Visions of Brotherhood; a Comparative Analysis of Direct Democracy in Ancient and Modern Greece
Abstract
Collective “memories” of the original democracy of classical Athens have inspired the formation of the direct-democracy, “Syntagma Square” movement. The movement, a reaction to the ongoing social crisis in Greece, challenges the legitimacy of the liberal, representative, democracy accusing the “memorandum party system” for immoral contact and treasonous collaboration with Greece’s foreign debtors. Taking this development as an opportunity to examine in situ a modern version of “direct democracy” and the cognitive patterns that animate it, the essay compares ancient and current democratic processes and reflects on their ontological and cosmological presuppositions. Employing the Weberian concept of “acosmistic brotherhood” the essay analytically explores and compares the two democratic instances and reflects on the foundations of a stable democratic regime.
Downloads
Article download
Crossmark
License
In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Política y Sociedad is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.
