Status Updates From The Story of Civilization, ...

"This corrupt and incompetent democracy is at least a school: the voter in the Assembly listens to the cleverest men in Athens, the juror in the courts has his wits sharpened by the taking and sifting of evidence, the holder of office is molded by executive responsibility and experience into a deeper maturity of understanding and judgment; 'the city,' says Simonides, 'is the teacher of the man'" (266-7).

Nice little bit on Polybius

"The good government & cultural patronage that had adorned Athens in the age of Peisistratus were continued now with equal unity & decisiveness ...but also with the full...consent of a free citizenship. History through [Pericles] illustrated again the principle that liberal reforms are most ably executed & most permanently secured by the cautious & moderate leadership of an aristocrat enjoying popular support" (249).