1. All citizens enjoy full democratic rights. The highest authority is the citizens' assembly. All male citizens over the age of 20 have the right to participate and enjoy equal legislative, voting and supervision rights.

2. Citizens have the opportunity to take turns to serve, and 1 out of 6 citizens hold public office every year. The term of office of all public offices is one year; Before other citizens take office, people who have held public office may not continue to hold office.

3. Everyone is equal before the law "is the basic principle of Athenian democracy. Officials must act according to the law, and once they break the law, they will be punished. Perikles was accused of dereliction of duty, tried and fined, when he was the chief general.

4. It is characterized by overlapping powers: the legislation of the citizens' assembly, the administration of the jury court and the administration of the 500-member meeting are mutually restricted. It is different from the modern separation of powers: although there is a division of labor among the three, it is not a parallel relationship, but a separation of powers between the administration and the judiciary under the supervision of the legislature.

Limitations:

1 is the democracy of male citizens. Restrict the rights and development of another part of society. It is a catalyst of great civilization and a violent machine to maintain social injustice on the basis of exploiting and oppressing non-Athenian citizens.

2. It is the democracy of small countries and few people. Managers need to have both ability and political integrity and public prestige, but the way of drawing lots and taking turns to sit in the village means that people with low quality also enjoy the right to participate in and discuss state affairs.

3. Because it is based on slavery, it is essentially a tool for slave owners to exercise dictatorship over slaves and non-citizens. This determines that it has a huge narrowness: most slaves lost their freedom and did not enjoy civil rights.

4. In Pericles' era, the total number of citizens who enjoyed rights was about 30,000 to 35,000, while the number of people attending the citizens' assembly was usually less than 3,000. The slave owners monopolized the position of ten generals and manipulated domestic and foreign policies.

Extended data:

There are two basic principles of Athenian democracy. The first is the equal participation of citizens. It emphasizes equality more than any subsequent political system. Of course, this is equality within the citizen group, not equality for all.

Except for the citizens' assembly, including the 500-member parliament, any institution or position is decided collectively. The official position in Athens is usually not held by one person, but by ten people, such as ten generals.

The responsibility of an official position is shared by ten people who hold the position. They discuss and vote on the affairs they are responsible for and finally make a decision. This system emphasizes collective decision-making to the extreme, and always keeps alert and vigilant.

One thing must be clear: democracy was established after the overthrow of tyranny, and tyranny is precisely personal rule. Democracy regards personal rule as an enemy, and it fundamentally eliminates any form of personal rule and authority.

References:

Baidu Encyclopedia-Athens Democracy System