Reflections on the Origins of the Polis: An Economic Perspective on Institutional Change in Ancient Greece
Author
Summary, in English
From a beginning of small isolated settlements around 1000 B.C., the city-state (polis) emerged in Greece in the course of four centuries as a political, geographical and judicial unit, with an assembly, council, magistrates and written laws. Using a rational-actor perspective, it is shown how this process was driven by competition among the members of the elite. A crucial ingredient was the gradual consolidation of boundaries, which contributed to population growth, inter-state conflicts, colonisation and competition for power. Variations over time in the conditions for competition explain both the introduction of formal political institutions and their overthrow by tyrants.
Department/s
Publishing year
2006
Language
English
Pages
31-48
Publication/Series
Constitutional Political Economy
Volume
17
Issue
1
Full text
- Available as PDF - 226 kB
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Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Springer
Topic
- Economics
Keywords
- Institutional change
- Ancient Greece
- City-state
- Competition
Status
Published
Project
- The Economics of Ancient Greece
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1043-4062