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It Is Submitted That The Old Oligarch's Tone Is One Of Grudging And Resigned ...

It is submitted that the Old Oligarch's tone is one of grudging and resigned acceptance to the new order, so long as there is quality government.
Aristotle stated plainly that his ideal government was one directed by the aristocracy. (Ath. Pol. 1252a) However, Aristotle also defined the ideal state as one with the fullest possible unity, where unity was achieved through one's service to society the benefit obtained by each citizen from the state was proportionate to their service. Like the Old Oligarch, Aristotle's primary concern is good government his writings convey the sense that his misgivings aside, democracy is acceptable if it satisfies his prime consideration.
Finley made this observation in a slightly different context. He observed that where leadership by the elite manifested itself, this was not evidence of popular participation in government being reduced; rather, the desire for quality in government attracted people of ability who were not encumbered or distracted by the demands of work. (Finley, 1983, 71, 72)
A remarkable feature of Athenian democracy was that these class struggles continued as its democratic institutions moved forward. De Ste Croix suggests that the essence of the oligarchic opposition was founded upon the thesis that ‘when the mass of the common people enacts decrees by majority decision, against the will of the propertied class, it is simply acting like a tyrant, and its decrees are not, law (nomos) , but force and coercion, in Greek thought the very opposite of law (see Decision by majority vote, a method which in the eyes of Greek democrats (perhaps the first inventors of it) evidently had a peculiar sanctity, is treated as not different in kind, when it involves the coercion of a propertied minority, from the coercion of the majority by the Few or by a tyrant' (De Ste Croix, 1998, pp. 412, 413)
The relationship between the demos and the law courts is also a foundational aspect of Athenian democracy. Although the expression was not current for over 2100 years later, the Athenian adherence to positive law principles was a powerful democratic force on its own. The demos and its relationship to the Council and the courts represent a progression from simple adherence to societal custom, with all of its attendant variables, to a rudimentary rule of law where all citizens enjoy not only equality of political process but equality before the law. (Hart, 1961, 45)
The review of the authorities and the tenor of the contemporary writings noted above plainly suggest that Athenian democracy was a concept pursued with both intellectual and systemic rigour. The second part of the title question may now be examined in this light.


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