If the continuing rows over the expenses and lifestyles of certain MPs cast all of them in a bad light, it is a mystery why decent members do not take action to hasten the exit of their more shameless colleagues. If they do not, then the press will continue to hound them — but not half as hard as ancient Greeks hounded their officials, and not just officials either.
Plato’s ideal republic was ruled by ideal guardians, but as he admitted, man’s nature ensured he would have to settle for second best: decree and law. Even critics of Athenian radical democracy, where the people (male citizens over 18) in Assembly were sovereign, agreed that the system worked remarkably well because of the accountability to which both the Assembly and the courts ensured officials and citizens were subject.
First, all officials, whether appointed by election or lot, had effectively to hand over their property and civic freedom to the state.
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