In this essay I will quote certain documents I read to give evidence that Ancient Athens was not a true Democracy. I will state these reasons why I believe in this in my following essay. Athens wasn’t a true Democracy because Demokratia was ruled by men citizens only which made up only 12% of the population. Even women,slaves, and foreigners weren't allowed to vote.
Athens had their high standards and they were not going to change it. Athenian were most criticized for being more democratic than democracy, and that it wasn't ok back then. After Pericles death the Athenian Democracy was brutally interrupted by Revolutions toward the end of the war. For example they had a huge debate towards everyone to settle down what was actually happening.
To answer this question we must define what democracy really is, especially if one might not understand the true meaning. Democracy is the rule by the people, meaning that the people have a say in what the government does. The Athenian Democracy was the Ekklesia (Assembly), the Boule (Council of 500), and the Dikasteria. With the facts I have gathered, ancient Athens was definitely not a Democracy.
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.
Ancient Athens was not truly democratic because the middle class was in charge of politics. The upper and lower classes were not in politics at all. It was not democratic because the only people that could vote were men who are of citizen birth by both parents. People whose parent is a slave could not become a citizen so they could not vote. Democracy was excluding women, free foreigners and slaves.
Democracy has been a huge focal point for success especially in the west with countries like America, but sometimes we can see a democracy turn corrupt. This essay will be centered around the pros and cons of democracy and its roles within the ancient Greek world that helped catapult Athens into one of the world’s greatest metropolitan cities to ever exist.
In ancient Athens there was no democracy because democracy means being ruled by all the people but in ancient Athens only men were allowed to vote. This was not democracy but oligarchy which means to be ruled by a few. Another reason that proves that ancient Athens was not democratic is, the people who weren't born there were not considered citizens until the age of 18, due to this they weren't able to vote, even if they were men. As you can see in Document C, you will notice that only 12% of their population was allowed to vote. This 12% is mad up of 29,900 men, I noticed that there was the same number of women in the population, yet none of them had a say in the matter of voting due to this fake democracy.
Dear Pericles, Athens was not a democracy. This is because Women did not have equal rights when it came to government, Immigration rules and slaves, and that it does not at all resemble a direct democracy completely. In Athens, women were told to stay at home and run the household. Women are prohibited to vote on any political legislative matters.
The ancient Athens can't truly be considered a democracy. A democracy states and means that all citizens are allowed to vote. According to the Athenian Constitution it states, “The present state of the constitution is as follows: The right to vote and participate in government is open
Many characteristics of ancient Athens prove it to be democratic. One piece of evidence to support this statement is that their constitution favors the majority over the minority. Also, they have citizens that have a right to partake and vote within the government. Their laws grant equal justice to all citizens. Social class does not interfere with merit, and
Was ancient Athens truly democratic? Athens was a democracy for the sole reason that no one person held power, such as a king or a tyrant. But if you look deeper into the situation you will come to realize that Athens wasn’t a true democracy. The reason for that because a democracy is where everyone has equal rights and freedom as long as they followed the law, but in Athens that was not the case.
The Athenian democracy is discomforting for a contemporary American because of the personal rights citizens obtain today that Athenians do not, and because of the lack of greek legitimacy in their political system, due to rationality. However, the life of an Athenian is quiet interesting, in the way it allows us to view the positive and negative elements of the Athenian society, in contrast of today 's culture, from how it runs, how they studied Greek politics, their perspective of what a citizen should be and its responsibilities, and their acts of rationality.
The Athenian democracy of Greece was the first established democracy that lasted for around 186 years. It was a strong system of government up until its fall. Being in the largest city of Athens where there was a large amount of diversity many types of people were able to serve as council men or judges. Though there was a large amount of diversity women were still not able to serve or have a say in what was done during council meetings. Because of the large amount of diversity in the council the wealthy and upper-class people became jealous of the lower classes and did not want them to dictate what happened in their own houses. So, their want for power and wealth came to be the reason that the Athenian democracy fell. With this striving for power came a larger distinction of division between all of the classes.
Another reason that ancient Athens was not a democracy was that the women of the society were not able to have social lives. The men had social lives and the women and children under 18 would stay home. This was not a democracy, the people did not have the freedom that is given in a present day democracy.
Athens become the center of Greek Culture during the “classical period” by having a democracy government system. After, the defeat of Persians marked a new beginning of Athenian political, economic, and cultural dominance. Therefore, the Athenian nobleman Cleisthenes had overthrown the last tyrants, and created a new formed of government system where citizens “self-governance”. Athenian had an general named Pericles where he used all tribute money to served ALL citizens in the Athens community. Due to the fact, there was an civil war between the rich and the rest over borrowing money. Pericles used the tribute money to support Athenians artists and thinkers. Likewise, other important subjects within the comedy production, and the dramatic
Democracy allows a party of political representatives to be elected by the people to rule a country or state. Democracy originated in Ancient Greece with many different reforms, and a spectrum of many different political leaders including Solon, Pisistratus, Cleisthenes, Themistocles, Cimon and Pericles. But was the democratic movement affected by revolutionary ardour or evolution?
Athens is the city-state which is considered to be the place where democracy was created even though people often dispute whether Athens was a true democracy. Democracy is a cultural idea, justice to all people, people's power, and people having the right to vote, essentially democracy is all about the people. These characteristics make Athens a true democracy.