Was ancient Athens truly democratic? Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state. I do not believe that in the 4th to 5th century BCE ancient Athen were democratic for many reasons.
Athenians Democracy Ancient Athens has two documents that discuss democracy. The first one is “Document A: Pericles” and the other one is “Document B: The The Athenian Constitution”. In document A, I found that is truly democratic because your social class is not allowed the interfere with someone 's merit. For example, if you’re poor you’re still able to serve the state or be part of the government. In document A it also states that “you get equal justice.”
I believe that ancient Athens was not a true democracy. In a democracy all of the people are able to vote, and have a choice on who runs their city. In ancient Athens only the men were able to vote. Their government was Demokratia, and this excluded the women, the children, the metics, and the slaves. Even though their government was ran by the people themselves, only the men in the city could vote.
Cleisthenes is the only Greek philosopher, during the Hellenic era, I can relate with. Cleisthenes, an Athenian aristocrat, favored democracy, allied with my political values. He believed that the people should have the final say in their government to promote civil harmony. I believe in a democratic government that possesses equal rights for all citizens; a government that allows its citizens to provide input on political or social issues. Cleisthenes gave political responsibilities to Ekklesia, the Boule and the Deme’s, to create and implement decisions for their polis; in addition, to maintaining the future of Athens.
In this essay, I would like to answer and discuss the following questions: How did the people in Athens and Sparta obtain the right to participate in public life and make decisions affecting the community? Who held public office? What rules governed the selection of public office holders? How were two city-states similar in their governmental structures and how did they differ with each other? For the Spartans the right to participate and made important decisions from the entire community were only exercised by the adult and legitimate male citizens of Sparta.
While the Athenians did have their government centered on three major institutions, they were not
The Roman Republic primarily emphasized the idea of a balance of powers. The veto, which grants assemblies the authority to stop proposed laws or decisions from being implemented, was one of the most significant tools under this system. We will look at the veto in Roman politics and how it affected democratic decision-making in this essay. We will specifically look at the numerous veto powers in the Roman Republic and how they affected the administration of laws and legislation. We will also discuss the veto system's benefits and drawbacks, and its effectiveness in fostering democratic decision-making.
Citizenship in Athens & Rome: Which Was a Better System? The Romans left a powerful legacy that impacts our modern-day society. It was founded in 753 BC around the center of the Italian peninsula. They took up 15% of the world’s population by conquering territories in western Asia, southern Europe, and northern Africa.
Overall, ancient Athens was indeed not truly democratic as a result of the government having male citizens have authority, being an oligarchy government instead of a democratic government, and voting not accessible to women, free foreigners(Metics), and slaves except for male citizens. So that is why I conclude that ancient Athens was indeed not truly
Unlike the Romans, Athenians had a strict but fair schedule that allowed them to enjoy citizenship equally. Equally, hard workers have brought Athens power just as much as hereditary leaders. According to Document B all citizens should be allowed to speak their opinion and have a share in election because of the hard work they do to make the city powerful. Athenians allowed poor and common men to win a position in government which was a transition from the wealthy having power to everyone having power.
The Romans had a system of indirect democracy where the people had the power to vote for representatives who would advocate for them on the state level. The Greeks had a government in which the people directly were involved in the governmental and legislative process. In addition, both systems were flawed in their representation of their people in their respective governments through neglecting a large portion of their population. Both societies did well to create term lengths to decrease the likelihood of corruption and abuse of power through creating accountability. However, the Greek democracy was a caliber above its counterpart.
The Greeks displayed their humanistic values through government by they utilizing an effective system of self governing. This system was a direct democracy, defined as “government by the people” or “rule of the majority.” In the Athenian Democracy, the Assembly was the regular
Athens, located in southern Greece, experienced an expansion in culture and education during the years between the Persian War and Peloponnesian War (477-431 BC) which set the stage for future expansions of culture in civilizations like Ancient Rome and Europe during the Renaissance. Although Athens was very prosperous, innovative and ruled by strong leaders during their Golden Age, they still didn’t have a perfect government or social structure which puts into question how successful this period actually was. 1st Paragraph (Outline) Pericles 's had great success in beautifying Athens and increasing its culture, through innovative art and architecture, as well advances in theater, which created a Golden Age because the people of Athens experienced
Democracy in Ancient Rome Ancient Rome is often portrayed as a highly democratic society for the ancient world. After all, the United States’ government is modeled after some parts of the Roman’s structure of government. But,was Rome as democratic as is is commonly thought to be? Contrary to what people may think Rome’s democracy wasn't exactly so democratic for all of its citizens. One example of Rome’s confusing concept of democracy can be found in The Histories, which was written by the Greek historian Polybius in 119 BCE.
the idea of representative government began to take root in some city states, specifically Athens. Athenian reformers moved toward democracy, rule by the people. In Athens citizens participated directly in political decision making. However there were limitations on citizenship to ensure that only the most rational people were able to vote. Through the construction of democracy in Athens, equality of all citizens became greater, and the city would become the top democracy of all the democracies.
