America has seen many protests in recent weeks, and there are many people eager to “tear down” the system – but protesting is easy. The hard part is coming up with solutions and a society that works better than what we have now.

The Greek city-state of Athens is a perfect example of how democratic systems were tried and tested over many years. As a people, the ancient Greeks had an idea of what proper governance should look like and basically used trial-and-error over hundreds of years to perfect it.

Draco’s Laws

The first attempt at a genuine democracy was seen around 621 B.C. This was spearheaded by a man named Draco. Prior to this, laws were unwritten and mostly unknown by most Athenians. By writing them down and placing them on small three-sided pyramids, every literate person could read the laws.

Yet these laws, and specifically the punishments, were extremely harsh. They were codified by Draco, so it should come as no surprise that the word “Draconian” comes from his name. The punishment for just about every crime, from stealing a cabbage to murder, was death.

Solon’s Reforms

In 594 B.C., this system was updated by Solon. At the time, Athens was run exclusively by a group of nine archons – or rulers – each from a noble house. Solon expanded the power to include other groups of society who had always been excluded (although the groups granted these rights were limited in number).

Solon also stopped the use of slavery for the collection of debts from fellow Athenians and, perhaps most importantly, created the right to a jury in court. This was a great leap forward in society. Nowhere else in the world before this time could a person’s fate at the hands of the law be decided by other citizens on a large scale. Previously, the decision was most often at the decree of a ruler or judge. These changes were the first step to making all people equal before the law.

Solon introduced a series of other reforms that covered property, sales, tariffs, trade, morality, and just about every subject you can think of, and then he went on a journey. During his travels many of these reforms collapsed, much to Solon’s anger and disappointment.

A New Dictator

Athens once again fell to a dictator. Hippias, the “tyrant” of the Athenians, ruled the state from 527 to 510 B.C. Hippias’ hold appeared absolute, until Cleisthenes, an exiled lawgiver, asked the Spartans to help remove him. The Spartans agreed.

But here began a long period of mistrust between Athens and Sparta. The Spartan king helped overthrow and exile Hippias, but then thought that his kingdom deserved to rule Athens. He tried to put his own man into power.

The Father of Democracy

The people of Athens rose against another all-powerful ruler, and Cleisthenes was brought back to Athens. He began new reforms, including a system in which all citizens were equal. It was, however, a time when only men were classed as citizens.

Cleisthenes is known as the Father of Athenian Democracy because, under his direction, regular people became the power source. He instituted ten tribes based on areas of residence known as demes. Each deme would send a number of its people to help run Athens, so all locations were represented, and these representatives were changed regularly so as not to allow one person or tribe to build up too much power or influence. Government positions were literally filled at random to stop men of influence from securing a privileged position.

Trying New Systems

Over the centuries, the governing structure of Athens went through many versions. Sometimes it failed, sometimes it succeeded. But after each fall, Athenians would build again in a better image than the one that went before. It was a process and indeed a struggle.

The United States of America is a continuation of Athenian democracy; it is the next iteration in a project – in the interest of all mankind – that has lasted millennia. Has it reached perfection? Is it the pinnacle of all human history? Clearly not. But perhaps that is the point. It is a project that should never be finished, should never dare people to say that “we have completed the human experiment and this is our result.” The demands of those who can on