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Direct versus representative democracy
Athens or Sparta: which one was the most influential
Athens or Sparta: which one was the most influential
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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.
Governing has never been an easy task during the times of ancient Athens and Sparta. Both equally were ahead of their time by giving their people an actual voice and weight when making decisions. Unfortunately, neither of these civilizations lasted the great length of time.
However, the political foundation they laid out has become the cornerstone of our societies has been built upon today.
How did people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community?
Athens being the political example
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Each had their own version of political councils that were give specific power and tasks that they were to oversee and uphold. Equally, both city-states defined citizens as being only males who were born from descendants of either Athenian or Spartan born parents. Although very similar in structure, Athens and Sparta had their political differences. The main difference being Sparta’s focus being on war and employing a two king system to oversee the army as well as policy at the same time. Today this could be similar to the president and vice-president dynamic. Athens’ structure was much more complex than that of Sparta which gave more freedom to the people; this was partly due to breaking down regions into 10 separate states that formed the larger entire state of Athens. Below are some of the similarities in there government …show more content…
Ephors were elected annually
Differences aside in their ruling structures, Athens and Sparta equally believed that the people should have a voice in governing themselves. It is unfortunate that their forward thinking views of political structure and policy were not picked up and applied until the 18th century. Had there been more civilizations around and after the time of Athens and Sparta, surely mankind would be much different than what we currently know. It certainly makes one wonder what is further along the political timeline in terms of policy and global mindset. Athens and Sparta were in no way perfect utopian societies to live in, but had their models for democracy been further developed by those who came after them, where would that have lead us to today?
The Athens practice direct democracy, while Sparta practice Oligarchies system of government. Athens has no king, Sparta has two kings from two different royal families.
Both Athens and Sparta had some positive and negative aspects in their systems. Modern day democracy still supports and adopt some aspects of political system of both Athens and Sparta.
Throughout history, many forms of government have come and gone with varying levels of success. Despite the vast cultural differences between Ancient Athens and the Modern Day United States, current American political institutions have been heavily influenced by the Ancient Athenians.
The governments of these two city-states were not alike in many ways. “It is true that our government is called a democracy, because its administration is in the hands, not of the few, but of the many,” (Document 3). Athens’ government was what we would consider today a direct democracy. This means that their government was run by the people, or in other words “the many”, rather than a couple government officials, or “the few”. Although Athens was running their city as a government by the people, Sparta had a different form of government. “it is made up of oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy,
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.
This article is credible and reliable; it offers two sets of information for the reader. It is also suitable for any age group. This site is helpful for those wanting to compare Athens and Sparta or simply read about one or the other.
Athens and Sparta were all very big, successful city-states in the ancient world that conquered many lands and won many battles. Ancient Athens and Ancient Sparta seem similar; they have very different functioning societies. Athens was known for its impressive art and culture while Sparta was a very war-like city-state and their society was completely based on having a great military. The thing they had in common was that social status and the jobs that each rank of society had was very important. The social status was crucial to Sparta and Athens because, without it, both Greek city-states would not be able to function.
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.
Ancient Greece today is most known for the culture: the gods, the dramas, how people lived. What most people do not realize is that there were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of different civilizations spread throughout Greece that all had different forms of government. The three main ones were Athens, Sparta, and Miletus. Each was very different from the other. The most powerful out of all three was Sparta: a military based society. The Spartan government had a strong foundation that was all torn down by one bad leader.
The population size of the polis were small, and each male citizen was cognizant of their role and value within the community, and developed a strong spirit of independence. This sense of independence is what led the citizens within the polis to choose their own leaders, and overthrowing leaders that had done wrong by the greater populist or that the populist felt had abused their power. Athens, furthered this sense of independence by creating a democratic Athens, where full citizens were expected to run the governme...
Democracy was a revolutionary development for the Ancient Greek society it was an innovative idea which gave the citizens of Ancient Greeks the freedom to participate in the governmental system and contribute in the processes and decisions, this in turn helped Ancient Greece succeed politically and economically. This democratic society not only helped Greece succeed in the Mediterranean region but also influenced modern day society. The Ancient Greeks succeeded significantly and were highly advanced for this period, the progressive thoughts and ideas demonstrated by individuals in this society contributed to the development of democracy in Athens which has become one of the most beneficial forms of government created.
Ancient Greece was made up of individual city states, known as a Polis, which relied heavily on citizen participation in politics. The idea of self-rule was an entirely new way of governing. Citizenship was unheard of at the time. Although still considered citizens not everybody was allowed to participate. In Athens only adult males who had military training were allowed to vote. The majority of the population, namely slaves, children, metics (free noncitizens) and women were excluded from participation in politics. “[Metics] and women were not citizens and did not enjoy any of the privileges of citizenship.”(Sayre, 137) Athenian citizens had to be descended from citizens, excluding the children of Athenian men and foreign women. Individuals could be granted citizenship in to Athens by the assembly this was usually as a reward for some service to the state. Ancient Greece paved the way for the representative democratic style of government that is practiced by many countries today. Much like how voting rights started out in America, originally only the wealthy land owners were allowed to vote and call themselves citizens, but soon all men were allowed to have a vote and a voice in their states politics. Essentially the Greeks were the first to introduce citizen rights and freedom similar to what’s seen today.
This type of government was unlike any other at the time in which a select few ruled the societies, and all lived for the gods. The Greeks had created a government in which all persons, or more accurately, a larger sample of the population, played a part in determining the laws and policies under which they were governed. This created an environment that was conducive to, and encouraged, the open exchange of ideas which was of grave importance to the development of the Greek civilization. “The greatness of Athens, according to Pericles, lies not merely in its military might and in the superiority of its political institutions, but in the quality of its citizens, their nobility of spirit, and their love of beauty and wisdom” (pg.
In the year approximately 500 B.C., the Greek civilization came upon a time of peace. Because of the tranquil times, the civilization’s society had more time to focus on writing, math, astronomy, and artistic fields, as well as trade and metallurgy. Out of all the city-states of Greece, two excelled over all the rest, Sparta and Athens. Even though they were the most advanced and strong civilizations, they were bitter enemies. While Athens focused mainly on the people’s democracy and citizen rights, Sparta were ferocious and enslaved its original inhabitants, making them unable to leave