Compare And Contrast The Aristocracy, Oligarchy, And Democracy As Forms Of Government

This week’s written assignment is to compare and contrast monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as forms of government in Ancient Greek city-states. I will address each form of government, providing examples of each and will include applicable comparisons and/or contrasts.

One monarchy, which is characterized by the rule of one person, in ancient Greece was Macedonia. This region was

ruled by a king whose power was constrained to the extent that he had to listen to the citizenry. This king could only

govern as long as he had the support of the aristocrats. Some have considered Sparta to have had a type of monarchy.

( Martin, T.R. (1985) “An Overview of Classical Greek History from Mycenae

to Alexander” Retrieved from

Each were comprised of a select group of individuals. The difference being that an

aristocracy is composed of the elite of a society “a class of eminent citizens was deemed best

qualified to rule the people. And an oligarchy is composed of ‘Oligarchy is the rule of the chosen

few, and these chosen few happen to be the rich and the privileged in Oligarchy.’ ” Author unknown, (2012), Retrieved

from http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-aristocracy-and-vs-oligarchy/

A further distinction between these two forms of government lies in heredity. The aristocracy was largely formed by

blood and were considered nobility. The oligarchy is comprised of individuals based on wealth. Both were

comprised of wealthy individuals but aristocrats to coin a phrase were born aristocrats, while oligarchs achieved their

status.

An example of a democratic government in ancient Greece occurred in Athens which has been

attributed as having the most advanced form of democracy. In democratic Athens, an advanced

system of checks and balances was established to avoid excesses of power. ( Cartwright, M.,

2014 “Athenian Democracy,” Ancient History Encyclopedia, Retrieved