Advantages Of Democracy In Athens

Government:

Athens was one of the first places to develop the idea of a democracy. They experimented with the idea of a direct democracy where instead of electing a representative who voted on the citizen’s behalf, all citizens were able to vote for themselves. However, not everyone was a citizen. To be a citizen one must be born in Athens, male, landowning, and free-born. After meeting all the requirements they were able to vote on all bills and legislation. The assembly was a main aspect of Athenian Democracy, they had many jobs such as making public announcements, and voting on the primary issues of Athens. Another important part of the democracy was the council of 500, who were drawn randomly and could only serve once. They knew that all citizens couldn’t meet everyday at the assembly, so they created the Council of 500 to direct the daily business of Athens. Another group controlling the democracy was the court, they were the ones supervising all

The upper class, also referred to as the ‘Leisure Class’ was the highest rank in Athens. They were in charge of government work, philosophy, literature and could fight in wars. The leisure class could afford to own land, and were permitted to vote. The middle class, known as the metics were free but did not have as many rights as the upper class. They mostly worked in manufacturing jobs, or in trading. The lower class was called the ‘freedmen’, this was a group made up of slaves who has been freed by their masters. They had very little rights and were not considered citizens. The lowest class was the women and slaves, they had no rights at all, no say in legal decisions and slaves were able to be bought and sold like objects. Slaves and women were not citizens, in order to be a citizen one must a man, native to Athens, landowning and free born. Only citizens were able to vote, have an education, and serve in the