• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Democracy before Democracy?Author(s): Yves SchemeilSource:
International Political Science Review / Revue internationale de science politique,
Vol.21, No. 2 (Apr., 2000), pp. 99-120Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd.Stable URL:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/1601156
Accessed: 20/11/2009 15:32
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unlessyou have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and youmay use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained athttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sageltd.Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage of such transmission.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
Sage Publications, Ltd.
is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
 InternationalPolitical Science Review / Revue internationale de science politique.
http://www.jstor.org
 
Internationalolitical ScienceReview(2000),Vol.21,No.2,99-120
DemocracybeforeDemocracy?
YVES SCHEMEIL
ABSTRACT.
Wasdemocracyinventedbythe Greeks toreplacetheanarchyandimperialrulecharacteristic of earlier Near Eastern societies?Althoughwhat wasexplicitlyborrowed fromantiquity bymodernpoliticalthinkers looksAthenian,there wasdemocracybefore thepolis.EgyptianandMesopotamianpoliticsrelied onpublicdebate and detailedvotingprocedures;countless assembliesconvened at the thresholds ofpublicbuildingsorcity gates;disputedtrials were submittedtosuperiorcourts;countervailingpowersreminded leaders thatjusticewastheirresponsibil-ity.This wasnot fulldemocracy,but the Greek version was notperfecteither.Inthisarticle,"archeopolitics"is used to contrast this efficientform ofpluralistic regime ("hypodemocracy")withtruly egalitarianones("hyperdemocracies")andgroupinterests'polyarchies.
Keywords:AncientEgyptian/Mesopotamianpolitics*Athenianpolitics*Hypo-andhyper-democracy*Polyarchy
Introduction
Historians ofpolitical thought usuallytakeforgrantedachronologyoftheir disci-plinethatstarts with Athena.Although"politicsand the bible" is an academic issuefor a smallgroupof Americanpoliticalscientists,thegreatdistinction madebyErikVoegelinbetween"compact"and "differentiated" civilizations has been muchdebatedin the scientificcommunity(Voegelin,1956).1ThenS.N.Eisenstadtpopularized Voegelin'sintellectualbreakthroughin whatappearedto beareword-ingof KarlJasper'sconceptof "axial societies"(Eisenstadt, 1986).Subsequently,MartinBernal's Black Athena was animportant,welldocumented-andsplendidattemptto reach thepointwhere the river ofpoliticalideas branchedoff,givingbirth to an"Oriental" and a "Western"philosophy(Bernal, 1987).However,thisresearch was toofar-reaching.Greece's roots were now traced toAfrica,whose semioticandspiritualinventionshad been channelled to theAegeanSeaby Egyptianboats.Then,PatriciaSpringborg explainedhow thematriarchal
0192-5121(2000/02)21:2, 99-120;011975(2000International Political Science AssociationSAGEublications(London,ThousandOaks,CAand NewDelhi)
 
International olitical ScienceReview21(2)
principleof ancient Near Eastern civilizations becamepatriarchalinpharaonictimes(Springborg,1990a,b).Despitedifferencesinstyle,sources,andgoals,such thesesconverge bydrawingasharpdistinction between "before" and "after"-before and afterNarmer,whosupposedlyunifiedUpperand LowerEgypt; SargonwhobroughtAkkadians andSumerians to the sameMesopotamianstate;Joseph,thevizir whoallegedlyorganizedpharaonicadministration;KingAkhenaten,whomayhave discoveredmonotheism;QueenHatshepsut,whodelegitimatedwomen'srulebecause she wasdepictedas aman;and before and afterCleisthenes, Solon,and Socrates.Anaccount of these distinctions astrulydifferent fromoppositionsformerlymadeinreligioustexts(thereis a before and afterChrist,Buddha andMuhammad)is worthbrief discussion."Before,"the world was drownedintheprimevalocean and theplanetlookedlike an amnioticsphere.Thedivinitystillliveduponearthalongsidehumanbeings,wildanimals,anddangerousmonstersor mischievous devils. TherewasnoAugustinianseparationbetween the mundanecityand theheavenlyone,nosocial classes orpoliticalhierarchy,nodistinctionbetweengoodand evil."After,"when humanbeingswere left to themselvestheybecame able orcompelledtoinventpoliticsandadoptedmore or less democraticprocedures.Our world wasreadyfor apacificdevolutionofpowerto malecitizens,who considered themselvesto be excellent trusteesof a muchlargerand dominatedpopulation.Politicsappearedto beimmanent,religionwas limited totranscendency.Both were servedby ordinarypeopleactingon atemporarybasis as clericsorpriests, simultaneouslyapartfrom the mass and also stillpartof it. Eternalgodsand full-timeprofession-alswere nolonger-ornotyet-inchargeofthe commongood.Theproblemraisedbysuchanalysesis their close relation to whateverhistoryisincludedinmythicscripts, prophetic speeches,andreligiousbooks. Western scien-tists oftenhave a hermeneutical bias whichmerelyreplicates spiritualorideologi-cal norms under themoresecularguiseofpoliticaltheories and scientificassessments.Hence,we mistake ancientpeople'sbeliefs forreality.We feellegiti-matedintakingtheir owninterpretationsofhistoryasiftheywere historical truthsbecause ancienttextsappearto have been soelegantlyandconvincinglydecipheredbyoutstandingmodern scholars.Remediesmaybe found for theseshortcomings.First,we can use other materi-als thantexts,or deal with them as materials and notaspseudo-texts:architec-turalplans, potteryflakes,fashionableclothes,giftsand otherartefacts,lifestylesandstylesofcookingsometimessaymoreaboutthe common mind thanliterature,providedtheyarenot mistaken forintentionalor unconscious"speeches"writteninanonlinguisticcode(Gibson, 1988).Second,we cangetrid of ourprejudicesand avoidlookingfor"agoras"if"gates"are the locations of deliberative bodies(VandenBoom,1985:6-14).It is not worthsearchingforpolitical partiesifeconomiccorporationsorsocial communitiesplaythe same role(Larsen, 1976),ifsupportersincourts oron executiveboardstransformjudiciarytrials or financialmanagementintopolitical competitions(Wente,1990:56).Conversely,the fact that weignorehow much Greekphilosophersinherited theircivic "inventions"rom their Orientalpredecessors mayhave another cause. We donot owe ourpoliticalinstitutions and values to well-intentioned Orientalists whotried tofind out how a series of successiveruptureswith apaganand archaic worldled to the "Greekmiracle,"butto"enlightened"Westernthinkers whodesignedtheseinstitutions and valuesaccordingto their own ideal view of Greek(or Roman)norms andpractices (Vidal-Naquet,1990;Finley,1976).2Theirdeep ignoranceof
100
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...