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Democracy In Ancient Greece: Different Forms Of Government

527 Words3 Pages

Abstract
This paper is a comparison and contrast of monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy as they applied to different forms of government in Ancient Greece.
Forms of Government in Ancient Greece
According to dictionary.com monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy forms of governments are defined as followed: A monarchy is a government with a “supreme power or sovereignty held by a single person.” A tyranny is “a state ruled by a tyrant or absolute ruler.” An oligarchy is “a form of government in which all power is vested in a few persons or in a dominant class or clique; government by the few.” An aristocracy is “any class or group considered to be superior, as through education, ability, wealth, or social prestige.” A democracy is a “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.” …show more content…

The main difference between the two being that a Tyranny has the connotation of being a bad thing because it usually has a rule that its people do not like. Ancient Sparta had kings like in a classical Monarchy. However, there were always two kings in power at the same time. This kept Sparta from being a monarchy or a tyranny because both kings had equal power and “because they (the kings) were often subject to the will of the Gerousia and the Ephors.” (Brand, n.d) Instead, Sparta would be considered an oligarchy because it had a select few people who made all the decisions in government. Sparta had a general assembly where all free males could participate in government. However, matters brought before the Assembly were subject to the will of the Gerousia and the Ephors and they could also veto the Assembly’s vote. These factors are what made Sparta’s government an

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