Incentives for Civic Participation in Classical Athens

What is it about?

In classical Athens, a vermillion-dyed rope was used to drive citizens into the place of Assembly-meetings under the threat of a fine. Two public slaves stretched the rope while traversing the Agora; thus, those who loitered around and got their clothes stained were subject to a fine. Scholars have assumed that this negative incentive stopped being used in the fourth century, when Athenians introduced payment for those attending Assembly-meetings. This study, however, shows that this assumption is mistaken and that Athenians continued the implementation of the negative incentive alongside the positive one.

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Photo by Yang Yang on Unsplash

Photo by Yang Yang on Unsplash

Why is it important?

In democratic politics, civic participation is always a major concern--and it always was. Classical Athens, the world's first documented democracy, implemented both positive and negative incentives to motivate civic participation in Assembly-meetings. This article shows that the negative incentive (fine), which was implemented first, continued existing even after the introduction of the positive one (monetary payment).