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The citizens (adult males) all met in fortnightly Assembly and gave decisions and directions.

The Council of 500 (selected by lot) implemented these directions between assembly meetings and handled day to day problems, calling special extra assembly meetings for serious issues. 50 councillors were on duty 24/7 to handle problems in a timely way.

The courts comprised juries of 500 selected by lot which decided legal cases - there were no lawyers or judges to interfere or manipulate, the jury decided issues and sentences by secret ballot. With the large numbers, a jury was effectively an opinion poll of the citizens.

The only exception to open eligibility for office was the 10 generals - the people were not about to let rabbits chosen randomly by lot lead them in battle, so each tribe nominated a competent general. This spilt over to implementation of Assembly decisions which often had the rider 'the Generals to implement, even for non military actions.

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9y ago

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