Athens Was Not Truly Democratic Dbq Essay

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.

Was Ancient Athens truly democratic? Ancient Athens was not democratic, only male citizens were able to vote, excluding women, free foreigners and slaves, it was oligarchy, not democracy only 12% of the population are able to vote and they're all men, all military officers are elected by vote. All the magistrates that are responsible for the ordinary routine of administration are elected by lot in the assembly and the superintendent of the water supply is elected by vote, if a majority of people voted yes then they dispersed and resembled two months later. Second rule was exercised directly by the people, whereas democracy today means government by representatives of the people but today it’s more democratic by being government by the people

The Athenians’ of classical Greece are given credit for being the originators of the democratic model …giving inspiration to all future attempts at this system of government. While it was practiced as a direct democracy, with all eligible citizens having the right to vote, the question of just how democratic it really was, must be asked. Who was eligible to vote and participate in political life? What role did women, slaves, and foreigners play in Athens? How accessible was the ability to vote? The answers to these questions will show that while the Athenians practiced a government in which its citizens had more say in their

Debates have been held about this question, many people having different opinions on the answer. In my opinion, ancient Athens is not a democratic government. People could argue that it is democratic by saying it is ruled by the people which it is, but the majority of the people do not. Facts show that only 12% of the population could vote. That means the majority had no power and no say in the government.

Due to the prosecution of the Chalcis decree, the power Athens held over the rest of the League was undoubtedly clear.

“The democracy has made itself master of everything and administers everything by its vote in the Assembly and by the law-courts.” I think athens was democratic because they voted. The people who could vote were only men. They had to be 18 years old and a citizen.

Athens was never a democracy. The reasons are as follow there was still slavery, different standard of education for different sexes, women were not allowed to vote on any issues all they were expected to do was to stay indoors and run their households, or to tend sheep or weave and take care of the children’s welfare and only free born men in Athens were considered a citizen at age eighteen and the only people who play a part in choosing how their home was governed and during their leisure time talk about politics. Although Athens was not a democracy we have people who believe it was democratic state because it gives equal justice to all. Advancement in public life falls to one’s reputation for good

Athens was located on the Western Europe specifically it’s one of the city on Greece. It was the first birth of democracy and also it was the home of education, that’s included Philosophy, Artists and so many scientists were appeared in Athens. In this city there were so many government came out, but none of them didn’t satisfy what the Athenian people wanted, except one king was called Pericles. He was the first leader who proposed democracy and made Athens glorious by different directions, those were by their military, economy and by other things. The important thing why we learned about Athenian history is their astonishing change in the Western Europe . That means they were super smart in Architecture, artist and so many

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

Athens sought out to uphold the ideals that they had established for a citizen ruled government so as to avoid the shortcomings that spawned from the rule of unjust kings and dictators. Athens established democracy as the ruling government in the 4th and 5th century, being a democracy entailed that the masses held power over the city-state.The ancient Greeks held different views that the modern world does not, thus, Athens was truly a democracy based on the values of the time period it was established.

We should view democracy less as a rigid definition of a system of governance, and more as a measurement of citizens' active participation in their government. If asked today to describe their government, many Americans would characterize it as a democracy. And if the ancient Athenians were asked the same question, a similar answer would be given. While the United States' and the ancient Athenians' systems of government are fundamentally different, I do not believe that these answers are at odds with each other. Look at the question most political scientists ask when studying regimes: "How democratic is this state?" This is fundamentally a question of where the regime falls on a spectrum of democracy. While the United States' and ancient Athens'

Based on the evidence stated above, from the Athenian point of view, their political structure was democratic. However, it seems as though that their interpretation of democracy was only democratic among those who had political rights and were able to contribute to politics in general. When a vast portion of a state is excluded from politics, it does not seem very democratic. War also defies all principles on being a free, democratic state. The Athenian way of voting on issues was probably the most truly democratic principle they demonstrated because every citizen who was able to participate had a say. The Athenian’s view on democracy could have reached a higher potential if their system had fully utilized the skills of all its residents; such as the women, the poor, resident aliens, and slaves; as well as adopt a more egalitarian philosophy when it came to their political bodies and their stance on

Despite being over a thousand years old, Ancient Greece is a culture that influences the minds of modern day humans from around the world. At their time, Greece was considered to be the finest place to receive an education and be enlightened by philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. One could learn the Pythagorean Theorem, Hippocratic Oath, or the Socratic Method. But perhaps the greatest gift a man could receive from his government was democracy. Unlike other empires where a citizen’s opinion was considered inferior to the king’s, Greek leaders cared about their people’s opinion, especially the leaders of Athens. Athens is considered to be the birthplace of democracy. Democracy comes from the ancient Greek word demokratia which means “power from the people.” But what many modern day civilians do not know, is that Athens did not start off as a demokratia.

Athens wasn’t truly a democratic because democracy is a system of government created by the people. (Doc. D) Demokratia was rule of male citizens only, excluding women, free foreigners(Metics) and slaves. A democracy would allow everyone to have a say or opinion in the situation not just men.

There was a debate about the Athens being democratic. I picked that the Athens were democratic because the government wa ruled by the people, everyone is equal and there is no judgement towards the people, Athens can be voted into office and out of office.