Comparing The Athenian Democracy And Aristotle's Classical Model Of Democracy

Democracy, the form of government in which there is a rule by the people, is said to have originated and thrived in the classical period of Athens, from 500-350 B.C.. Democracy inherently gave all that were considered citizens power to participate in politics in theory. That being said, it is highly debated as to how much power the people, also known as the demos, exercised in this democracy. Many practices and informal institutions can be said to have limited the power of the demos. The democracy in Athens can be proven to have been a democracy in theory yet not in practice, as can be proven through a variety of primary sources recounting Athenian political institutions and practices. Such primary sources that demonstrate this include Herodotus’

“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.

The Ancient Greeks were the first to put the power of a nation in the hands of the average citizen, they created the idea of the democratic government, practiced as a direct democracy. Voting, political assembly, and official citizenship are all concepts that can be traced back to Classical Grecian ideas .The Romans developed the concept of the representative democracy .This was best

The Greeks where the first democracy in the world. There government was made up of six thousand members all of witch where male citizens. They voted on problems that needed to be solved and if a law was to pass a majority vote was needed. Now in the United States also has a democracy. Instead of having six thousand people voting and making the decisions all the people vote on a representative that makes the decisions in the country.

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.

Democracy is thoroughly known as the power of the people in which that citizens are able to control their own cities and or states without an overruling government. Many civilizations follow the rules of democracy, one of these civilizations include the ancient Greek state Athens. Research from ancient Athens philosophers; Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle has shown that Athens is a so called democratic government. Aristotle stated in his writing “The Athenian Constitution” that, “ The franchise is open to all men who are citizen birth by both parents.” (Document B) Due to Aristotle's intelligent appearance towards others, people soon found Athens as a truly Democratic state. Although there are many that disagree with this point, strong studies

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.

After the Athenians used democracy, other Greek cities attempted to follow the Athenian model of government, which were not as powerful or stable. Athenian democracy was a form of direct democracy. Direct democracy was where people did not elect officials to vote, but directly vote on legislation and bills individually. This form of democracy meant, “Every adult, male Athenian citizen had the right to participate in deliberations and voting in the law-making assembly and other governing institutions.”4

Democracy is a form of government where people choose leaders through elections and social construct that are based on the equality of everyone within the state. It is a form of government were majority and public opinions combine to choose leaders with respect to the social structure of a particular society, taking into consideration the social laws, rules, traditions, norms, values, and culture. Plato and Aristotle tow of the most influential figures in Greek philosophy. Both Plato and Aristotle were big critics of democracy as a poor form of government. Aristotle’s views about democracy hold that democratic office will cause corruption in the people, if the people choose to redistribute the wealth of the

Athens of ancient Greece had perhaps the most advanced system of government of the ancient world. The system of Athens was called a Democracy. That is, every citizen voted on everything. People have claimed that the United States is also a Democracy. This is not true. The government of the United States is a Constitutional Republic (Every). United States citizens vote for representatives, who then vote on the laws. They themselves are limited by a constitution. Democracy is a flawed government system. The Constitutional Republic is also flawed, however, it is better at safeguarding individual rights, when applied correctly. Therefore, a Constitutional Republic is a better system than a Democracy.

The United States is known for its many liberties to all, liberties that lead to all sorts of bad according to Socrates and Aristotle. Plato-Socrates in The Republic and Aristotle in Politics criticize democracy, a form of government that tries to equalize all. Centuries have passed and many of the democratic elements described in their works apply to current democratic regimes in particular the United States.

Government is a form of political structure that rules over a group of specific people and while stability is important, in most societies government is fluid in its form and changes over time. As different forms of government take power, typically the laws will favor one demographic over another. While the Athenian democracy favored the masses, oligarchic sympathizers like Pseudo-Xenophon, displayed their discontent with it. In his negative critique of Athenian democracy titled “The Constitution of the Athenians,” Pseudo-Xenophon supports the oligarchic system over the democratic one, yet still maintains a respect for the Athenian’s democracy as he comments on its longevity and stability. His commentary contrasts with the funeral oration that Pericles gave during a public funeral, where Pericles praises the strength of the Athenian democracy and its perseverance regardless of a plethora dead during the Persian Wars. Despite the differences, both as Pseudo-Xenophon and Pericles appeal to the political ideals of their audience while at the same time maintaining their own political beliefs.

Evolution of Democracy and the Athenian Constitution Democracy is defined in modern times as government by the people. To put that in perspective and better understand all that democracy entails we must consider its origins. It is surprising indeed that even today tyrannies and dictatorships exist in the world when more than two and a half thousand years ago the ancient Athenians had developed a functional and direct form of democracy. What contributed to this remarkable achievement and how it changed the socio-political scene in Athens is what will be considered in this paper.

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

After democracy was introduced in Athens around the 5th century B.C.E., the majority of the Greek intellectual community condemned it as a form of communal tyranny. Socrates was put to trial and executed after a vote by the Athenian citizens because, despite strong evidence negating their arguments, the common people blamed him for corrupting the city’s youth. Aristotle would later argue in his writings that the most effective democracy should include equal power between the rich minority and the poor majority, so the poor could not take advantage of the rich. In other words, Aristotle felt that the poor should have a disproportionately small voice in democracy, perhaps believing that they were fundamentally less capable than the educated bourgeois of making the right decision. After two and a half thousand millennia have past, we’d all like to believe we’ve perfected this tried and failed egalitarian system. After all, the entirety of the first world operates under political structures that can largely be described as democratic, and there is something intuitively, morally correct about every person having an equal say, right?