Rationality, Ritual, and Democratic Decision-Making: Perspectives from Classical Athens

October 16, 2020 | Sara Forsdyke (University of Michigan) and Josiah Ober (Stanford University), Moderated by Emily Mackil (UC Berkeley, Department of History and Chair, Graduate Group in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archeology) and Duncan MacRae (UC Berkeley Department of Classics)
As the November 2020 General Election approaches, the nature of democratic decision-making is a question of vital importance for participants in American democracy. How do communities make collective decisions? Do democratic institutions encourage more rational choices? Or irrational ones? How do religious ideas and practices shape the patterns and outcomes of community decision-making?
Classical Athens has often been exemplary for thinking through big questions of democratic theory and practice. In a panel discussion on Friday October 16, 10:00AM PST, Sara Forsdyke and Josiah Ober (Stanford University) took up these questions in relation to both Classical Athens and more contemporary societies. Emily Mackil, (UC Berkeley Department of History and Chair, Graduate Group in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archeology) and Duncan MacRae (UC Berkeley Department of Classics) will serve as interlocutors. With the history and institutions of classical Athens at the center of the conversation, the panel will range across fundamental issues of democratic practice and theory, touching on political institutions, rationality, political and religious ritual, and, ultimately, the significance of democratic political participation.
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Presented by the Berkeley Center for the Study of Religion with generous support from the Henry Luce Foundation and the Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities, and co-sponsored by the Center for Democracy, Toleration, and Religion (CDTR), and the Social Science Matrix.