Athens …Democracy Realized?. . . Gregory R. Bowen. History

Athens weren’t a democracy because they didn’t allow citizen women, foreigners, or slaves to vote. Athens didn’t allow people to think differently or they'd be killed or sent away. Many people had barely any rights because they were either slaves, women, or people who weren't born in a Athens couldn’t participate

There are several reasons why I conclude that Athens did not have a commonly viewed democracy. First, only men could vote according to the law or constitution. It was necessary for men to have both parents as citizens, furthermore men needed to be free born, or not slaves (Document B). Men

Though a democratic government is great in theory, without educated and capable voters it’s potentially inefficient and incompetent. However, Athenian democracy thrives due to an informed public. Accordingly, so does the society it governs. “Our public men have, besides politics, their private affairs to attend to, and our ordinary citizens, though occupied with the pursuits of industry, are still fair judges of public matters; for, unlike any other nation, regarding him who takes no part in these duties not as unambitious but as useless, we Athenians are able to judge at all events if we cannot

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.

Today, much of the world’s governments have converted to democracies. In the Ancient World, there was only one truly notable example of a democratic society: The City-State of Athens. This is actually the birthplace of democracy, where instead of the rich or powerful ruling, it was the citizens of the city-state that held the power. This advanced way of government was so effective and well structured, it even laid the foundations for the development of our own democracy, right here in the United States, over 2,000 years in the future. Prior to Athens’s collapse during the Peloponnesian War, it truly had an efficient and very organized system of government.

democracy is a form of government in which people come together and make laws for the benefit of the country for example, here in the united states people have the right to vote, have equal rights, pursuit of happiness and practice in any religion of your choice. ancient athens did not have a true democracy. In ancient athens Women, free foreigners and slaves were excluded from voting, the government body could decide if you were a citizen or not. Also, women weren't allowed to vote unless they married a citizen. Therefor there constitution did not favor democracy.

A by Pericles). However, the data collect by Professor Josiah Ober in 2010 states that the only people who can vote are the citizen men which contradicts Pericles’ previous statement. The rest of the citizens did not have the ability to vote and the slaves’ poverty prohibits them from voting as well. Keeping in mind that both these statements are from different time periods, Professor Josiah is still is very credible and trustworthy source for information seeing as he is teaching at Stanford University. Overall, ancient Athens is not truly democratic due to the small percentage of citizens who are able to

In Document A, it distinctly states “ Our constitution favors the many instead of the few,’’ however if that were so, why could only twelve percent of the population vote (Document C). Plato, a wise philosopher, concluded that women should have the same education and withhold all positions in society (Guided Reading Activity 1-2 question 10). A dispute that even the American government had to fix back in the 1920s (Amendment 19), and still this day, has been addressed. As shown, if the constitution favors the many, 100 percent of the population should vote.

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.

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.

Have you ever heard of Athens and the first democracy, well I have been studying it for a few months. After studying Athens widespread forms of government and it’s so called democracy, I have come to a conclusion that Athens wasn’t truly democratic for many textual reasons. Here's why

There are other reasons why Athens is truly not a democracy. They did not let women, children of citizens, metics, and slaves vote. This was made up of 88% or 210,335 of the population (Document C). Demokratia was ruled by male citizens only, excluding minors and women, free foreigners

Greek democracy was best developed in the city-state of Athens from where the very word “democracy”, meaning “the rule of the people” stems. People ‘ruled’ by electing officials through lot and making important decisions by majority rule. Democracy was direct, meaning that the Athenians “allowed the whole citizenry to assemble in the central eklisia, or the equivalent today of the main city hall, to vote on important issues” (Makedon 1995). In this sense, Athenian democracy differed from representative democracy that is currently prevalent in most states, in which officials are elected through democratic vote and then given authority to make decisions for the people. In Athens, elected officials were paid, but the pay was very low so that it compared with the wages of the poorest citizens and only covered the compensation of their time and effort.

In the fifth-century BC, Athens emerged as one of the most advanced state or polis in all of Greece. This formation of Athenian ‘democracy’ holds the main principle that citizens should enjoy political equality in order to be free to rule and be ruled in turn. The word ‘democracy’ originates from the Greek words demos (meaning people) and kratos (meaning power) therefore demokratia means “the power of the people.” The famous funeral speech of Pericles states that “Our constitution is called democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people.” However, only citizens (free adult men of Athenian descent) could participate in political matters. Women and slaves held no political rights, although they were

Democracy began to emerge in Greece during the archaic (800-500) and classic (500-323) period, and it has expanded through the country over time . Greeks came up with the idea of democracy through discussions among citizens and with the majority voting; this was called direct democracy as everyone could debate and vote in one place to determine new policy for the country. During this period, only men were allowed to vote and give their opinions, others were not allowed to participate in government’s decisions . However, over time, the democratic government in Greece changed to be more open for every citizen. The poor, men and women, had the same rights, and equal share of power.