How Has Democracy Changed Since Athens

Approximately 2500 years ago a series of changes and reformations in political thought led to the creation of the ancient Athenian democracy. Through the changes implemented by Solon and Cleisthenes during the Golden Age of Greece, democracy was born in Athens. Although it was somewhat impractical, exclusionist, and only open to a very small percentage of the total Athenian population, its impact is still felt today. Athenian democracy is widely recognized as the model from which all other forms of democratic rule has evolved from. Through the principles handed down from that Athenian democracy, ancient Greek culture remains a prominent presence in contemporary life, particularly in regard to its democratic policies.

There will always be conflicting viewpoints between the citizens of whom are governed by the same people regardless of the type of government being discussed. There are many contrasting views on Athenian democracy; however, some of the strength’s and weaknesses present in Athenian democracy hold similarities to the democracy we are today. “Our constitution does not copy the laws of neighboring states; we are rather a pattern to others than imitators ourselves,” (68). Pericles (ca. 495-429 B.C.E.) was a famous Athenian figure and political leader who wrote the speech called, “Pericles’ Funeral Oration,” to honor the fallen soldiers. A large piece of his speech was used to praise the Athenian democratic constitution.

In comparing Athenian and American democracy, they are very different however some aspects are the same. The similarities include citizens were allowed to vote for their leader(s). However, the definition of a citizen is completely different now that it was then. A citizen back then was a male landowner in Athens, on the other hand, citizens now days are people that are born within the country or have parents

The word democracy comes from two Greek words: demos, meaning "the people," and kratein, meaning "to rule." These two words are joined together to form a democracy, literally meaning "rule by the people". Nowadays democracy could be referred as a rule of the majority. It is a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or choose delegates from among themselves to form a governing body, such as a parliament. The Greek system of government was maybe more like a true democracy or administered by the general population than any other ever. On the other hand, most American politicians with mindfulness and knowledge have realized that the U.S. is not a Democracy as a country, regardless of the way that most people declare it to be a Democracy. Greek and American democracy have some similarities such as the amount of nationalism and patriotism saw in the people when a lack of representation for a city-state or nation as a whole is seen, and they both vote for their political leaders.

The Athenian and Roman governments both had similarities in their form of government, but the differences that they had made them unique because of the parties and rules they lived by. To start off, the Athenian Government was a democracy and the Roman Government was a republic. Each of them had very important specific details which make them unique and different like what made them citizens and able to vote for the officials, and how they organized their government system.

Were the people better served by the democracy in Athens or the oligarchy of Sparta?

Democracy, the form of government in which there is a rule by the people, is said to have originated and thrived in the classical period of Athens, from 500-350 B.C.. Democracy inherently gave all that were considered citizens power to participate in politics. That being said, it is highly debated as to how much power the people, also known as the demos, exercised in this democracy. Many practices and informal institutions can be said to have limited the power of the demos. The democracy in Athens could be said to have been a democracy in theory yet not in practice, as can be proven through a variety of primary sources recounting Athenian political institutions and practices. Such primary sources that can demonstrate this include Herodotus’ History, Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War, and Demosthenes’ Oration Against Eubulides.

Democracy is defined as a government ruled by common people. The power of the should be in the hands of the largest class which is the poorest. The political system of ancient Athens was a Democracy, which involved all of its citizens.This system was divided in three parts: the ekklesia( a sovereign governing body who wrote the laws) the boule(representatives from the Athenian tribes) and the dikasteria, (the courts in which citizens argued cases in front of selected jurors). Every men could participate in the political process, being selected by lot to fill even the highest offices and being paid for pub- lic service. Four times a month proposals were debated and decisions were made openly so and any citizen could speak to the issues of the day.

During the Golden Age of Athens, which was from 499 BC to 400 BC, the people of Athens relished in the freedoms of a democracy. It was a time of peace and people speaking their minds without being punished. Although most people were content, several people doubted it at any sign of weakness. Yet, Athenians still had a fairly good relationship with democracy during the Golden Age.

Athens and Sparta were two powerful city-states, different from each other where Athenian democracy focused on economic advancement, while Sparta oligarchy focused on military force. Democracy is a system of government where citizens have the right to vote, whereas oligarchy is a system of government where only a group of people is in control and only their opinion or decision that were taken into consideration. Leading to the thesis statement that people are better served by Athenian democracy than the Spartan oligarchy, supported in three evidence points. Firstly, Athenian democracy allowed citizens participation in government that gave them freedom to vote and take part in legislation. Secondly, the Athenian government provided Athenian men better education, by being taught how to read and write to reach their academic advancement. Lastly, the Athenian democracy’s contribution to Athens military advancement that protected its citizens.

Imagine a world where our leaders were picked from random draw. That's exactly what the Athenians did! The Athenians believed campaigning,which the United States currently uses to help candidates convince the citizens to vote for them as their representative,could be biased by the rich and famous. There are a multitude of reasons why the United States republic differs from the Athenian democracy,despite the differences they are also astoundingly similar. These differences lead to the distinction between a republic,a form of government in which is held by the representatives of the people’s choosing,and a democracy, which translates to ‘government by the people’ in greek. Although different, there are impacts made from the Athenian government

One figure towers over this new democratic state: Pericles. This Age of Athens, which begins either in 462 or 450 or 445 BC and lasts until 408 BC, when Athens is defeated by Sparta, is called the Athenian Age, the Classical Age, or, after its most important political figure, the Age of Pericles. Just about everything that you associate with Greek culture is squeezed into this half century of wealth, energy, creativity, and chauvinism in Athens. All the great works of Greek tragedy and comedy, the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes, were written in this time in the city of Athens. Most of the monumental works of architecture, built off of the wealth that literally poured into Athens from her imperial possessions, were

This source is written by the ABC; the ABC is a government funded organization so it is assumed that the website has acquired the information from reputable sources, therefore making the source somewhat reliable. The source also corroborates with (What did democracy really mean?, 2015) on the points of the rules and policies in Athens specifically that Athens had a council of 500 and the facts on Ancient Greece’s judicial system therefore as the information is justified it makes the information is more trustworthy. The source did not provide a specific author and only stated the corporate author although the ABC is generally a reputable source as the author is not stated it makes the source less reliable as the authors background academic experience is not specified.

It has been brought to our attention that some oligarchs want to shift decision-making power to a smaller Governing Council. Our direct democracy is in danger of being overthrown. Over the past 100 years and beyond, Athens has held an assembly for all adult male citizens, to participate in Athenian government. These institutions were quite large, large enough to hold each citizen of Athens (25,000-50,000), giving each individual a shot at a small role in self-governance. Citizens of Athens met in the assembly 40 or more times a year, on the Pnyx hill. The sessions began in the morning and ended at dark. The assembly makes decisions by random lottery, thus giving a fair voice and vote to all, giving equality between the rich and the poor. Now

During Athens’s golden age, in 461 to 429 BCE, the athenians were axial thinkers and had an open, democratic government. This Golden Age was ended by the Peloponnesian Wars and Athens reverted to a more tyrannical form of government and perennial thought. Sparta took over Athens, set up their own government, and appointed leaders who did not create adequate laws to help Athens grow. Modern Crimea and Syria still struggle with voter suppression and imperfect democracies. Limitations of democracy include inequality in voting, elimination of certain voices, and power imbalances.