Reflections on the Origins of the Polis |
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Authors: | Carl Hampus Lyttkens |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Economics, Lund University, Sweden |
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Abstract: | 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.
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Keywords: | Institutional change Ancient Greece City-state Competition |
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