The chapter aims to outline the institutional architecture developed in Classical Athens with respect to the defence and resilience of democracy. In the first part I explain why and how the case of Classical Athens can be usefully drawn upon for engaging in contemporary institutional design. In the second part I describe several institutions from Classical Athens that aimed at and/or contributed to the prevention or resolution of anti-democratic challenges (staseis). The overarching purpose of this exposition is to set the basic foundations for a broader project that will draw on the institutional logic reconstructed from this historical case study in order to offer normative prescriptions for contemporary democratic resilience
to autocratization challenges.