Os atenienses tinham uma forma de pensar que pode soar estranha aos ouvidos de muita gente hoje. Alguns exemplos:
Preenchimento de cargos por sorteio:
1- "Selection by lottery was the standard means as it was regarded as the more democratic: elections would favour those who were rich, noble, eloquent and well-known, while allotment spread the work of administration throughout the whole citizen body, engaging them in the crucial democratic experience of, to use Aristotle's words, "ruling and being ruled in turn" (Politics 1317b28–30). The allotment of an individual was based on citizenship rather than merit or any form of personal popularity which could be bought. Allotment therefore was seen as a means to prevent the corrupt purchase of votes and it gave citizens a unique form of political equality as all had an equal chance of obtaining government office".
Preocupação maior com a possibilidade de acúmulo e uso do poder para proveito pessoal do que com a incompetência:
2- "No office appointed by lot could be held twice by the same individual. The only exception was the boule or council of 500. In this case, simply by demographic necessity, an individual could serve twice in a lifetime. This principle extended down to the secretaries and undersecretaries who served as assistants to magistrates such as the archons. To the Athenians it seems what had to be guarded against was not incompetence but any tendency to use office as a way of accumulating ongoing power"
Os únicos cargos preenchidos por eleição (ao invés de sorteio) eram os militares (por exigir experiência e talento) e os que lidavam com altas somas de dinheiro .Para estes últimos, era preferível os cidadãos mais ricos pelas seguintes razões:
- Caso dessem algum prejuízo ou cometessem peculato, o estado poderia confiscar suas riquezas para repor.
- Teoricamente, sabiam lidar melhor com finanças.
- Teoricamente, tinham menos interesse em roubar, pois já eram ricos.
3 -"Approximately one hundred officials out of a thousand were elected rather than chosen by lot. There were two main categories in this group: those required to handle large sums of money, and the 10 generals, the strategoi. One reason that financial officials were elected was that any money embezzled could be recovered from their estates; election in general strongly favoured the rich, but in this case wealth was virtually a prerequisite".
Trechos do Wikipédia.
