
The Origins of Democratic Thinking
The Invention of Politics in Classical Athens
Cynthia Farrar(Author)
Cambridge University Press
2nd Edition
Published on 19. February 2026
Book
Hardback
354 pages
978-1-009-49295-9 (ISBN)
Description
The Athenians invented democracy - and as they grappled with the implications, they also invented democratic political theory. By reconstruing Protagoras the sophist, Thucydides the historian, and Democritus the cosmologist in the context of political developments and contemporary scientific, literary, and philosophical works, Cynthia Farrar's seminal study reveals the emergence of a distinctive and still cogent understanding of democratic order. All three thinkers wrestled with democracy's insistence on separating political from social identity and status. Unlike Plato and Aristotle, they constructed democratic theories that were genuinely democratic: addressed to citizens, and inviting them to interpret what their own and collective well-being demands in the world as it is. In a new introduction, Farrar makes the case for the continued relevance of the ideas explored in this book by recounting her own attempts to adapt Athenian structures of democratic citizenship and to reinterpret their democratic theory for the modern world.
Reviews / Votes
'Challenges the widespread view that the early Greeks failed to develop a theory of democracy ... A powerful book on a topic of major significance.' W. R. Connor, American Historical Review 'This engrossing, valuable book provides an instructive account of the political thought of three major intellectual figures of fifth-century Greece.' J. R. Wallach, The American Political Science ReviewMore details
Series
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Edition type
Revised edition
Illustrations
Worked examples or Exercises
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
664 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-009-49295-9 (9781009492959)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
approx. 02/2026
2nd Edition
Cambridge University Press
€41.00
Not yet published
Previous edition

Book
06/1988
Cambridge University Press
€55.80
Article exhausted; check for reprint
Persons
Cynthia Farrar is an independent scholar and civic entrepreneur. She is the author of articles on various aspects of ancient and modern democratic theory and practice. Her research has fueled groundbreaking work with Yale, New Haven's Community Foundation, and her production company, Purple States. Through democratically structured partnerships between communities and institutions, face-to-face deliberations, video storytelling, and a Civic Leagues structure for local engagement, she has renewed inclusive democratic citizenship.
Content
Foreword; Introduction; Preface; 1. Ancient reflections: a force for us; 2. Order in autonomy: the ungoverned cosmos and the democratic community; 3. Protagoras: measuring man; 4. Man's measurings: cosmos and community; 5. Thucydides: reflecting history - man and the community; 6. Democritus: reflecting man - the individual and the cosmos; 7. Living democracy?; Bibliography; Indexes.