Democracy In The Classical Era

The Democracy of Greek States in the Classical Era

The extent that ancient Greek states promoted democracy in the classical era was very limited. Based on the text democracy was views as poor man’s government, and in this paper I will explain why the educated felt that only the poor could support the democracy. Also, I will explain why the idea of democracy was rejected and considered to be futile. Lastly I will break down the social differences, and explain how that applies to the division of the political system. The social classes in the Greek times were extremely different compared to todays. Education had a huge impact on the structure of the society, and if you were not a part of a certain class at birth there would be no chance of advancement

Plato also agreed with the idea of no democracy “Plato proposed organizing government in harmony with the needs of human nature (Plato 429- 347 B.C).” Plato believed that those who had wisdom should be in charge of the political power “and the few who have the capacity for wisdom-the-philosophers- should be entrusted with political power (Plato 429- 347 B.C).” The philosophers were thinking of the democrats as not being smart enough to lead the nation. Although there was not any proof that non-philosophers were not as prepared for the position, it was still deemed as a

Equal rights are what was wanted, but the wealthy did not think it to be ok. Because they wanted a person with a prestigious background to be in charge, and when that did not happen they started to have confusion. They also thought that e democracy came to power through force “They kill some of the opposite party, banish others, and grant the rest an equal share in civil rights and government officials usually being appointed by lot (Plato 429-347 B.C).” Although democracy is regarded as being influenced by the people and for the common man. Instead of that being the case in this instance, it seems as if wealth and education are attempting to be the deciding factors. Social differences arise in Greek culture due to the implementation of slaves and royalty. In between the low and the high was the medium, and the medium happened to be land property owners, and people who assisted the wealthy as well. To impose democracy means you would have to take into account the opinion of the common man; which at the time was the slave who served a master. According to Socrates the idea of democracy required a body made up of people with educations, and when you were a slave an education