The Government Shutdown: A Comparison to Athenian Political Structure

By Adam Schilt

As stated in the Constitution, Congress has a key duty to pass spending bills in order to fund the government.  The importance of this responsibility was emphasized on September 30^th, 2013, when most functions of the government shut down as a result of Congress not passing the spending bill by the end of their fiscal year, that evening.

The principal reason as to why the bill was not passed is that House Republicans were insistent on making cuts to the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.  The act is not directly associated with the federal spending bill, but some Republicans chose to use it as leverage in order to garner enough votes to derail Obamacare.  The Republicans would like to add provisions to the spending bill that would defund the Affordable Care Act, a goal, which, in the minds of some in Congress, is worth undercutting the daily functioning of the government.

The Democratic led Senate and the Republican run House of Representatives are at odds thus far in the shutdown.  For example, the House proposed amendments to Obamacare on Monday, which the Senate immediately rejected.  Furthermore, in the overnight, the House voted in favor of more ill-fated anti-Obamacare amendments, which the Senate promptly shut down as well.  On October 2, President Obama then organized a meeting with the House and Senate leaders of both parties.  During this meeting, Obama made it clear that he was not willing to compromise or engage in give-and-take negotiations.  Finding a solution to the spending bill will have to come from the Executive and Legislative branches acting in unison, or waiting for political party to outlast the other in this stalemate.

An interesting comparison to draw from the current government shutdown to something more abstract, is the concept of spreading power among different parts of the government, an idea which dates as far back as the restructuring of Athenian politics during the 6^th century B.C.  The Reforms of Cleisthenes involved the reorganization of Athenian government operations.  Specifically, there was a Council of Five Hundred that comprised equal representatives of each of the ten tribes in Attica.  Every tribe had a tenth of the year to lead the Council.  This was done to help manage the large group, prevent an individual faction from gaining too much power, and also to discourage the use of bribery.  The system was remarkably successful and represents the early beginnings representative democracy, serving as a model for the United States.

The question we have to ask in reference to the Affordable Care Act and the government shutdown is how did this revolving door of power in the Council of Five Hundred allow for the government to function so smoothly?  The United States’ current system of elections every two years in the House and staggered elections occurring every two years for six-year terms in the Senate affords room for Congress to possess power for much longer than the Council of Five Hundred.  This leaves the potential for our politicians to take advantage of the security that their lengthy terms provide.  The protection provided by the lengthier terms leaves room for dysfunction, which can be seen right now in Congress.