A Quick Look at the Structure of Government in Athens and Sparta. Name Withheld for Peer Grading University of the People Introduction In the historical search for the origins of democracy as a political system, we note that the Greek poleis or city-states in the classical and ancient eras are the basic nucleus of the invention of democracy, especially those that arose in both Athens and Sparta. Although the kernel of democracy that emerged at that time contained many flaws, it is undoubtedly the oldest and most primitive form of democracy compared to the democracy we know today. The social and political development and the mechanism of governance for Athens and Sparta and the rules of democracy emerging in both are the main topics discussed …show more content…
The ways in which the people of Athens and Sparta obtained their rights to make decisions varied. In Sparta, an individual could be influential in society if he was a male born into the two royal families, as there were two kings at the same time. Also, free male fighters could be part of the Spartan government if they were elected to the council. However, the authority of individuals in the council was limited due to the control of the Gerousia, they are the elderly who were over the age of sixty, and the Ephors, who shared the executive power with the two kings (Mark, 2021). In Athens, participation in the decision was carried out by direct voting as the population was limited and the country was small. Only free males who had sufficient experience had the right to vote. The Athenian government included free Athenian men representing the tribes that made up the Athenian polis. Consequently, women were not included in the voting process in both cities, as were other categories of the general public, such as slaves (Brand, n.d.). Who held the public office? Two kings simultaneously held public positions in Sparta, each representing a separate …show more content…
What rules govern the selection of public office holders? In Sparta, the rules governing the selection of public positions holders were the age requirement, and the male is a free fighter. Vote is made for one year only. Gerousia and Ephors had an enormous influence on the elected assembly. They had the empowerment to decide which issues would be imparted in front of the assembly. Only free Spartan men had the right to vote or participate in political life (Brand, n.d.). In Athens, the rules governing the selection of public position holders were carried out by the vote of free Athenian males according to the principle of the majority. Athenian aristocrats often controlled the majority. Nevertheless, the division of Athenians into tribes helped a larger alternation of power between them (Brand, n.d.). How are the two city-states similar in their governmental structures? How do they differ? It can be said that Athens and Sparta were similar in keeping women out of public roles and positions in government structures. The individuals who have the right to make decisions are the free males in both
Imagine two countries, so different from each other, that conflicts were inevitable. Athens and Sparta were not countries, however, they were city-states of Greece with many contrasting values. Athens was the city of the arts, reading, and writing. Meanwhile, military was the only thing the on the Spartans’ minds. Athens and Sparta differ in many ways due to their governments, economies, and cultures.
Throughout history, civilizations have organized their members and incentives in citizenship systems. Athens and Rome, both portray the traits of semi-perfect systems of their time. While Rome may have been the greater civilization, Athens had the better citizenship system, for having protective, unbiased, and open minded tradeoffs.
Athens was a much more superior polis compared to Sparta because the Athenians invented new ideas and creations that supported the people, such as democracy, the Athenians led the Delian League, and Sparta created the Peloponnesian League after the Athenians created their alliance, and the Athenians changed the ways of their government many times to suit the people, and the Spartans did not.
In contrast, Sparta was largely an agrarian society and more isolated. Sparta's political system was oligarchic and militant. Sparta's hereditary monarchy of two kings held the right to military leadership. Five ephors elected by the Assembly served as the executing agent with wide powers. The Assembly acted only by acclamation, unlike the Athenian Assembly that depended on debate.
Athenian government is democratic, and its citizens play a major role in shaping the government. Athenian ‘citizens’ are comprised only of adult males; women, children, metics, and slave...
Ancient Greece city-states, Athens and Sparta, were quite different from one another. They both had a different government, education, and female rights, to top it all off they also loathed one another.
Ancient Athens was, at first, rule aristocratically and this benefited a small group of elites. However, there began a major demand for political equality by the wealthy merchants and working class; therefore the aristocrats were forced to compromise or face a major civil war. The aristocrats gave political power to the people of Athens and this restored the power balance within the state. These events lead to the birth of democracy. In Manin’s The Principles of Representative Government, he discusses the creation of the assembly where people would come to vote on local political issues (Manin 11). Along with the assembly, they created mechanisms to avoid demagogues (ostracism and ‘graphe para nomo’) and a lottery system to choose political figures so there is equality among all citizens. Athens functioned and flourished on two core beliefs in the polis: “1. We all have an understanding of what is happening around us and fix it. 2. No one person can take away our right to govern” (Breaugh). Everyone has the ability to rule and must rule, was an essential part of the polis. Additionally, every citizen was equal to one another, within the polis. In the lecture, Breaugh mentioned, “the community would help to define you as a citizen, and the citizen helps define the community” (Breaugh). Political participation was believed to be a vital part of every man’s self-development and, most importantly,
Greece is a country united by its name, but divided by its ways. Although Sparta and Athens were both Greek cities, their societies were different. Sparta was focused on having a perfect military, whereas Athenian daily life revolved learning and knowledge. When Spartan boys were being trained for an army, Athenian boys were being trained for life. Both of these societies revolved around different government, education from when kids to teenagers, the responsibilities each individual had to keep their spot, and how women played a role throughout each city state.
Sparta and Athens - Explain and Contrast Both Sparta and Athens were Greek city-states. Sparta was a strict military ruled city-state where the people established themselves as a military power early. However Athens was more of a political city-state that was more involved with their economical stature than their military forces. Still changes from the Persian wars would change the powers of the city-state and somewhat unite them.
Sparta contained a four branch government system that was considered among the most unique in all of Greece. Unlike the democracy of Athens, Sparta was based on an oligarchy structure. The diarchy, which consisted of two kings, was the first division of this government. These figures held little influence over the state and served more as a symbol of royal heritage (Kennell 83). The second branch was the Gerousia council which acted as an advising body and hel...
Athens and Sparta were both city-states in Classical Greece. While Athens embraced democracy, Sparta was a dictatorial fierce warrior state. Sparta was a militaristic community, Athens was a freethinking, and commerce minded city-state. Modern societies have modeled their government organizational structure and military discipline practices from lessons learned of these ancient city-states. There is much is to be praised regarding Classical Greece for their courage, their progressive thinking and the birth of democracy. However, I think it is important to remember that in both cases, Athens and Sparta were able to sustain their lifestyle on the backs of countless slaves, non-citizens and women and that there is a darker and less romantic side to the past.
The worldview that I embrace in my everyday life is European worldview, although I am Mexican the European worldview over weights the worldview that people will assume I have. I embrace the European worldview because the aesthetics,epistemolgy,cosmology,ontology and axiology that deal with that worldview are all genuine beliefs of mine that constantly affect me in my everyday life. The African worldview is completely different, it is all for loving your peers and is more community based.
People have always recognized the need for an authority to exercise control in society. This has taken shapes in many different ways from small groups to formal organizations. The ancient Greeks were no different. The Greeks established cities known as polis, and they had their own governments, which were systems for controlling their local societies.
However Athenian democracy formed the basic structure of many western societies today and has influenced them significantly. A continuity when comparing modern society’s and Ancient Greeks form of democracy is that the Ancient Greeks had a judicial system much like today people were chosen to sit on juries (What did democracy really mean?, 2015).However there wasn’t a cross examination and imprisonment was not used as a punishment, instead if someone was found guilty they either had to pay a fine or was put to death (ABC, 2003). A major difference is between Athenian democracy and modern day democracy is eligibility in Ancient Greece as only male adults were allowed to vote and had to adhere to strict birth criteria (Cartledge, 2011) this meant only 10-20% of the overall population were allowed to vote (What did democracy really mean?, 2015). Today the voting age varies however there is no discrimination between sexes in modern democratic governments. Another key difference is that Ancient Greece was a direct democracy whereas modern society is a representative democracy. This means that in Athens the whole citizen body would go to assembly and vote on every decision. Today we vote people to represent everyone and to make decisions on behalf of the whole body of
The ancient Greece was divided among several hundreds of city-states called “Poleis”. Within this poleis, Athens and Sparta were the most powerful, significant, largest and significant states.