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Similarities Between Athenian Democracy And American Democracy

659 Words3 Pages

Amanda Milito
HI 101-OL3
Professor Brozyna
October 21, 2016

Essay #1
Athenian Democracy & American Democracy Similarities

The similarities between Athenian Democracy and American Democracy are uncanny. The Athenian democracy was the first of its kind developed in 508BC. The basic and most important element of democracy is to understand that a democracy guarantees all humans rights. Not only that, but a democracy allows the citizens of that country to decide who will lead their country.
Athenian Democracy: The Athenian Democracy is the first known democracy in the world. Athenian democracy was discovered in 508 BC by Cleisthenes. The Athenians had a direct democracy which allowed the citizens to directly decide and vote for who they wanted to rule their country. In Athens there were three bodies of the government. The Assembly is the first branch which included all citizens that showed up to cast their vote. The Assembly decided what new laws would be and they made important decisions regarding war, laws, etc. Then there was the Council which looked over every day running of the government. The Council was not determined by voting but instead by a lottery. If your name was picked then you would be a part of the council for a …show more content…

They have the Legislative Branch that makes up the laws. They have the Executive Branch which is run by the president who oversees every day governing in the United States. Lastly they have the Judicial Branch which is made up of all the courts and oversees trials. The United States established a democracy sometime between the late 1700s and early 1800s after they broke away from British rule. It should be noted that American democracy stemmed from Athenian Democracy and although they have tweaked it along the way their roots stem from Athenian Democracy. Their ideas come from the way the ancient Athenians used to rule and have say in their

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