Athens , the meeting place for the Athenian popular assembly In
Athenian democracy the
ecclesia was the assembly which was open to all male citizens, about 30 percent of the city-state's adult population. The assembly could attract large audiences: 6,000 citizens might have attended in Athens during the fifth century BC out of the estimated 30,000–60,000 eligible citizens. The assembly was responsible for declaring war, military strategy and electing the
strategoi and other officials. It had the final say on legislation and the right to call magistrates to account after their year of office. The reforms of
Solon gave them responsibility for nominating and electing magistrates (
archons), though this had been replaced by 487 BC with
sortition by lot. The assembly was supervised by the
boule, a council of 400–500, whose most important role was to prepare the assembly's agenda. The
boule was selected by soritition, among wealthy men above the age of 30. These assemblies did not initiate or debate proposals, but listened to statements from appointed speakers and voted on proposals. The oldest assembly was the
Curiate Assembly, which was founded during the Kingdom. It did not operate on a
one man, one vote principle. Instead, each citizen was assigned to a grouping called a
curia, and majorities of participants in a majority of curiae were necessary to approve a decision, regardless on whether it was supported by an overall majority of participants. The
Centuriate Assembly and
Tribal Assembly developed later and operated with a similar system but based on different groupings. Assemblies were dominated by the wealthier classes, as only they could devote time to participating, and they were overrepresented further by the grouping-based voting systems. The Curiate Assembly was already largely ceremonial in the middle of the Republican period, and the late Republic saw a decline of the assemblies' roles. Their last effective powers were abolished during the
Roman Empire, with the second
Roman emperor,
Tiberius, transferring them to the Senate. Frank Abbott attributes their decline to the transformation of the Roman state from a city-state to an empire; they no longer represented its population and representing the rest of the empire was impractical. They remain a characteristic symbol of Swiss democracy. A few
districts (between municipal and cantonal levels) in
Grisons and
Schwyz also have a
Lansgemeinde. The retained
Landsgemeinden each co-exist with an elected council and their powers and role vary according to the cantonal or local government's constitution. Approving a proposal requires a
majority vote and is typically done with a show of hands. The lack of a
secret ballot is controversial, including the question as to whether it is compatible with Article 21.3 of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Proposals to reform the
Landsgemeinden that have been discussed but not implemented include secret electronic ballots and improving the preliminary debate. Popular assemblies are more common at a municipal level. The vast majority of small municipalities in Switzerland feature a town meeting (
Gemeindeversammlung) as part of their governance structure, though they are rare in municipalities with a population over 10,000. As of 2020, some of the larger municipalities with a town meeting include
Rapperswil-Jona,
Baar and
Horgen, each with a population in the 20,000-30,000 range. Although larger towns have since moved to more representative forms of government, it is still widely practiced in smaller and more rural communities. They commonly meet once a year on a Tuesday in March. Their exact role and functioning can vary considerably by town, as well as by state. Since the turn of the nineteenth century, political scientists have characterized New England's town meetings as a notable example of
direct democracy. Others question their ability to represent the population.
Jane Mansbridge and Donald L. Robinson have argued that town meetings in Vermont and Massachusetts feature extremely low turnout in part because they last for a full working day, thus overrepresentating seniors and non-working residents in the meetings. Mansbridge also notes differences in participation on the basis of education and class when conflicts arise, writing that "the face-to-face assembly lets those who have no trouble speaking defend their interests; it does not give the average citizen comparable protection." The similarly named
town hall meeting, where politicians meet with their constituents and discuss issues, is named after and meant to resemble the town meeting. ==Modern examples==