“In 508 BCE, the Athenian aristocrat Cleisthenes instituted the first Athenian political democracy.” As the Greek playwright, Euripides wrote in his play that,“ Nothing is worse for a city than a tyrant.” (Section 2.2The Rise of Democracy and the Threat of Persia) Cleisthenes knew that, so he gave every
Second, due to the government in Sparta Sparta was more organized than Athens. Athens used a form of government called a Democracy, ruled by the people. Since the people of Athens may have different opinions, leading
Even to this day, we still use Athens and Sparta’s societal systems and structures because they were so revolutionary. Athens even introduced the idea of democracy, and Sparta had a strong military culture. Although Athens and Sparta were close together, Athens focused on leadership and education while Sparta focused on the military and war. However, due to their different governments and cultures, each has their strengths and weaknesses. However, because Athens focuses on its future leaders, Athens is the better model for a society.
Aristotle once said in his book Politics, “Democracy arises out of the notion that those who are equal in any respect are equal in all respects” (Aristotle). Ancient Greece was ahead of time, so that everyone felt included. Your gender, social position, and religion do not play a part in the amount of rights you have. Greece was split into many city-states, all with their own types of government and differences. Mainly, Athens and Sparta are most well known.
The Athenians developed a democracy. This was a direct democracy, which means the Athens would vote directly on issues. Most city-states were tyrannies at this time. Cleisthenes was the first Athenian to come up with this concept of government. The political side of Athens is a big selling point.
Citizenship : Why Athens was the Better System Athens was a small city compared to Rome that honored and protected citizenship. There was a constant importance of acknowledging all citizens hard work and participation. Athenians made it clear that the poor helped build the city 's power and not just the wealthy. They took politics very seriously and made sure that everyone had a voiced opinion. Hard work and equality is what makes a nation outstanding.
As a result, the government of Ancient Athens was highly influential, not only in its own time but also in the modern world, where it served as a model for democracy. Moreover, its emphasis on direct citizen participation and the rule of law has been adopted by many countries worldwide, making it a lasting legacy of the ancient
Ancient Greece is a civilization filled with many city states. Each of these city states had their own government, laws, customs, and were independent of each other. Out of these city states, Athens and Sparta stood out the most, in power, influence, and in achievements. Their biggest achievements were their governments. The Athenian city state fabricated a government that will become the basis for the western civilization; a democratic government.
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.
The Athenian Democracy, created as a response to the period of tyranny in greek history by Cleisthenes was not was the dream that had been envisioned. The people of the era believed each and everyone one of them had a power to influence society in someway. Democracy was created to provide that opportunity and yet the people failed to rise to the occasion. Society remained governed by the elites even if the evidence of such behavior was hidden behind a screen of institutions. All who were men and citizens of Greece could potentially participate in the demos.
As various studies suggested, ancient Athens pursued permissiveness and democracy, which its form of government was the antecedent of nowadays 'rule by the people '. After toppling the dictator Hippias in 510 BC, Athenian demos not only took power, but also introduced electoral system that "with no single ruler. A public assembly of male citizens met 40 times a year to vote on state decisions. The agenda was set and decrees carried out by a 500 strong council, chosen by lot to serve one year each"(Finley, 1983). In my view, the authority was no longer centralized in the hands of one administrator, more ordinary people got a say in running the
Introduction The so called Greek democracy was centered mostly in the Polis of Athens although other Poleis tried to copy the system. This was a system of democracy where qualified participating citizens had to vote directly on legislation and executive bills. With this democracy, participation was not open to all citizens, but only to all adult males who are truly born Athenians and born by Athenian parents. Slaves, females, and other residents were not considered true citizens and therefore do not have the right to participate in any political activity.
So Close, yet so Different Can two city-states, bases of political units, be only a few hundred miles apart and differ greatly in ways of life? Some people would say yes and others, no. However, two certain city states in ancient Greece, known as Athens and Sparta, lay roughly one hundred thirty miles apart, sharing some similarities but mainly butting heads with their differences. These two city-states are perhaps the most famous ones in Greek history since they fought against each other in the famous Peloponnesian War. This war, triggered by a rivalry of differences, left a devastating mark on Greece, but the rivalry did not start or end there.
Greece is a democratic state. That is not to say that it’s a perfect or pure democracy, but when determining whether it is more democratic or authoritarian, the answer is rather clear. According to democracyrating.org, a site which compiles several factors such as political rights, civil liberties, press freedom, corruption rating, and several other important considerations, Greece in 2015 was ranked the 41st most democratic nation in the world. [1] For the sake of comparison, the United States was 16th.
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.
