Ancient Greek Democracy

The word democracy is derived from the Greek word dēmokratia: dêmos meaning people and krátos meaning power or rule; democracy is a form of government, which places power in the hands of the people. Many societies identify themselves as “democracies” and this frequently leads to an allocations of equalitarianism, liberalness, or freedom. The connotations and implications that accompany the word democracy are abundant. Societies in which citizens have the right to vote for representatives are attributed with the classification of “democracy.” Additionally, countries in which citizens are obliged to vote directly on the legislation of their state are referred to as democracies. A society that has been labeled a democracy is often falsely attributed

This institution was created to end the tradition of aristocratic monopolization of the government. Athenian Democracy was created in the hopes of giving all citizens an equal voice in the decisions and laws made within the society. This democracy consisted of male citizens who were active in the decisions by which they lived by and male citizens who participated in the institutions that governed them. All male citizens over the age of eighteen were able to and encouraged to vote on legislation. This ensured the common people’s direct control of the political process. Though Athens was extremely advanced in its pursuit for equality within the government, there were restrictions on who could vote; not only did one have to be an adult male, one also had to be a landowner and be free from servitude. Athens’s government was innovative and revolutionary in the development of governments similar to theirs in the centuries to come, but their system was not perfect and it did not extend liberties to all citizens of

Americans and others believe that the American government and Constitution was based solely on the model of democracy exhibited by Ancient Athens. The United States is seen as the a great role model for the rest of the world; the perfect “democracy.” Democracy is seen as a government in which all of the citizens have a voice. In America people believe that government operates as a pure democracy because all citizens can vote in general elections and primary elections. This is an exemplification of a Republic, not a Democracy. Republics are systems in which the people elect representatives who make policy decisions on the behalf of their representees . Americans do not vote directly on the policies that they wish to be enacted or detracted. In most modern societies, democracy has come to mean a government that derives it’s power from the people and is obligated to recognize the people’s best interests for the use of that power. Using this definition of democracy would indicate that the United States is an accurate representation of a democracy, but it would also render republic a synonym of democracy, which is