Two-and-a-half millennia ago, the basic tenets of a democratic society were laid down by the Greeks. The civilisation of the day was home to several firsts both in terms of societal change and intellectual endeavours that altered the course of history.
Athensna Rajyaadalitha—translated as Governance in Greece—is an effort by seasoned politician A H Vishwanath to look at how the Greek democratic system worked and the lessons we can learn from it in a period when democratic ideals are under threat. The second book by the JD(S) Karnataka state president is also a study at the significance attached to the polling process that helped the system prevail over other systems of administration across the globe. Soon, he will present the book at the Hellenic Parliament in Athens.
Vishwanath explains that the book was commissioned by the Greek government as part of its project to have books on the history of Greece and democracy in all the languages in the world. “Earlier, I had written a book on the British Parliament. I had visited London and studied the history of the first Parliament in the world at Westminster during my tenure as a Member of Parliament for five years, representing the Mysuru-Kodagu constituency. During my term, I decided to conduct a contrasting study on two of the renowned parliamentary systems of the world,” he says.
The book was titled The Talking Shop and detailed the evolution of the British parliamentary system, the role of the Speaker and the rules of debate. “After writing the book, I sent copies to several democratic countries in the world, due to which a copy of the same is in the Westminster Library. Representatives in Greece were also given a copy of the work following which they approached me to pen a book on Greece and its democratic traditions,” explains Vishwanath.
Following the invitation by the Greek government, Vishwanath visited Athens and was provided with all amenities to aid his research. While his first book came during his tenure as a Congress MP, his second came out after joining JD(S) and being elected as its state president. One of the most important aspects that has been highlighted in the book is related to the importance among Greek citizens regarding the democratic process.
Noting that both an Upper House and Lower House—House of Lords and House of Commons in Britan and Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha in India—was first introduced in Athens, he explains the rituals observed by Greek voters when democracy was taking its baby steps. “Their voting process was a religious ritual. Elaborate traditions were followed. A day before polling, all the voters were to fast for a day. On the day of the voting, they had to take a bath, perform prayers and line up to cast their votes. Rocks were the first ballot papers with large earthern pots as ballot boxes,” he says.
While voting elected people to the Assembly, there was also a system to nominate people to another house of representatives—what is the Rajya Sabha or Legislative Council in India today. “Washermen, goldmsiths, professors, priests, doctors etc. were nominated so that citizens from all walks of life were represented,” he adds.
Voting or ‘matha-daana’, he says, was termed so because of the meaning in the word. “While ‘matha-daana’ means charitable donation of vote to one person, the word has lost meaning today as it has turned to ‘matha-kraya vikraya’ or the buying and selling of votes. This is one of the contrasts I have explored in the book as the sanctity of the democratic process is on a decline,” he rues.
If we compare democracy 2,500 years ago to the democratic systems today, it is clear that the dedication that Athenians and other Greeks had for democracy is non-existent today. “We have to change the way elections are held. The sanctity of elections is gone and corruption is corroding the system. But in ancient Greece, they voted without any influence or recommendations, corruption or anything else. That is the lesson we have to learn now, before the best governing system in the world perishes,” he adds.