Scale of Democracy in Classical Athens

from Thinking about the scalability of democracy

Scale of Democracy in Classical Athens In Classical Athenian democracy, political participation was limited to free adult male Athenian citizens. The following are the main features

• Eligibility: adult males with citizenship by birth. Women, slaves, and aliens (metics) were excluded.
• Size: Approximately 10-20% of the total population is covered, and it is estimated that there were roughly 30,000-60,000 citizens in Athens in the 5th century BC.

Thus, while direct democracy was adopted, participation was restricted to a very limited segment of the population.

- No [voting rights for foreign residents](/en/voting%20rights%20for%20foreign%20residents) or [women's suffrage - When there was a distinction between [free citizens](/en/free%20citizens) and [slaves](/en/slaves) in the first place.

Democracy in Classical Athens generally developed in the 5th century BC. In particular, the period under Pericles (ca. 461-429 B.C.) is considered the most representative. The overall period of activity is also considered to be between 480 and 404 B.C.

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