tizens. Ideas were expressed directly through the Assembly, which consisted of all male citizens over eighteen years of age and who were willing to attend the sessions. The most important body in Athens was the popular Assembly. The Assembly would meet a number of times each month and the first 6,000 Athenians to arrive participated in the proceedings. Cleisthenes increased the power of the Assembly largely by making use of it to push through his reforms. By this precedent he ensured that all-important laws had to be passed by a vote of the people as a whole.There were also a variety of constitutional safeguards built into the system. Any law passed by the Assembly had to be proposed by some one, whose name appeared at the beginning of the statue. If the citizens later thought they had made a mistake they could attack the law in court on a writ of unconstitutionality, that is the law was contrary to Athenian principles (Ober 34). If the law was challenged within a year after its passage and found unconstitutional, its proposer was fined a sum that would have bankrupt almost any citizen. This arrangement had a tendency to discourage frivolous ideas and glory seekers. It encouraged serious thinking and political responsibility.Another safeguard to the Assembly was the institution of the Council of 500 by Cleisthenes. It would consist of 50 members chosen by lot from each of the 10 tribes (Demand 159). The Council would thus be a geographically balanced body, one of whose functions was to tie Athenians together regardless of where they lived or who they were related to. The Councils main task was to prepare legislation for Athenian Assembly. Each tribes group of fifty would be on duty for one tenth of the year to oversea any business that needed immediate attention. The fifty candidates serving on the Council were chosen by lot (Ober 36). The final choice by lot was one of the most democratic devices imaginable and reduced the danger of po...
