Mass and elite in democratic Athens : rhetoric, ideology and the power of the people / Josiah Ober.

Problems and method -- Democracy: Athenian and modern -- Elites and Masses -- Explaining sociopolitical stability -- Premises and methods -- Rhetoric -- Other primary sources -- History of the Athenian "Constitution": a diachronic survey -- Introduction -- Before Solon: birth Elite -- Solon: wealth elite and masses -- Pisistratus and the aspirations of the Demos -- Cleisthenes' Isonomia -- Fifth century -- Fourth century -- Public speakers and mass audiences -- Mass comunication -- Classes of public speakers: rhetores and idiotai -- Elite status of public speakers -- Politics and political organization -- Public forums of debate and communication -- Ability and education: the power of persuasion -- Educated elites -- Group decisions and collective wisdom -- Dangers of rhetoric -- Rhetores' use of poetry and history -- Rhetores on the advantages of elite education -- Ambivalence and balance -- Class: wealth, resentment, and gratitude -- Economic inequality in the egalitarian state --
Envy, resentment and the evils of wealth -- Wealth and power inequality -- Mediating negative impressions of wealth -- Charis: private generosity and public gratitude -- Politicians and the ideology of wealth -- Control of economic inequality by political equals -- Status: noble birth and aristocratic behavior -- Status and social standing -- Athenian aristocrats -- Democratization of birth privilege -- Slavery and the ideology of labor -- Tensions within the ideology of status -- Conclusions: dialectics and discourse -- Political equality and social inequality -- Liberty and consensus -- Rule of law and the sovereing demos -- Ideology and the balance of mass and elite -- Political roles of the rhetor -- Restraints on politicians -- Ideological hegemony of the masses

This book asks an important question often ignored by ancient historians and political scientists alike: Why did Athenian democracy work as well and for as long as it did? Josiah Ober seeks the answer by analyzing the sociology of Athenian politics and the nature of communication between elite and nonelite citizens. After a preliminary survey of the development of the Athenian “constitution,” he focuses on the role of political and legal rhetoric. As jurymen and Assemblymen, the citizen masses of Athens retained important powers, and elite Athenian politicians and litigants needed to address these large bodies of ordinary citizens in terms understandable and acceptable to the audience. This book probes the social strategies behind the rhetorical tactics employed by elite speakers.
A close reading of the speeches exposes both egalitarian and elitist elements in Athenian popular ideology. Ober demonstrates that the vocabulary of public speech constituted a democratic discourse that allowed the Athenians to resolve contradictions between the ideal of political equality and the reality of social inequality. His radical reevaluation of leadership and political power in classical Athens restores key elements of the social and ideological context of the first western democracy.