The Similarities Of Athenian Democracy In The United States

United States democracy is widely renowned as one of current society’s greatest systems of government, though being far from perfect. The laws of the United States are mainly derived from the Constitution, signed shortly after the Declaration of Independence, utilizing democratic decisions made by the people, for the people. There are, however, many similarities in Athenian democracy that can be compared to modern United States democracy. The greek word “democracy”, derived from the greek words dêmos and krátos, literally means “people power”, and was developed by the Athens around the fifth century BC. This Greek city-state, or polis, is also the first well documented democracy in all of history consisting of three main political bodies.

Simply the foundation of democracy in Athens is incredibly important to the governmental system of the current United States. Of course there are the obvious differences between the two systems, such as different ages of voting eligibility, and the fact that gender does not decide someone’s ability and right to make important political decisions. Athens utilized the votes from the people a bit differently as well, with a small 40,000 Athenian men voting on whatever issues simply rose to attention. Elections were also determined through a lottery system, whereas officials in the United States are completely decided by its citizens. There are an abundance of differences between the two governmental system, with the most important policy used by both the Athenians and the United states being the decision to allow the majority, the citizens from any social class, to vote and be a part of a

The three different branches all keep the others from gaining too much power of the states through what is known as a series of checks and balances. The United States governmental policies can go into incredible detail due to the unknown number of tweaks made to this evolving form of government. What is most important about the United States governmental system, is that it is a democracy at its roots. Obviously there will be differences between this democracy and the Athenian’s view on democracy and politics, yet the base concept is still there: the people, the lower, middle, and upper class, all have the ability to make a change in what they stand for. The average citizen can place their vote for or against ideas that support or oppose their opinions, or they can attempt to run for office and create change. Democracy essentially gives the right to liberty and equality of opportunities. Without the vote of the people, society and government are much more susceptible to corruption, resulting in examples such as the dictatorship of North Korea, or the Communistic state of China. Deriving and holding on to the practice of Democracy is what has made the United States the absolute power that it