Political Literacy in Classical Democracy: A Theoretical Perspective

Contemporary populisms and the correlating decline of democracy pose the theoretical question how democracy can survive under such pressure which is, however, comes from mainly in the name of the demos. A possible answer may come from not bracketing the idea of the demos, but enhancing its capacity and ability to rule as well as its willingness to protect this order. Theoretically, ancient Greek democracy may offer insights into the practice and thoughts on this relation, that is, on the demos’ capacity to foster and protect democracy in the form of active participation. This capacity was formed through series of practices, including formal education and informal learning of taking part in politics, as well as a sort of moral and even realist ‘education’ based on tragedy, history, or rhetoric. The theoretical starting point of the discussion is a line from Simonides’ poem: “The polis teaches a man [to be a citizen]”, which expresses the necessity to ‘learn’ not only from other fellows but from the whole political community. If we translate it into the problem of political literacy (which I suppose is possible, although not easy to do), at least the following conceptual problems (similarities, differences, collisions) arise: Is political literacy something which can be gained from formal education or not; Who are in this relationship: the youth or every citizen; Is it about rational argument or about a more complicated praxis in which rationality and emotions merge? What do we need in relation to literacy if we put citizens’ ability to be a citizen in the context of survival of democracy: some form of education, the political practice itself, a type identity, or a culture? The paper discusses those ancient Athenian practices that may be related to ‘political literacy’ and thoughts that concern with the relation of ‘democratic order’ and citizens’ political capacity. In doing so, it wishes to reveal conceptual differences, as well as existed practices as examples with – in some cases – historically non-restricted relevance.