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Democracy, Institutional Changes and Economic Development: The Case of Ancient Athens

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  • Kyriazis, Nicholas K.
  • Karayiannis, Anastassios D.

Abstract

The discussion of strengths and weaknesses of democracy is almost as old as democracy itself and it still continues. In the present paper we present a new theoretical perspective on democracy as a system that facilitates changes, especially in the form of direct democracy. We stress the role of the “initiator”, e.g. anybody who has the right to introduce a new proposal. This possibility increases the existence of the number of available strategies in a point of time. The decision makers can choose strategies form this set, and under a continuous situation of trial and error can reject wrong ones and retain correct ones (in the sense of welfare increasing strategies). Thus, society gains knowledge and new efficient institutions emerge. Lastly, we analyse the prototype direct democracy of ancient Athens, as a case study to highlight and test our model's hypotheses. It will also be analysed how under direct democracy of the Athenian type, the Assembly became a market place for the competition of ideas.

Suggested Citation

  • Kyriazis, Nicholas K. & Karayiannis, Anastassios D., 2011. "Democracy, Institutional Changes and Economic Development: The Case of Ancient Athens," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 61-91.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joecas:v:8:y:2011:i:1:p:61-91
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeca.2011.01.003
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mario Coccia, 2020. "Effects of the institutional change based on democratization on origin and diffusion of technological innovation," Papers 2001.08432, arXiv.org.
    2. Nicholas KYRIAZIS & Emmanouil ECONOMOU, 2013. "Social Contract, Public Choice And Fiscal Repercussions In The Athenian Democracy," Theoretical and Practical Research in the Economic Fields, ASERS Publishing, vol. 4(1), pages 61-76.
    3. Kovaleva, Margarita Shagenovna (Ковалева, Маргарита Шагеновна), 2019. "Evolution Of Theoretical Bases And Principles Of Federalism [Эволюция Теоретических Основ И Принципов Федерализма]," State and Municipal Management Scholar Notes, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 3, pages 276-281.
    4. Economou Emmanouil M.L. & Kyriazis Nicholas C., 2016. "Choosing Peace Instead of War. A Lesson from Athenian Democracy," Peace Economics, Peace Science, and Public Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 22(2), pages 191-212, April.
    5. Economou, Emmanouel/Marios/Lazaros & Kyriazis, Nicholas, 2015. "Athenian fiscal expansionary policy and peace versus war strategy," MPRA Paper 62987, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. repec:elg:eechap:15325_25 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    B25; E11; N4; Democracy; path dependence and change; institutional changes; economic growth; ancient Athens;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B25 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Austrian; Stockholm School
    • E11 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Marxian; Sraffian; Kaleckian
    • N4 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation

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