The Idea Of Democracy In Ancient Greece

     Democracy has been around for almost 2500 years since Athens, Greece became the first democracy. The Romans also experimented with democracy, however it was more a republic, and not a democracy. Around 1200 England laid the groundwork to become a republic. Later, in the 1700's,

Ancient Athens was not truly democratic because the middle class was in charge of politics. The upper and lower classes were not in politics at all. It was not democratic because the only people that could vote were men who are of citizen birth by both parents. People whose parent is a slave could not become a citizen so they could not vote. Democracy was excluding women, free foreigners and slaves.

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.

The city-states of Ancient Greek provide examples of different types of government structures that, even

One of the most influential civilizations to the Western world today is Ancient Greece. The enduring traditions and institutions that Greek culture extended to most of the Western World include government and democracy, philosophy, literature, and architecture. The United States (US) and other Western civilizations used these traditions in the past and continue to in modern society.

The idea of democracy came from the Ancient Greek civilization. The power was in the hands of the eligible people who had the right to decide or vote what was right or wrong for themselves. The Ancient

Being the birthplace of democracy gives Ancient Greece a very important reputation. One of the most famous civilizations lies between three seas, the Aegean Sea, Sea of Crete, and the Ionian Sea. Such abundance of water makes Ancient Greece good in fishing and trade. Two of the biggest city-states were Athens and Sparta. While Athens was a democracy, Sparta was an oligarchy, which means ruled by few powerful and wealthy people. Ancient Greece is also known for many things like the birthplace of the first Olympics, beautiful architecture, and famous philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. The two biggest city-states have always had issues. Sparta and Athens are very different from the way they are administered as well as their practices. Athenians were the most scholarly types while the Spartans were more of the military type. Due to the fact that Sparta had a very military lifestyle, they were good at raising strong outspoken women in a society where women were kept at home.

On account of Athens, the idea of a democracy, or as it was called then Demokratia, ensued. The idea of a rule of the people/eligible citizens that we now have today, in example America, was originated from this. This idea concocted by this ancient civilization, provides a sound foundation in which the current government called democracy in the world today.

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

Direct democracy, which was ruled by the whole citizens rather than elected representative, was the powerful governmental form during the Golden Age of Greece, precisely in the city-state of Athens. Nevertheless, there were limitation for women, foreigners and slaves as they had no political rights in the state. Only adult male citizens, who were born Athenians and completed two year of military training, could join the assembly. The Athenian democracy system at that time based mainly on three main pillars, naming People’s Assembly, Council of 500 men and People’s Court, along with other less important institutions as well.

Ancient Athens could be defined as a period of time roughly around 330 BC where democracy and its meaning and purpose were called into question. Democracy, otherwise known in Greek as demokratia, is defined per root as “rule by the people”. Struggling to find a fair and civil way to rule the government, many rules were called into question as to whether they were truly lawful and fair. In the end, the Athenian constitution was written in a way where the rich and privileged were favored over the poor despite morals and character. As will be further explained, the Athenian community of 330 BCE was not truly a democracy.

Democracy is the rule of the whole of the people not just the males. The word demos means the adult male citizens in assembly. When Kratia means having the power to rule.”Demokratia was a rule by men citizens only, excluding women, free foreigners ( metics) and slaves.Thus, by our standards it was oligarchy, not democracy.”

Democracy became a significant way of life from 700 B.C. to the present. Around this time, the Athenians from Greece dispersed around the world and carried their way of life with them. It is a government ruled by the citizens. Cleisthenes, who was a greek ruler, incorporated the first democracy in history. Democracy developed with the ethical principles in ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy, Judeo/Christians teaching, and the England feudal system.

Many words have been borrowed from Greek and used in modern English. The same could be said of modern day democracy. As we look through time to unravel the Ancient Greek Empire, we can only be in awe of their masterful domain. They fought many wars, filled arenas with gladiators and beast from around the world and yet they would tumble, slowly, but they would still fall. Let us take a look at the kind of governments that would rule this vast country.

During the Golden Age in Greece, many things changed. Things that changed were the diversity of political views and the social doings of the Athenians and the organization of the Athenians economy. With the Golden Age, many groups worked together that wouldn’t normally interact. The biggest example of that is the relationship between Athenians and their democracy.