Politics In Ancient Greece

Pericles takes time to laud democracy as a form of government. He believes the division of political power equally amongst citizens inevitably leads to laws that benefit the Athenian people as a whole. This in turn increase overall equality, and by extension, social mobility. Such a government is a just government in the eyes of Pericles, and thus, a shining example of Athenian superiority. “[Athens’] administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a democracy. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition.” (2.37.1).

The Greek Polis was a unique concept and way of life in the ancient world. It played a huge role when it came to the political concept for Greek history but it also carried some consequences. It also aided in the development of the process of Greek colonization and the concept of democracy.

In Greece, the beginning of a political system was very chaotic. Around the end of the “Dark Age”, there was no real system of government that could be compared to a known system of government.

The Athenian polis is one that historians very often look back upon today. The Athenian polis created the rise of democracy and produced a culture that has shaped the way of modern day society. This polis has no privacy and believes that everyone in the polis is related as a family. In this family, everyone has a place, and everyone should stay in their place. Everyone has a job to do, gods to praise, and leaders to follow and believe in.

Democracies are controlled by the people, and for the people, or so it is commonly defined. All people have their own opinions of how they think the government should work. Democracies symbolize freedom and justice as they appeal to the people. The first document, “The Gettysburg Address” focuses on the effects of the Civil War and how the people should react, instead of how the government is run. The second document, the “Funeral Oration”, explains how the people themselves could form the perfect democracy by Pericles standards. With this evidence in mind, the “Funeral Oration”, a speech given by Pericles, holds more extensive knowledge about the definition of democracy than Lincoln in “The Gettysburg Address”.

The ancient Greeks were particularly concerned with such fundamental questions as who should rule and how? As this question is also the major concern of many society and nation in this modern day. In this assignment I will try to Compare and contrast all the forms o the Ancient Greek city state government raging from monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy.

Beginning in Athens circa 800-700 B.C.E, the population expanded at an unusual pace alongside rapidly improving economic conditions. It was this, “early development of a large middle class,” that allowed them to begin exploring the then novel concept of a democratic system (Hunt, 68). As early as the seventh century B.C.E, the Archaic Athenian government had begun to represent a democracy in its fledgling stages as a direct result of the success of the entrepreneurial middle class; with, “all freeborn adult Athenian male citizens,” reserving the right to vote on public matters by means of assembly. One such example of this newfound solidarity occurred around 632 B.C.E, with the common masses’ triumphant rally in opposition to an attempt to install an elite Athenian tyrant. After the likes of the harsh legislator Draco in 621 B.C.E, the reforms of Solon by 594 B.C.E, the tyrant rule of Peisistratus in 546 B.C.E, and alight upon the reforms of Cleisthenes in 508 B.C.E, for it was here that true democracy began to take root and would remain and grow as a result of all that had come and been done before.

Even though Ancient Greece went through three different governments, the experienced Democracy, which we use some form of today. In Ancient Greece, the government started as a Monarchy. I guess that they decided that one person having all the power wasn’t right for them, the civilization swapped to being a Democracy. Although Democracy wasn’t the first choice of the Greeks, they still used it for a decent amount of time. After some time, Oligarchy sounded very appealing to Greece, so they shuffled over to the Oligarchy side, which was way more prominent at the time. They stayed as an Oligarchy until the Romans took over. Although democracies weren’t very well-known at the time, Greece was one of the first civilizations to use Democracy as their government, which America uses as our government.

Ancient Greece was once a very united country, but subsequently got divided into various states such as Athens, Sparta, and Corinth. The two largest of these states, most powerful and ultimately most influential ones were Athens and Sparta. The governments of the city-states varied very widely in nature. After their separation, most of the states retained the original form of government inherited from the original Greek state for some time. As time went on, they began seeking for better ways to govern themselves and that leads to many of them adopting different styles.

The decline of the Greek democracy, or to be more specific the Athenian democracy was a rather gradual process, caused primarily by overextension of the Athenian resources, and the failure in the Peloponnesian War from which the Athens emerged weak and divided. The Athenian social experiment in democracy brought prosperity and power to its leaders and citizens, but also brought imperial ambitions that lead to a spreading too thin its military forces, and the Athenian economy. What was possible in Solon’s times was not achievable anymore at the time of the rising Macedon hegemony.

Ancient Greece was the home of many growing beliefs and world changing people. An idea original to Greece was that of the Polis. A Polis was a political entity that was in a symbiotic relationship with its people. Two of the most commonly know Greek polis are Sparta and Athens. These societies had a multitude of differences, which all culminated during the Pelopnisian war.

In this paper I will be comparing the political systems of both Athens and Sparta. Democracy was present in both states, but the process and results were not the same. First of all I will look at how people in Athens and Sparta obtained the right to participate in public life, and how they made decisions affecting their communities. Secondly I will discuss who held office in each state, and then I will explore what rules governed the selection of public office holders. Finally I will compare and contrast the two systems, to find out how they are similar and how they differ.

There were many changes throughout Ancient Greek history regarding politics and society. The Greeks first believed that the gods could give a person power and godlike kings ruled. Then they refused to believe that this could be possible. After this revelation, poleis, small city-states, begin to form. These poleis were made up of equal, free males (Morris and Powell 4).

The general understanding of democracy is that it is a state of leadership where citizens of a country participate equally either directly or by representative individuals in the establishment of laws, which run the society. However, like many other forms of leadership, democracy has its cons and may not give the citizens the necessary freedoms that they think they have. Different philosophers have different insights on democracy in terms of concepts such as liberty, which they embraced. This paper will look at Benjamin Barber and Joseph Schumpeter’s idea of democracy contrasting their definition in terms of citizenship, obligation, rights and duties of each individual in the society declaring whose idea of democracy creates a compelling vision (Terchek & Conte, 2001).

The very foundation of our domestic and international democracy is founded upon the basis of early Athenian politics. Ancient Greeks created the very idea of democracy, which today seems so simple but at this time, a complex and entirely new idea. They created the idea of citizenship, pathing the way to for the representative democratic style of government that is practiced worldwide. At this time, their ideas were not inherited by different cultures but by merely the ideas of philosophers. Greek philosophers embark on a quest for “a good life” and the best political constitution to accompany it. Although the main philosophers we’ve discussed have similar yet different ideas on how to live a happy and fulfilling life, in turn, it has