Equality In Athens Vs. The Idea Of ​​Equality In The French Revolution

Equality in Athens vs. The idea of ​​equality in the French Revolution

Introduction

This essay compares the polytheía model raised by Aristotle in the city of Athens, during the 5th century, where the “Golden Age of Pericles” is located with respect to the idea of ​​Athenian equality, which contained the isogoria And isonomy, in the face of the idea of ​​equality from the French Revolution of 1789, in France, given by the concept of "law", which raised a new model of modern democracy and its beginnings accrual of popular sovereignty.

In the Greek polis, the Aristotle polytheía model, stated that all "citizens" had the right to intervention in political life and public participation, this model in a certain way was inclusive, because it participated to several, but at the same time It was exclusive, since this small group did not include the rest of the population as: women, metecos, and people who did not have a citizenship. This model contained in turn two important principles of equality: isonomy or equality before the law and isogoria or equality in terms of public participation.

On the other hand, during the French Revolution in 1789, there was a restoration in both social and political process, which convulsed in France. One of the most important political changes during this period was the self-proclamation of the third state, which becomes one of the three basic levels of society, typical of feudalism and the old regime, composed of a population lacking economic resources, it is say a non -privileged class.

His type of political organization ranged from the Republic, Empire and Constitutional Monarchy. 

This revolution marked the end of feudalism and absolutism in this country, which later its ideals would expand as influential currents for the rest of the world. And allowed the birth of a new regime, where the bourgeoisie became the new political force. In addition, the foundations of modern democracy were laid, which allowed the openness towards new political horizons based on the principle of popular sovereignty, in which the idea of ​​equality was manifested through the "law", which allowed all citizens to be able to participate in political life, visible for the first time women as subjects of law and participation.

Developing

Athens seen from Aristote Polytesty

At the beginning of the 5th century.C in Athens had begun a new transformation into political ideas and institutions with respect to new cities-states, since for a long time these cities had been in the hands of anti-democratic leaders (aristocrats, oligarchs, monarchs or tyrants). "This experience, and the ideas associated, gave rise to the vision of a new political system in which the sovereign people were not only enabled to self-govern but also possessed all the resources and institutions necessary for it" (Dahl, 1991, p. twenty-one). This new model will be democracy, a political system on behalf of the people, which this sector maintains an influential political power in public decision making. In addition, this model has institutions and representatives delegated by the people, which have as a primary objective, seek the common good for the polis.

The most important city-city of the whole Greek world was Athens located on the Attic. Its inhabitants were ingenious, communicative, lovers of progress and freedom, there the democracy originated and an education based on the cult of honor and body beauty was given. (Capelo & Velasco, 2011, p. 23)

Thus, one of the most influential cities- with respect to the political and educational sphere, is Athens, the cradle of the various philosophers such as Aristotle, who with his thinking influenced the creation of a new inclusive political model. Due to these reasons, Athens are considered one of the most important ancient cities within the Greek culture and with more significance until today.

This city marked by democracy as a model, in which the people were the one who ruled

The basic ideology of this popular constitution – which was profiled in successive reforms – was the result of a historical process that we can recompose well; Equality before the law, freedom of word, direct participation in the government, popular courts, etc. , until after Pericles, they belonged for their origin to families of the aristocracy), the city had conquered (García, 1990, p. 89).

Under these conditions Athens developed in the 5th century.C, where the period of government of Pericles had great significance, since in it democracy was strongly accentuated, "there pericles intoned a true hymn to the spiritual greatness of democratic Athens, civic example for all Greece" (García, 1990 , p. 89).Pericles during his government gave Athens a great time of apogee and inclusive participation to all citizens through the democratic model. He also encouraged issues regarding art and letters, significantly improving the quality of life of Athenian citizens. Hence the recognition of him as an important figure of classical Greece, calling his period of government as the "Pericles Golden Age". 

It is unquestionable that demokratia implied equality, this concept covered two terms in turn: "isogoria: the equality of all citizens regarding their right to speak in the government assembly and equality before the law: isonomy" (Dahl, 1991, p. 22). This model raised by Aristotle clearly indicated an attempt to include participation in public life, through the principle of equality, which in turn was subdivided into two, considering as characteristics of democracy, and taking the "demos" or People as the only legitimate authority.

These citizens were aimed at the search for the common good, since this was the path that led them to happiness, therefore they had to dedicate their lives, that is, their time exclusively to the polis. On the other hand, participation in public life was destined only to the "citizens", who were only men over 20 years, excluding women, metecos and slaves. These citizens participating in democracy had to have a good education, and be good warriors. Thus,: "Citizenship was a hereditary privilege founded on the primary ties of kinship, and even full citizenship was inheritable only by men’ (Dahl, 1991, p. 32). This fact reflects the exclusion of a significant number of people who despite the strong tasks they fulfilled for the good of the same polis, were not taken into account within the political space.

Equality in the French Revolution, 1789

The French Revolution occurred for some causes prior to 1789; both economic, political, social and ideological.

Some of the economic causes were: the serious economic crisis for expenses in wars, the idle and parasitic feudal nobility, the shortage of food for droughts and the shortage of currency and diversity of weights and measures. The political causes were: an absolutist regime, the kings monopolized all powers and the bourgeoisie wanted to participate in political power. On the other hand, the social causes were: the clergy, owner of great feuds, did not pay taxes; The nobility exploited the work of peasants, servants and did not pay taxes; The people or third state, composed of peasants, artisans, bourgeois, did not participate in political rights, who paid tributes in species, money and work. They differ from the nobility by clothing, luxurious residences and shields. And finally, the ideological causes were: that the kings wanted to govern by divine mandate and the people were the state of servitude. (Capelo & Velasco, 2011, p. 63). 

Such causes strongly influenced the population of that time to rise to fight for their rights to an abusive nobility that imposed laws in favor of a single sector. One of the most marked abuse was the collection of tithes to the population, since through this tribute, the first sector was enriched, instead the other worsened its situation more and more.

Meanwhile, “there was an absolutist king on the throne. This means that the king made the laws, sent them to comply and judged. He had all the powers, he did not let others participate, except for the nobility and the clergy ”(Cultural, S.A., 1999, p. 660). At this time the power was monopolized in the hands of king, that is, that everything he dictated was to be fulfilled, but this situation changed after the lifting of the bourgeois sector for claiming the many injustices that had been made for a long time.

On the other hand, the Constituent Assembly of the time agreed to some conditions such as: the abolition of the feudal regime; the declaration of the "rights of man and citizen"; The aristocrats had to pay taxes; the country’s statement under constitutional monarchy; and the replacement of the army was replaced by a national guard.(Capelo & Velasco, 2011, p. 64).

The declaration of the rights of man before an assembly was a fact that significantly marked a large difference compared to the previous times, since for the first time there is an inscription that insisted on assigning rights to people who had previously been excluded from the political life, allowing them to be considered equal, in addition to offering them security before the law.

Thus, this period of time had great relevance within world history, since it allowed citizens to occupy a space that was previously rejected to them.

The 18th century is called the century of reason or illustration because the philosophers of that time: Montesquieu, Rosseau, Voltaire, Diderot … proclaimed that there was more attention to reason than superstition. But not only that, according to them, we had to fight for the equality and freedom of all individuals and end the form of government of that moment. They proposed a political system in which the people chose some representatives to form a parliament and that the king respects a constitution prepared by this Parliament. These would be the ideals of the French Revolution. (Cultural, S.A., 1999, p. 660). 

The fact that began the French Revolution was the self-proclamation of the third state as the National Assembly. In addition, this fact marked the definitive end of feudalism and absolutism in this country, giving birth to a new regime called "bourgeoisie" that managed the economic terrain and advocated a political space. This sector had the support of the masses and became the new dominant political force.

POLITICAL CATEGORIES

The idea of ​​"equality" for Athenians, according to the Aristotle polytheía model constituted an important form of participation within public life, so, this concept was manifested in turn in two more subcategories, which are: which are: "The principles of" equal rights "and" equal word ", isonomy and iségoria, defined that civic constitution where the demos exercised sovereignty through the popular assembly and the council chosen by raffle" (García, 1990, p. 88). These two subcategories, on the one hand they assured the Athenian citizen, keep their participation into account, that is, to assess their criteria and knowledge to make decisions within the public sphere, but, on the other hand, it also offered an equality before the law or isonomy, within this, the subject could enjoy all his civil and political rights, while he was a "citizen".

Equality for Pericles is the was the isusure or the right to the word through which the Athenian citizen maintained the ability to participate: "The government process itself was based on what Pericles calls" study exactly ", that is, the Free dissertation and without limitations, guaranteed by the isgeer, the right of all equally to speak in the sovereign assembly ”(Held, 2001, p. 3. 4). Pericles argues that to carry out the democratic model, Isegoria is necessary, which manifests itself as an ideal companion of it, which guarantees equality before others through the use of the word.

On the other hand, the idea of ​​equality in the French Revolution arises from the category "Law", through which the citizen could be a participant in public life, under norms that regulated certain aspects, but this time these norms were they had dictated according to the participation of a large majority. This means that: "The writing of laws is a decisive milestone in progress towards more democratic forms and an erosion of the legislative monopoly of the aristocracy or traditional royalty" (García, 1990, p. 58). The appearance of the law became a synonym for equality and inclusion for the people who had previously been removed from public space, giving way to a much broader model of participation, where all people were already considered "citizens" and not Only the enlightened men, as in the case of the Aristotle model.

An important aspect within this revolution was "on August 27, 1789 when the declaration of the" rights of man and citizen "was approved where freedom, equality, fellowship and security before the law of all men is synthesized ”(Capelo & Velasco, 2011, p. 63). This provision allowed the citizens previously excluded, enjoying rights that had been denied, as well as the rest of the population, simultaneously guaranteed them equality, freedom, fellowship and security, before the law as a norm to be fulfilled, which which It entered into force from the date indicated above.

From this statement, all people were identified as subjects of law, who had the obligation to respect and comply with the same. In addition, they could participate in public life as well as any other.

Conflict case

For their part, Athenians were based on an idea of ​​equality, on which only "citizens" could have access to rights and political participation. For these citizens this idea was manifested as follows: “Political equality was a form of equality for equal status (Athenian male of birth), and even in this case, as will be indicated shortly, the equality of status did not imply really the same opportunities to influence politically ”(Held, 2001, p. 40). Demonstrating once again that the democratic model was concentrated in a few hands and was synonymous with a new tyranny, but in this case of the so -called citizens. On the other hand there is a second feature of the democratic model of Pericles.

The second feature of the Athenian political system held by Pericles, after the majority government in favor of the interests of the majority, is that of equality: the law grants the same rights to all individuals in the resolution of their private lawsuits. To the previous equality in political rights is now added equality in civil rights. (Beautiful, 2015, p. 48).

Within this democratic model Pericles stressed the principle of equality for citizens as a civil and political rights manager decreed by law. The idea of ​​equality, in turn was divided into two more categories, which were: "isogoria: the equality of all citizens regarding their right to speak in the government assembly and equality before the law: isonomy" ( Dahl, 1991, p. 22). These two terms were in turn under the Aristotle politeía model. In addition this model served as a reference for the future construction of a government model.

For its part, the French Revolution “was an accurate coup that provided the burial of the old economic-social regime. In this ideological struggle, the dissemination of change consciousness played a fundamental role ”(Villamarín, 1997, p. 139). This revolution had as its primary axis around the concept of "law", from where the idea of ​​equality starts, since through it the rights to persons were ensured, which implied that people are seen as equal to law , without any distinction. In addition, all people had to be considered free citizens and as subjects of law, which meant being able to intervene within any public space.

The principle, of course, was even more strongly collected in the constitutional system that resulted in the French revolutionary process, where they were added as additional elements, the principle of the legislator’s supremacy resulting from the consideration of the law as an expression of the will general; and that of the prohibition of the judges to interfere in any way in the exercise of legislative and administrative functions.

(Brewer, 2011, p. 114).

This means that from the decree of the people, no other authority could change or modify it without the consent of the first. Thus, the "law" is seen as a reflection of the exercise of the political participation of the people, under a more inclusive model with people who on this occasion have rights, ruled by and according to the people and approved by an assembly and State that guarantee your safety and compliance. A transcendent factor within this revolution is the declaration of the "rights of man and citizen".

conclusion

Equality in Athens was present through two more subcategories, which are isonomy or equality before the law and iscorory or equal word. These categorical demonstrations assured the participation only of the "citizens" in politics, excluding women, Metecos and other people who were not considered as citizens within the polis. This model corresponding to Aristotle’s politeía, was one of the most influential for the formation of modern policies.

On the other hand, in the French Revolution, the idea of ​​equality was manifested through the "law", since it allowed the citizen to become considered as equal to others, because previously part of the population did not have civil rights, even worse politicians to interfere in politics. His fundamental trigger was the declaration of the "rights of man and citizen" and the declaration of a "third state" in 1789, which guaranteed the citizen: security, equality, freedom and fraternity before the law.

Finally, from these two ideas of equality, Aristotle’s politeía laid the foundations of an inclusive model and strongly influenced the subsequent development of a democratic policy that arises as a consequence in the French Revolution, since in this event the concept was born "Law", through which, will be granted to citizens the right to participate in politics, seen as a need under this inclusive model. Thus, the "law" was taking positioning through the declaration of the "rights of man and citizen" and remains as a norm dictated by the people and for the people, visualizing as a need for the common good.

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