Three Faces of Democracy: Cleisthenes, Jefferson, and Robespierre

In: Telos, Heft 104, S. 51-67

Abstract

Compares Athenian (Greece), US, & French democracies on three grounds: persistence of tradition, treatment of religion & property, & adherence to federalism. Both Athenian & US democracies were formed over two centuries of change, while the French model resulted from a short ten-year struggle. Freedom of religion was preserved in the Athenian & US models, but the Jacobins destroyed it in France. The free market largely ruled in the US & Athens, but confiscation & redistribution of property were the central economic policies of revolutionary France. Under federalism, Athens & the US profited from decentralization, but France carried the burden of a centralized government. Although free of the burdens of centralization evident in France, today the US faces a crisis between the will of the majority & the elites who turn their backs on the key elements of a functioning democracy by subverting the will of the majority. J. Cowie