Athenian Democracy Dbq

Was ancient Athens truly democratic? Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. I believe that ancient Athens supported the early stages and development of democracy. Ancient Athens contributed many thoughts, and ideas to help form the idea of a democracy.(Doc A & B) Some of these ideas and thoughts where our constitution favors the many instead of the few, social class is not allowed to interfere with someone’s merit, and the franchise is open to all men who are of citizen birth by both parents. These are all examples of how they followed democracy, and contributed to its development.

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.

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

Ancient Athens was truly democratic because everyone should have the equal justice of everyone else because we should all have equal rights. Also, an example is in document A: Our constitution favored the many instead of the few. This is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they give equal justice to all. I believe that everyone should have the rights to vote, not only men.

Ancient Athens prided itself upon being a democratic society, but was it really? It's true that it was ruled by the people, however only a small percentage of people. Document C states that only 12 percent of people actually vote. And who are those 12 percent? The 12 percent of the whole population that voted was men whose parents were both citizens of the city (see Document B). Slaves, women, and resident foreigners were barred from voting.

Athens was a Democracy because, sense they created Democracy then it is what they want it to be. For example, if you created the word “Welcome” and that word meant nothing in that point in time, then wouldn't you be able to use that word anyway you want and no one could argue it isn’t what you want to be. So if Athens created Democracy wouldn’t it be what they wanted it to be. I read in Document D all male landowner citizens come together in a small group and vote over future laws.

“Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.” (Dale. Civilizations in History. Alternative Two. Pg. 92) This quotation perfectly summarizes Athenian democracy, a system in which all citizens had a say in affecting their daily lives. This is a contrast to Spartan oligarchy, which limited power to a small group of men. Athenian democracy encouraged citizens to use their voice and consequently make an impact on their society. The government included more people's opinions, gave Athenians a more lavish lifestyle and offered more freedom within the education system. This essay will prove that Athenian democracy left Athens a more open civilization, which therefore better

Athens was and still is known as the original culture to create the ideal of democracy and was the first democracy in the ancient world. (Pomeroy, 2012)(Levack, Muir, & Veldman, 2011). However; Ancient Athenians were not an equal society, they reserved citizenship for only a select group within the population.

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.

Was Ancient Athens Truly a Democracy? Ancient Athens was a democracy because people were not in charge of the city, but only the citizen men were allowed to suggest towards the law. Also, citizen men were the only people who could actually vote and have a say in the laws. Women, children and slaves were given no rights and freedom of speech. Women were like slaves to the “citizen” men, but if they had the right to vote then it is a democracy because it won’t have everyone's decision.

When Athens first started, it was a Monarchy or ruled by a king. The king would rule Athens with the aristocrat’s money. When the aristocrats realized they were stronger together than the king they overthrew him. The aristocats soon corrupted the government by making the laws only to benefit the rich. Athenians kept making new types of governments to make everything fair and not corrupt, resulting in a Direct Democracy (Everyone votes on everything).

While only twelve percent of the population in Athens was allowed to vote, and those being the adult male citizens of Athens, it was still considered the original democracy due to all of the male citizen population being allowed to vote(Document C). The Athenian male citizens would gather to vote upon a subject in their respective counsels since they were considered

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.

I feel there democracy came from trying to build a better society yet keep a lot of ancient traditions. According to Dr. Bland (2010) Cleisthenes seemed to be the leading revolutionary who helped spur Athens in a new direction even being that of a high level citizen of Athens. I find a small comparison with some of the founding fathers. That even being from the upper echelons has taken a interest in helping all people of society. Unfortunately like everything about life nothing go's according to plan. Just like Sparta there Democracy was done in a similar fashion. Their council was called Boule and seemed more open then Sparta still held similar principles (Dr. Bland,2010, pg.19,20) The rich true men of the city state had all the true power where most suffered and scraped for every