On: How old are democracies across the world?

[toqy]

I don't imagine exile would be as bad today as it would back then. Our national level politicians are fairly wealthy too. Getting exiled as a local level politician would be tough though.

[marginalia_nu → toqy]

You got to keep in mind most Athenian officials were selected via sortition (i.e. random lot), not elected. If you were eligible to vote, you were eligible for a term in office. Only a small fraction of the officials were elected, including for example generals.

[ThalesX → marginalia_nu]

IIRC, you could basically put your name in the lot, or put the name of whoever you thought would make a fit candidate.

[earleybird → toqy]

Assuming that would be exile relative to the jurisdiction of service - you might have to move to the next town :-)