. At these moments, a set of procedures (which varied from city to city) enabled ordinary citizens to bring charges against officials before the courts.

Educational contexts of cultural resistance in Poland and Portugal. An introduction to research

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (3 (253)) ◽  
pp. 155-172
Author(s):  
Paula Guerra ◽  
Piotr Zańko
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Political Participation ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
International Research ◽  
Radical Democracy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Cultural Resistance ◽  
Abstract Level ◽  
International Research Project

The goal of this article is to present the main theoretical and methodological assumptions of an international research project on the educational contexts of cultural resistance in Poland and Portugal. In this article, we will first analyse, in a resumed way, the various lines of thought related to cultural resistance, radical democracy critical pedagogy; then we will present an example of a critical pedagogy, the punk pedagogy, in order to demonstrate that the reality we describe is not only present at the abstract level; then, and finally, we proceed with the research methodology that we intend to trigger in order to analyse the educational contexts of cultural resistance in Portugal and Poland. In this article we are talking about two countries with very dissonant stories. Even today, in the context of membership of the European Union, the course of both countries seems to diverge. However, we argue that the comparison between these two distant and different countries may open new perspectives on the contexts of cultural resistance and critical pedagogy. Like the example of punk, these practices of cultural resistance can serve as a way to empower active civic and political participation, going beyond the simple act of voting every four years and promoting a radical democracy.

TWO STEPS FORWARD

2007 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 457-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janelle Wong
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Mobilization ◽  
Mass Action ◽  
Recent Book ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Potential Force ◽  
Community Based Organizations ◽  
Civic Institutions

In this essay, I contend that one can understand neither the development of mass action among contemporary immigrants, nor the sporadic nature of that action, without attending to the historic role of parties and community-based organizations in shaping immigrants' political mobilization. I draw connections between the mass immigrant-rights demonstrations that took place during the spring of 2006 and what we know about how immigrants' political participation in the United States is structured by (1) the declining influence of political parties, and (2) the critical function of community-based organizations. These organizations were the focus of my recent book, Democracy's Promise: Immigrants and American Civic Institutions (2006). Why haven't activists been able to sustain the momentum that brought hundreds of thousands of immigrants and their supporters out into the streets during the spring of 2006? Although they, along with the Spanish-language media, played a critical role in organizing mass demonstrations against punitive immigration legislation in early 2006, labor organizations, workers' centers, advocacy and social service organizations, ethnic voluntary associations, and religious institutions face severe constraints in terms of engaging in sustained, consistent political mobilization and, therefore, mainly achieve limited mobilization. However, voter registration data from the National Association of Latino Elected Officials suggest that the demonstrations may have spurred interest in more traditional types of political participation among immigrants and their supporters. Thus, while it is true that, for the most part, political participation does not take place overnight, there may be ways for U.S. civic institutions to speed up that process through direct mobilization and the provision of information that helps immigrants to feel more comfortable and confident taking part in the political system. Trusted community-based institutions represent a vital potential force in promoting political inclusion for immigrant newcomers who contribute to so many other aspects of American life.

When Poor Students Attend Rich Schools: Do Affluent Social Environments Increase or Decrease Participation?

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Tali Mendelberg ◽  
Vittorio Mérola ◽  
Tanika Raychaudhuri ◽  
Adam Thal
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Social Environments ◽  
Low Income Students ◽  
Similar Extent ◽  
Poor Students ◽  
Large Panel ◽  
Civic Institutions

College is a key pathway to political participation, and lower-income individuals especially stand to benefit from it given their lower political participation. However, rising inequality makes college disproportionately more accessible to high-income students. One consequence of inequality is a prevalence of predominantly affluent campuses. Colleges are thus not insulated from the growing concentration of affluence in American social spaces. We ask how affluent campus spaces affect college’s ability to equalize political participation. Predominantly affluent campuses may create participatory norms that especially elevate low-income students’ participation. Alternatively, they may create affluence-centered social norms that marginalize these students, depressing their participation. A third possibility is equal effects, leaving the initial gap unchanged. Using a large panel survey (201,011 students), controls on many characteristics, and tests for selection bias, we find that predominantly affluent campuses increase political participation to a similar extent for all income groups, thus leaving the gap unchanged. We test psychological, academic, social, political, financial, and institutional mechanisms for the effects. The results carry implications for the self-reinforcing link between inequality and civic institutions.

scholarly journals (De)constructing Politeia: Reflections on Citizenship and the Bestowal of Privileges upon Foreigners in Hellenistic Democracies

2014 ◽  
Vol 69 (03) ◽  
pp. 533-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christel Müller
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Hellenistic Period ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Traditional Conception ◽  
Resident Aliens ◽  
The Right ◽  
Social Fluidity ◽  
Greek World ◽  
Legal Marriage

AbstractsThis article revisits the notion of citizenship (politeia) in the ancient Greek world, challenging the traditional conception, based principally on the works of Aristotle, that defines citizenship in terms of political participation. It considers the numerous decrees issued during the Hellenistic period bestowing legal privileges upon foreign benefactors (such as the right to own property, to trade, to enter into a legal marriage, to be exempted from certain taxes, and so on). If the Classical period’s tripartite division of status (citizens, resident aliens, and slaves) remained valid during the Hellenistic period and provided the “infrastructure” of civic societies, the system of privileges established by cities to honor deserving foreigners created a “concatenation” of different positions, which, without calling the hierarchy of legal statuses into question, introduced social fluidity into an interconnected world that was far removed from the Platonic and Aristotelian ideals of the autarchic city.

Plato on Recognition of Political Leaders: the Importance of Mirrored Character Traits

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-289
Author(s):  
Leo Catana
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation ◽  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Character Traits ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Leader ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Dominant Character ◽  
Political Candidates ◽  
Civic Institutions

Abstract This article argues for two inter-related theses keyed to Plato’s Gorgias. (I) Callicles does not represent a constitutional form, but political participation itself, characterised by ambition, competition among political candidates, and the psychological and ethical mechanisms entailed in the process of gaining political recognition. (II) According to Socrates’s understanding, the political leader’s mirroring and internalisation of dominant character traits, held amongst those individuals transferring power, is decisive to the approval bestowed upon the political leader in question. This reading supplements that of Ober, who has claimed that the would-be political leader’s conformity with the demos’ ideology is decisive. This article argues that Socrates’ point is that a would-be political leader needs to mirror the character traits of those exercising power in specific civic institutions, implying a more pluralistic and context-determined approach. Moreover, this reading connects Socrates’ notion of recognition with that of moral psychology.

Democracy and Political Participation

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael E. Morrell ◽  
Pinar Uyan Semerci
Keyword(s):  
Political Participation
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