Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

“From Athens to Athens”. Europe, Crisis, and Democracy: Suggestions for a Debate

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Democracy in Transition

Abstract

On 31st October 2011, the then Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced his intention to hold a referendum on whether the country should accept the financial rescue plan laid out by the troika of the European Union (EU), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB), providing for a 50 % haircut of Greece’s debt owed to private creditors. Four days later, Papandreou backed down from his decision, and on the 10th November he tendered his resignation office. Papandreou was replaced by Lucas Papademos, who had previously served as Governor of the Bank of Greece and as Vice-President of the ECB. In the same, eventful week, the Prime Minister of another debt-laden European country, Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, stepped down from office, amidst growing continent-wide concern over the sustainability of the Italian public debt. Following Berlusconi’s resignation, President Giorgio Napolitano gave mandate to Mario Monti, an Economics professor at Milan’s Bocconi University and former EU commissioner, to form a new “technocrat” cabinet.

This article stems from papers delivered at the History seminar, University of Queensland, 23rd March 2012, and at the Centre for the History of European Discourse, UQ, 10th May 2012. I am very grateful to all those who have made questions and observations, in particular David Pritchard, Tom Stevenson and Cinzia Bestonso. Neil O’Sullivan and L.J Samons II kindly agreed to read draft versions of this paper and have given me their very valuable advice. Ça va sans dire, I am fully responsible for any errors this article might contain. Last but not least, my deepest thanks go to Kyriakos Demetriou for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this volume, and to my friend and colleague Sylvie Shaw, who has discussed the topic of this work with me over ever-pleasant Saturday brunches for the last few months.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    On the events leading to Silvio Berlusconi’s resignation, see Jones (2012), pp. 83–5.

  2. 2.

    http://www.sondaggipoliticoelettorali.it/asp/visualizza_sondaggio.asp?idsondaggio=5454.

  3. 3.

    http://www.repubblica.it/static/speciale/2012/elezioni/comunali/index.html.

  4. 4.

    Mannheimer (2012).

  5. 5.

    See Neate (2012).

  6. 6.

    http://consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ecofin/128075.pdf.

  7. 7.

    http://ekloges-prev.singularlogic.eu/v2012a/public/index.html#{“cls”:“main”,“params”:{}}.

  8. 8.

    ‘Abschied vom Euro: Nach der jüngsten Wutwahl sucht Europa nach einem Plan B für Griechenland. Die bisherige Rettungspolitik ist gescheitert. Die Einsicht wächst, dass Athen die Währungsunion verlassen sollte’, De Spiegel (20th May 2012).

  9. 9.

    See in particular Featherstone (2011), pp. 194, 210–2.

  10. 10.

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/29/us-eurozone-germany-greece-idUSTRE80S0HO20120129.

  11. 11.

    http://www.corriere.it/economia/11_settembre_29/trichet_draghi_inglese_304a5f1e-ea59-11e0-ae06-4da866778017.shtml

  12. 12.

    Schirrmaker (2011).

  13. 13.

    Sen (1999), p. 3.

  14. 14.

    See Gat (2010), pp. 2–8.

  15. 15.

    Dunn (2005), p. 15.

  16. 16.

    See Kissinger (1994), pp. 17, 804–5; Ikenberry (1999), pp. 56–8; Miller (2012), pp. 49–52.

  17. 17.

    See Mansfield and Snyder (1995), pp. 6–8, 12–8.

  18. 18.

    A. Gat., Victorious and Vulnerable, p. 2.

  19. 19.

    A. Gat, Victorious and Vulnerable, pp. ix-x.

  20. 20.

    Keane (2009), pp. 812–3.

  21. 21.

    Ibid., pp. 848–9.

  22. 22.

    Nye (2004), p. x.

  23. 23.

    Ibid., pp. 5–15. See also Nye (1990), pp. 8, 29, 31–2.

  24. 24.

    See Nye (2011).

  25. 25.

    Monocle, 49 (December 2011/January 2012), p. 35.

  26. 26.

    Ibid., p. 36.

  27. 27.

    Phillips (2011).

  28. 28.

    de Benedetti (2011).

  29. 29.

    Kohl (2012).

  30. 30.

    See Bianchini (2012).

  31. 31.

    Sheehan (2007), pp. 179–81, 187, 224 and (2008), pp. 222–4.

  32. 32.

    See Kagan (2004), pp. 55–6.

  33. 33.

    “Tender is the might”, Monocle, 49 (December 2011/January 2012), pp. 48–9.

  34. 34.

    See Huntington (1991), particularly pp. 3–30.

  35. 35.

    Nye (2004), pp. 75–83.

  36. 36.

    http://www.coe.int/t/dgal/dit/ilcd/archives/selection/churchill/TheHague_en.pdf.

  37. 37.

    On these events, see Xenophon, Hellenica 2.3–4; [Aristotle], Constitution of the Athenians 34–8; Lysias, Against Eratosthenes 6–24.

  38. 38.

    [Aristotle], Constitution of the Athenians 39.6.

  39. 39.

    Andocides, On the Mysteries 90.

  40. 40.

    Loraux (2002), p. 150.

  41. 41.

    See [Aristotle], Constitution of the Athenians 40.2–3.

  42. 42.

    [Aristotle], Constitution of the Athenians 39.1–5.

  43. 43.

    Sen (1999), pp. 3–4. Cp. Dunn (2005), pp. 14–7, 130–1.

  44. 44.

    See Follesdal and Hix (2006), pp. 534–7; Hughes (2012), pp. 255–6.

  45. 45.

    http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/headlines/content/20120113STO35292/html/Either-we-all-lose-or-we-all-win-Martin-Schulz’s-acceptance-speech.

  46. 46.

    Ritchie (1932), pp. 134–5; see Asmonti (2010), p. 279.

  47. 47.

    Ritchie (1932), p. 137.

  48. 48.

    See above, n. 19.

  49. 49.

    See Caracciolo (2012), pp. 9–10.

  50. 50.

    See Morris (1997), pp. 194–5.

  51. 51.

    See [Aristotle] Athenian Constitution 20–2.

  52. 52.

    Events included an exhibition at the National Archives, Washington DC, organized by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and the Greek Ministry of Culture, 15th June 1993-2nd January 1994.

  53. 53.

    Fleming (2004), pp. 14–7.

  54. 54.

    Ibid., p. 16.

  55. 55.

    Isakhan and Stockwell (2011), pp. 4–10.

  56. 56.

    Keane (2009), pp. xi–xii, but see also Sen (1999), p. 4.

  57. 57.

    Isakhan (2007), pp. 110–111.

  58. 58.

    See Ober (2007), p. 83.

  59. 59.

    Thucydydes, 2.37; cp. Robinson (1997), pp. 9–10.

  60. 60.

    See Raaflaub and Wallace (2007), pp. 22–48.

  61. 61.

    E. Robinson, (1997), pp. 64–122, 129–30.

  62. 62.

    Fleming (2004), pp. xi–xii; Stockwell (2007), pp. 35–8; Pritchard (2007), pp. 328–31.

  63. 63.

    See Ober and Hedrick (1996), p. 3; cp.; Samons (2004), p. 4.

  64. 64.

    Osborne (2010, p. 37); see also Dahl (1998), pp. 18–9.

  65. 65.

    Quoted by Calleo (2011), p. 2.

  66. 66.

    http://european-convention.eu.int/DraftTreaty.asp?.

  67. 67.

    Thucydides, 2.37.1.

  68. 68.

    See http://euobserver.com/18/16609, where the historian Thucydides is called “philosopher”.

  69. 69.

    Canfora (2006), pp. 7–34; cp. Hansen (2008), 15–6.

  70. 70.

    von Bogdandy (2006), pp. 17–22.

  71. 71.

    Peters (2004), pp. 37–8.

  72. 72.

    Aristotle, Politics 3.1278a. Cp. Dahl (1989), pp. 22–3; Samons (2004), pp. 45–9.

  73. 73.

    See Demosthenes, On the Liberty of the Rhodians 15.

  74. 74.

    See [Ps. Xenophon], Constitution of the Athenians 1.16–19.

  75. 75.

    See e.g. Thucydides, 1.75.2–76.1. Melian episode: Thucydides, 5.84–116.

  76. 76.

    See Thucydides, 1.2.64.

  77. 77.

    Keane (2009), pp. ix–xi.

  78. 78.

    Cp. R.A. Dahl, Democracy (1989), pp. 83–4.

  79. 79.

    See supra, pp. 146–8.

  80. 80.

    Thucydides, 1.1.

  81. 81.

    See de Ste Croix (2008), pp. 259–60.

  82. 82.

    Thucydides, 5.84.3. On oligoi and polloi in the Melian episode, see Crane (1998) pp. 252–3.

  83. 83.

    See [Ps. Xenophon], Constitution of the Athenians 1.1–5.

  84. 84.

    Homer, Iliad 18.497–508.

  85. 85.

    See [Aristotle] Athenian Constitution 8.5; Plutarch, Life of Solon 20. On Solon as a father of Athenian democracy, see Aristophanes, Clouds 1187–1200; Demosthenes, On the Crown 6–7; Aristotle, Politics 2.9.2–4.

  86. 86.

    Thucydides, 2.41.1.

  87. 87.

    On this matter, see Hansen (1999), pp. 42–3.

  88. 88.

    Herodotus, 5.66.1, cp. Aristotle, Politics 3.1275b.

  89. 89.

    [Aristotle], Constitution of the Athenians 20–21.

  90. 90.

    See e.g. the so-called “Dialogue on the constitutions” in Herodotus’ Histories (3.80–83), where Otanes claims popular rule “to have the most beautiful name of all, isonomia” (3.80.6), while Megabyxus and Darius, supporters of oligarchy and monarchy respectively, call it “democracy”, cp. Sealey (1973), p. 274.

  91. 91.

    Herodotus, 6.131. On the use, or lack of it, of demokratia see M. Hansen, (1999), pp. 16, 69–71.

  92. 92.

    [Aristotle], Constitution of the Athenians 41. Cleisthenes’ reforms were the second metabole really to move forward the process of democratisation, following the laws of Solon (third metabole), cp. Chambers (1961), pp. 22–5.On Aristotle’s political logic-teleology, see Loraux, (1991), pp. 67–74; Chambers (1961), pp.34–6.

  93. 93.

    Ibid., 22.3.

  94. 94.

    Thucydides 8.1; cp. LJ. Samons II, What’s Wrong, pp. 92–5.

  95. 95.

    See Samons (2004), pp. 171–6.

  96. 96.

    [Ps. Xenophon], Constitution of the Athenians 3.1–4.

  97. 97.

    Ibid., 1.13, 3.8.

  98. 98.

    Aristotle, Politics 6.1317b.

  99. 99.

    Ibid., 4.1293b.

  100. 100.

    See Thucydides, 1.2.5–6.

  101. 101.

    Ibid., 1.1, 18.2–3.

  102. 102.

    Thucydides, 1.23.4–6.

  103. 103.

    See Ellis (1991), p. 366.

  104. 104.

    Thucydides, 1.5.5–6.

  105. 105.

    J. Keane (2009), p. 875.

  106. 106.

    See Sen, (1999), pp. 3–4; Keane, (2009), pp. xxiv, 842.

  107. 107.

    See Dahl, (1989), p. 14.

  108. 108.

    See e.g. Demosthenes, Third Olynthiac 3.

  109. 109.

    See Monoson (2000), pp. 54–6; cp. Markovitz (2008), pp. 67–8.

  110. 110.

    Keane (2009), p. 855.

References

  • Asmonti, L. (2010). What do we mean by crisis? The culture of confrontation in the Greek city. Acme, 63, 279–293.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bianchini, S. (2012). ‘Lo spettro jugoslavo si aggira per l’Europa. Limes, 2, 311–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Calleo, D. P. (2011). De Gaulle’s vision for Europe’. In B. M. Rowland (Ed.), Charles de Gaulle’s legacy of ideas. Lanham: Lexington Books. pp. 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Canfora, L. (2006). Democracy in Europe: History of an ideology. Eng. ed. London: Blackwell

    Google Scholar 

  • Caracciolo, L. (2012). La democrazia dopo la democrazia. Limes, 2, 8–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chambers, M. (1961). Aristotle’s forms of democracy. Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, 92, 20–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crane, G. (1998). Thucydides and the ancient simplicity: The limits of political realism. Los Angeles/London: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, R. A. (1989). Democracy and its critics. New Haven/London: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, R. (1998). On democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Benedetti, C. (2011). ‘Da Francoforte un colpo a salve’. Il sole 24 ore, 24 Dec 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Ste Croix, G. (2008).‘The character of the Athenian empire. In P. Low (Ed.), The Athenian empire (pp. 232–76). Edinburgh, (=Historia, 3 (1954), Edinburgh University Press. pp. 1–41).

    Google Scholar 

  • Dunn, J. (2005). Setting the people free. The story of democracy (p. 15). London: Atlantic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, J. R. (1991). The structure and argument of Thucydides’ archaeology. Classical Antiquity, 10, 344–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Featherstone, K. (2011). The Greek sovereign debt crisis and the EMU: A failing state in s skewed regime. Journal of Common Market Studies, 49(2), 193–217.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming, D. (2004). Democracy’s ancient ancestors. Mari and early collective governance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Follesdal, A., & Hix, S. (2006). Why there is a democratic deficit in the EU: A response to Majone and Moravcsik. Journal of Common Market Studies, 44, 533–562.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gat, A. (2010). Victorious and vulnerable. Why democracy won in the 20th century and how it is still imperiled (pp. 2–8). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, M. H. (1999). The Athenian democracy in the age of demosthenes. Structures, principles, and ideology. 2nd ed., Bristol: Bristol Classical Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen, M. H. (2008). Thucydides’ descriptions of democracy and the EU-convention of 2003. Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, K. (2012). Poco demos molto kratos, la ricetta del pasticcio europeo. Limes, 2, 255–263.

    Google Scholar 

  • Huntington, S. P. (1991). The Third Wave: Democratization in the Late Twentieth Century. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikenberry, G. J. (1999). Why export democracy? The Wilson Quarterly, 23(2), 56–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isakhan, B. (2007). ‘Engaging “primitive democracy”: Mideast roots of collective governance’. Middle East Policy, 14, 97–117.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isakhan, B. (2011). What is so “primitive’ about ‘primitive democracy’? Comparing the ancient Middle East and classical Athens. In B. Isakhan & S. Stockwell (Eds.), The secret history of democracy (pp. 19–34). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Isakhan, B & Stockwell, S. (2011). ‘Introduction: Democracy and history’. in id. (eds.), The secret history of democracy. Basingstoke: pp. 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, E. (2012). Italy’s sovereign debt crisis. Survival, 54(1), 83–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kagan, R. (2004). Of paradise and power. America and Europe in the new world order. New York: Vintage Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keane, J. (2009). The life and death of democracy. London/Sydney: Pocket Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kissinger, H. (1994). Diplomacy (p. 17). New York: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kohl, H. (2012). ‘Wie soll das Europa der Zukunft aussehen?’. Bild, 27 Feb 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loraux, N. (2002). The divided city: On memory and forgetting in ancient Athens. Eng. ed. New York: Zone Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mannheimer, R. (2012).‘Crisi, anti Merkel 6 italiani su 10. La cancelliera e l’UE percepite come poco attive per la crescita’, Corriere della sera, 18th May 2012, p. 5

    Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield, E. D., & Snyder, J. (1995). Democratization and the danger of war. International Security, 20(1), 5–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Markovitz, E. (2008). The politics of sincerity. Plato, frank speech and democratic judgment. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, P. D. (2012). American grand strategy and the democratic peace. Survival, 54(2), 49–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monoson, S. (2000). Plato’s democratic entanglements. Athenian politics and the practice of philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morris, L. (1997). Globalization, migration and the nation-state: The path to a post-national Europe? The British Journal of Sociology, 48, 192–209.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neate, R. (2012). ‘Growing anti-German feeling on streets of Greece’. The Guardian, 28 Feb 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nye, J. (1990). Bound to lead. The changing face of American power. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nye, J. (2004). Soft power, the means to success in world politics. New York: Public Affairs.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nye, J. (2011).‘The war on soft power’. Foreign Policy, 12 Apr 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ober, J. (2007). “I besieged that man.” Democracy’s revolutionary start. In K. Raaflaub, J. Ober, & R. Wallace (Eds.), Origins of democracy in ancient Greece. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 83–104.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ober, J., & Hedrick, C. (Eds.). (1996). Dêmokratia. A Conversation on democracies, ancient and modern. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osborne, R. (2010). Athenian democracy: Something to celebrate?. in id., Athens and Athenian democracy. Cambridge: pp. 27–38 (= Dialogos, 1 (1994), 48–58).

    Google Scholar 

  • Peters, A. (2004). European democracy after the 2003 convention. Common Market Law Review, 41, 37–85.

    Google Scholar 

  • Phillips, L. (2011). ‘Poland warns of war ‘in 10 years’ as EU leaders scramble to contain panic’, EUObsrever, http://euobserver.com/institutional/113625

  • Pritchard, D. (2007). How do democracy and war affect each other? Polis, 24, 328–352.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raaflaub, K., Ober, J., & Wallace, R. (Eds.). (2007). Origins of democracy in ancient Greece. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie, A. (1932). ‘Democracy in the world crisis’. Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science 14, pp. 132–140.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson, E. (1997). The first democracies. Early popular government outside of Athens. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samons II, L. J. (2004). What’s wrong with democracy? From Athenian practice to American worship. Berkeley/Los Angeles/London: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schirrmaker, F. (2011). ‘Demokratie ist Ramsch’. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 11 Nov 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sealey, R. (1973). The origins of “Demokratia”. California Studies in Classical Antiquity, 6, 253–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. (1999). Democracy as a universal value. Journal of Democracy, 10, 3–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sheehan, J. (2007). The monopoly of violence. Why Europeans hate going to war. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sheehan, J. (2008). Where have all the soldiers gone? The transformation of modern Europe. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stockwell, S. Before Athens: Early popular government in phoenicia and Greek city-states. In B. Ishakan, & S. Stockwell (Eds.), Secret history. pp. 35–48.

    Google Scholar 

  • von Bogdandy, A. (2006). ‘Constitutional principles for Europe’. In E. Riedel, & R. Wolfrum (Eds.), Recent Trends in German and European Constitutional Law. German Reports Presented to the XVII International Congress on Comparative Law, Utrecht, 16–22 July 2006 (Heidelberg, 2006), pp. 1–36.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia

    Luca Asmonti

Authors
  1. Luca Asmonti
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Luca Asmonti .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Department of Social and Political Scien, University of Cyprus, Kallipoleos 75, Nicosia, 1678, Cyprus

    Kyriakos N. Demetriou

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Asmonti, L. (2013). “From Athens to Athens”. Europe, Crisis, and Democracy: Suggestions for a Debate. In: Demetriou, K. (eds) Democracy in Transition. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30068-4_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation