The origins of the Polis. An economic perspective on institutional change in ancient Greece 1000-600 B.C

Carl Hampus Lyttkens

No 2001:17, Working Papers from Lund University, Department of Economics

Abstract: From a beginning of small isolated settlements, the city-state (polis) emerged in Greece in the course of four centuries as a political, geographical and judicial unit, with an assembly, council, magistrates and written laws. Using a rational-actor perspective, it is shown how this process was driven by competition among the members of the elite. A crucial ingredient was the gradual consolidation of boundaries, which contributed to population growth, inter-state conflicts, colonisation and a more fierce competition for power. Variations over time in the conditions for competition explain both the introduction of formal political institutions and their overthrow by tyrants.

Keywords: institutional change; ancient Greece; city-state; competition (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D23 N43 P14 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 38 pages
Date: 2001-09-15, Revised 2004-09-30
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm, nep-pol and nep-tid
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
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Published in Constitutional Political Economy, 2006, pages 31-48.

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2001_017

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