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Essay Athens
In history class we have been discussing if Athens was a democracy till this day. In my opinion I don't think Athens was a democracy because they did not rule themselves. In these documents it explains how Athens was a democracy, but in some cases it showed that it couldn't be a democracy. Some people have different opinions then me, but as I explain these Athens could not be a democracy.
First of all, why I think Athens aren't a democracy is because people did not rule themselves just like in Document C on the chart it shows how slaves were a democracy, and slaves were not a democracy because they not rule themselves a. If you look in Document A paragraph 2 it shows a quote saying “ If we look at the laws, they give equal
In comparing the Ancient Athenian system of government, and the Modern Day American political system, there are many similarities. In Ancient Athens, democracy was developed in response to a long history of oppressive rulers who used their position of power for their own benefit. Ancient Athenians sought a government where all citizens were considered equal under the eyes of the law, and all had a fair say in the running of their country. Following a series
By the fourth century B.C.E. there were hundreds of Greek democracies. Greece was not a single political entity it was a collection of about 1500 separate poleis or cities scattered around the Mediterranean and black sea shores. The cities that were not democracies were either oligarchies or monarchies (often times called tyrannies). Of the democracies, the oldest, the most stable, the most long-lived, and the most radical, was Athens.
In the fifth-century BC, Athens emerged as one of the most advanced state or polis in all of Greece. This formation of Athenian ‘democracy’ holds the main principle that citizens should enjoy political equality in order to be free to rule and be ruled in turn. The word ‘democracy’ originates from the Greek words demos (meaning people) and kratos (meaning power) therefore demokratia means “the power of the people.” The famous funeral speech of Pericles states that “Our constitution is called democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.” However, only citizens (free adult men of Athenian descent) could participate in political matters. Women and slaves held no political rights, although they were essential in order to free up time for the citizens to participate in the matters of the state. The development of Athenian democracy has been fundamental for the basis of modern political thinking, although many in modern society UK would be sceptical to call it a democracy. Plato and Aristotle in The Republic and The Politics respectively were critical of the Athenian democracy, by examining the culture and ideology present the limitations and possible downfalls of a democratic way of life. Within this essay I will outline these limitations and evaluate their validity.
I believe that athens was a true democracy because they voted only if they were citizens and only if they were old enough to vote. Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. For example the united states is a democracy because all the eligible members in the states have vote. The only bad thing is that not all the eligible member vote in all the states. I believe that it would be much better if all the eligible members in every state voted, because it would be more accurate for all the elections and rules that the government puts.
He defined that they are a democracy because “power is in the hands of not a minority, but of the whole people.” Pericles illustrates how private and public disputes are handled in Athens. He says that with private disputes, everyone is equal. Although he states that everyone is equal before the law and democracy is equally ruled by everyone, that is not entirely true because not everyone is a citizen. Around 4/5 of Athen’s population were not citizens because they were either women, foreigners, or slaves.
The Athenian government was a democratic government, which means it was ruled by the people to vote and have a voice in society. The democracy was slowly formed by leaders Solon and Cleisthenes. Solon took over when Athens was in political turmoil. He introduced new reforms to forgive debts, outlaw new loans, free people that
The term “democracy”, as a word and an institution, is derived from Ancient Greece. A democracy, by definition, is a form of government in which people choose leaders by voting. The earliest example of this governmental structure can be traced back to pre-common era Athens under the Athenian leader Cleisthenes. One of Ancient Greece’s most notable foundations was the polis, or city-state. The city-states were independent communities, with Athens being one of the most prominent.
On which they would scratch the name of the person that represented a threat.”(Doc E)This demonstrates why Athens was a democratic society since not only did civilians get to decide on who is in office and who is not. Furthermore, because democracy means rule by the people, and male citizens of ancient Athens voted laws and officials into place.(doc c) This exemplifies how salient the majority's opinion was instead of opinions of just a few rich men .In addition, Athens “....constitution favors many instead of few.”(doc a) Also Athenians had the freedom to do whatever they desire a long as they did not disrupt any other citizen or violate a law. “The freedom which we enjoy in our governments also to our ordinary life…...we do not feel called upon to be angry with our neighbor for doing what he likes. But all this ease in our private life does not make us lawless as citizens.”(doc A) Therefore, this exhibits that this is a democratic government because this is a characteristic that can be seen in democratic governments today. To summarize why Athens was a democracy.Citizens were free to do what makes them jubilant as long as it did not interfere with the laws or fellow citizens. Male citizens could vote and elect the rulers and vote laws into place. These aspects all demonstrate why Athens
middle of paper ... ... But when deciding who’s reforms were closer to the ‘ideals’ of democracy, you first have to consider that Solon didn’t have any previous democracies to delve into while creating his own laws for Athens. Therefore, Solon’s intentions, at the time of establishing these laws, must be kept in mind, because he was unaware of whether they were considered democratic or not. Text, 2013, p. 1).
Athens of ancient Greece had perhaps the most advanced system of government of the ancient world. The system of Athens was called a Democracy. That is, every citizen voted on everything. People have claimed that the United States is also a Democracy. This is not true. The government of the United States is a Constitutional Republic (Every). United States citizens vote for representatives, who then vote on the laws. They themselves are limited by a constitution. Democracy is a flawed government system. The Constitutional Republic is also flawed, however, it is better at safeguarding individual rights, when applied correctly. Therefore, a Constitutional Republic is a better system than a Democracy.
Athens is an example of a direct democracy. A point should be made here that
To describe a society’s constitution as a democracy, or dêmokratia, implies a sense that the people who live in it have a degree of power over the key decisions made within it. In Athens in the Classical era, Athenian citizens asserted their full combined power to take control of all the city’s affairs, and the polis ran under the banner of dêmokratia. The combined Athenian male citizenry, the dêmos, wielded power over the making and administration of laws, the distribution of official powers, economic structure, and external relations. Key to the idea of dêmokratia were principles such as isonomia, isêgoria, and eleutheria, which meant that citizens could freely pursue a political life and contribute positively into the politics of the state.
The term democracy comes from the Greek language and means "rule by the people."(Democracy Building 2012) The democracy in Athens represents the events leading up to modern day democracies. Like our modern democracy, the Athenian democracy was created as a reaction to a concentration and abuse of power by the rulers. Philosophers defined the essential elements of democracy as a separation of powers, basic civil rights, human rights, religious liberty and separation of church and state. The most current definition of a democracy is defined as a “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.”(Dictionary.com). The American democracy was greatly influenced by the Athenian democracy. The Founding Fathers of the American democracy borrowed ideas from the Athenian way of governing. Presently, Americans live in a democracy that is much different than that the Athenian democracy, and what the Founding Fathers of the American Democracy envisioned. Although there are some commonalities between Athens and what our Founding Fathers intended, there are major differences as well. Differences between the modern American democracy the Athenian democracy and what the Founding Fathers envisioned are size of the democracies, the eligibility of a citizen to participate in the democracy and how a citizen participated.
The Greeks system of democracy was an entirely new concept when it was created, and one that has had lasting affects as it continues to influence present day politics around the globe. Modern day democracies may very well not exist if it wasn’t for the success the Athenians had with democracy. Today we look back at these ancient civilizations and we try to better our current society by learning from their mistakes and building on their success.
What is democracy? Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. Democracies are based on "rule of law." The Ancient Greeks particularly Aristotle valued natural law, the notion that human societies should be governed by ethical principles found in nature (ushistory.org). Athens had an extraordinary system of government. A form of direct democracy in ancient Greece was practiced in the ancient city-state of Athens for about 100 years. This was only an experiment at first. How this form of democracy worked is that all adult citizens had to take an active part in government, ruled by many, if called on to do so. At this time of democracy citizens