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
“Riot is the language of the of the unheard.”Back around the time 430B.C. democracy was beginning to be developed. Surprisingly, like all great things it took time and is still taking time to perfect to this day. Democracy is not a system of government that is unchanging it is, matter of fact, constantly up for change and perfection.
Athens was not truly a democracy. The definition of democracy states that it is a system of government by the whole population. In ancient Athens the only people that were eligible to make decisions were citizen men. Women did not have the right to vote which contradicts the definitions of democracy. Only twelve percent of the Athens population were able to vote meaning that eighty-eight percent were left powerless. Metics were not even eligible to vote and they were a key part of Athens economy.
Directly from the beginning there is a difference right off the bat. Athens was a direct democracy while the United States is a republic democracy. Being the fact that these two are total different ways of democracy each country was run differently. Automatically in Athens the people choose everything they want from the way they govern right down to the laws and court systems. The United States was tired of being under British rule before democracy was established. The establishers of democracy in the US decided that democracy was best so the people can choose what they want and who they want. Instead of having an all-out frenzy from a direct democracy which allows citizens to do whatever they want and choose what they want the people still choose what and who they want they just allow people to speak for them and their rights. Although the United States has roots that stem from the Athenian democracy system they tweaked American democracy to fit the needs of this
Was ancient Athens truly democratic? Some may say yes and some may say no. But the answer is yes. The reasons are these. “ Fear is our chief protection against this, teaching us to obey the magistrates and the laws.” (Doc. A) This was one of the many statements Thucydides gave during his speech for Pericles’s funeral. The quoted statement essentially meant that during Thucydides time (460 – 395 BCE) there were laws and government rules that had to be followed. Men, women, and even slaves obeyed the laws and government rules because they thought they made sense and had no other reason to disobey. In that case, they wouldn’t have the need to be angry at their neighbors if they were too loud. This document written by Aristotle is a great example
Were the people better served by the democracy in Athens or the oligarchy of Sparta?
There is a fundamental difference between a democracy and a republic as it concerned the political entitlement of the citizenry. The citizens of a republic do not participate directly with governmental affairs. The citizens of a republic can however have a say in who does participate. The Roman republic has two prefect systems to prevent dictatorship which didn’t work.
Athens has a better government system then the Roman Republic. some might say the Romans were better. But Athens is more about the people; they are also more secure. They are also carful with who can be a citizen rather then "stingy". They are just more carful.
I believe that Athens truly was a democracy. There are pieces of evidence and proof supporting that Athens ran on a Democratic Government.
How has democracy changed since athens golden age? When you think of American democracy you first have to think of athenian democracy because they were quite similar in many ways for example. Both americans and athenians believed that a government should be fair and ran by not just one person or leader but that citizens should have a say in what happens. Another thing similar to american and athenian democracy was that speeches or oration was an important way for people to gain popularity and to also to inspire,persuade, or entertain people, to be a part of a government public speaking is essential it helps people better understand what someone wants to do and it will persuade people either in a good or a bad way so in both american and athenian
Democracy. A democracy is a government which all the people of the state are involved in making decisions, such as voting for representatives. So was there a democracy that was set by the Athens? Or was it an oligarchy that represents how everyone is supposed to live. Although many say the athens lived a democratic life, the evidence says it itself, they didn’t.
their high standards and they were not going to change it. Athenian was most criticized for being
There are multiple reasons why ancient Athens was not a Democracy in its truest sense. In Document A of the Athenian constitution, it clearly states.. “ Our constitution favors the many instead of the few,’’ however, if that were accurate, why could only twelve percent of the population vote (Document C).The Philosopher, Plato, concluded that women should have the same education and hold all positions in society (Guided Reading Activity 1-2 question 10); this is the very same conundrum that the American government had to face back in the 1920’s (Amendment 19), and it still has not been completely addressed to this day. If the Athenian constitution had favored the many as it claimed than 100 percent of the population should been allowed to vote.
The evolution of the Athenian, Roman, and U.S democracies started in ancient civilizations over 3,000 years ago. The U.S system of government has undergone changes through the past years, the U.S system is still in use. Athenian and Roman democracy's were both in the same time period, but share some big differences between them. These three different systems of government went through changes in many ways.
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.
Both Greek Democracy and the Roman Republic contributed greatly to the development of the modern world, bringing into it the notions of democracy and republic. The evolution of these concepts took them to a level much higher than one present in Ancient Greece and Rome respectively. However, modern society continues to draw on somewhat idealized accounts of the ancient world for inspiration in improving today’s governing procedures.