How would the ancient Athenians have handled the Hutton inquiry? They would not have needed one. Real democracies get to the nub with indecent haste.
In the first place, the decision to go to war had to be agreed by the people’s Assembly (all male citizens over 18). It would have been ferociously debated. That decision made, the Assembly voted on the leaders they wished to put in charge. The Council, the Assembly’s steering committee (500 citizens over 30, selected by lot to serve for a year), then took on the job of ensuring that all the necessary resources, human and inanimate, were in place and functioning properly — especially the cavalry and navy. But the Council’s job was for the most part a matter of checking that everything was in order; the Assembly took all the major decisions about, e.g.,
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