The Gliding Scale Model of Political Systems: Between Oligarchy and Democracy

The Gliding Scale Model of Political Systems: Between Oligarchy and Democracy

Lecture by Assoc. Professor Ingvar B. Mæhle (Assoc. Professor of ancient history, Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion, University of Bergen)

The lecture will take place on Thursday, 12 October 2023, at 7:00 p.m. (Athens) at the Norwegian Institute at Athens, Tsami Karatasou 5, 11742 (the lecture will also be streamed online via Zoom)

Registration is required for both in-person and virtual attendance.

To attend in-person, please register at norwinst@uib.no

To attend via Zoom, please register via the following link:

https://uib.zoom.us/meeting/register/u5wrcumvrTMsGtZx0WloNc-eAd9nF7e8-esq

Biography

Ingvar B. Mæhle is Associate Professor in Ancient History at the Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural and Religious Studies, University of Bergen. His research focuses on social and political history in the ancient Greco-Roman World.

Abstract

Two landmark studies, Matthew Simonton’s Classical Greek Oligarchy, and Erich Robinson’s Democracy Outside Athens have greatly expanded our understanding of both political regimes. Their treatment of oligarchy and democracy as single forms, however, has resulted in a simplistic demarcation of both. In Robinson’s case it has resulted in too many “hits” for the democratic form of government in Ancient Greece. In Simonton’s case, a rejection of Aristotle’s pluralistic model, has in my view, obscured the fluid reality of political systems.

My own “gliding scale model”, building on the comparative historical tradition introduced by Aristotle, and utilized by M.I. Finley and others, as well as the findings of the Copenhagen Polis Centre, is a comparative tool, which details the possible political variations of the key institutions known from the ancient Greek and Roman world. By using this model to interpret our source material, I hope to be able to define the varieties and gradations of political systems in a more nuanced light.