Athenian Democracy Dbq

Ancient Athens prided itself upon being a democratic society, but was it really? It's true that it was ruled by the people, however only a small percentage of people. Document C states that only 12 percent of people actually vote. And who are those 12 percent? The 12 percent of the whole population that voted was men whose parents were both citizens of the city (see Document B). Slaves, women, and resident foreigners were barred from voting.

The Athenians had good citizenship because when people were granted citizenship they had a say in the government. Unlike in the Roman Republic when citizens were only elected, ambassadors had a say and most of the time the ambassadors came from wealthy Roman families. This action showed discrimination of wealth against the Roman citizens, meanwhile the Athenians had the freedom of speech and could participate in government actions. One example is taken from Document B, which shares that the Athenian government was fulfilled by “Lottery or by-election and that any citizen who wishes should be allowed to speak” in the Athenian government. What is important to notice is how the government was chosen by lottery.

The ancient Athens was truly democratic. According to the wikipedia website , Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century BC in the Greek city state known as a polis of athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica and is the first known democracy in the world. Other Greek cities set up democracies, most following the Athenian model, but none are as well documented as Athens.

Accordingly, this once-a-year event puts more power into the citizen’s hands: the power to banish and exile their leaders. Following Athen’s traits of randomly selecting citizens and putting them into the government, Athens also asserts that they were a true democracy because of the fact that they created democracy from the start. To explain, the word ‘democracy’ comes from the Athenian word ‘democratia’ meaning “rule by male citizens only, excluding women, free foreigners(metics) and slaves”(Document D). Therefore, this evidence demonstrated how for the Athenians, democracy meant government by the legal, citizen people. Though this included only adult, male citizens, it still allowed everyone who they believed to be legally acceptable to vote and take part, regardless of social class.

Democracy is thoroughly known as the power of the people in which that citizens are able to control their own cities and or states without an overruling government. Many civilizations follow the rules of democracy, one of these civilizations include the ancient Greek state Athens. Research from ancient Athens philosophers; Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle has shown that Athens is a so called democratic government. Aristotle stated in his writing “The Athenian Constitution” that, “ The franchise is open to all men who are citizen birth by both parents.” (Document B) Due to Aristotle's intelligent appearance towards others, people soon found Athens as a truly Democratic state. Although there are many that disagree with this point, strong studies

Ancient Greece was famous for its art and ideas. Greek people were very creative in great epics, history, dramas, philosophy, science, mathematics, and medicines. The ancient Greece was covered with mountains, rocky hills, and narrow valleys. Greek later became educated about trading with the Mediterranean. Modern Democracy is more concerned about peace, division of power and providing equal rights of every citizen of a country however, in the ancient Greece was involved with war among the state, misuse of political power, discriminate slaves and poor farmers.

Democracy in Athens While history in Athens can get quite murky, there is an age long argument on whether or not Democracy truly existed in Athens or not, while many back the idea of “No way! Athens was not a democracy!” This document is here to show you how Athens was one of the democratic powerhouses of Ancient Greece. You can always argue two sides of an opinion but to face the facts collected here you can see how the democratic beliefs in Athens may have well influenced today’s ideas on our democracy still used in the government today and all over the world.

First of all, it is feasible to say that one of the most important reasons for the Athenian defeat was due to

It resulted in corruption, dishonor of law and as a whole extends the frightening of the community, lessening of the control of the society over the private life of the individual. This is the reason why the principles and the institutions of the Athens democracy turned to be lifeless.

In 508 B.C, a civil war in Athens ceased; giving rise to a new democratic constitution under the leadership of Cleisthenes. The changes made under his leadership and other subsequent reforms resulted in a relatively radical form of government for the time known as democracy (Hyland Lecture, 26/09/2013). Democracy is a system of collective decision-making in which the participants have equality at least at one essential point of the decision making process (Christiano, “Democracy”). Furthermore, the term ‘democracy’, which comes from the Greeks, literally means rule by the people. The system of government, created by the Greeks, known as Democracy possessed many unique characteristics such as judicial review that have come to influence

In the beginning of his speech, Pericles asserts that “a man may be personally ever so well off, and yet if his country be ruined he must be ruined with it (2.60.3)”. This shows that he is aware of the problem with Athens. He identifies the problem when he says “cease then to grieve for your private afflictions, and address yourselves instead to the safety of the commonwealth (2.61.4)”. This focus on self destroys the polis because once the citizens in a democracy become stuck on themselves, that self centeredness infiltrates the government, countering its purpose as the protector of all of her citizens and destroying the unity of the polis. Throughout Pericles’ speech he attempts to combat this self centeredness stating that the “flourishing commonwealth always affords chances of salvation to unfortunate individuals (2.60.3)” and that the citizens “cannot decline the burdens of empire and still expect to share its honors (2.63.1)”. However, his arguments are ineffective because he fails to realize the cause of the self centeredness; a shift in focus which places the good of the empire above the good of each individual citizen.

In Thucydides’ Funeral Oration, Pericles argues that everyone should look to Athens as an example of being a perfect state with the best institution. He describes Athens as a unified philosophical city that does not make its neighbors envious because Athenians strive towards excellence not extravagance, despite the amount of wealth Athens has obtained. Since Athens has been so successful during this time, Pericles argues one of the reasons why Athens is so superior is because their democracy is the best form of politics.

Continuously throughout history the Greeks ideas had displayed themselves multiple times in many different ways. Most Americans had become familiar with the famous description of a democratic government by Abraham Lincoln, “a government of the people, by the people, for the people.” Although, unfortunately less known that the word democracy comes from our ancient Greek companions. Demokratia, a Greek word for “power of the people,” came to life in Athens in the 7th century BC. A democracy described itself as a government in which citizens elect representatives to advocate for them in the government. As the city-states oligarchy exploited citizens and created economic, political, and social problems, Athens became inspired by the prosperous, semi-democratic model Sparta had adopted. They turned their ways in trying to help the struggling majority

The ancient city-state of Athens has long been celebrated for the foundation of the first democracy in the 5th century B.C.E. Though it was unrivaled by any other ancient civilization in the creation of a government that offered its citizens a way to directly participate in various democratic institutions and make their voices heard, it was far from perfect. Identifying the limitations of Athenian democracy at its peak and investigating some of the events that potentially let to its subsequent demise provides a more complete understanding of the weaknesses in the democratic system. While Athenian democracy granted ordinary male citizens unprecedented political power and is celebrated for being an innovative form of government in the ancient world and a model for contemporary democracy, it was inclusive of only a small portion of the Athenian population and had inherent flaws within the system that ultimately lead to its failure.

Today democracy is often known for letting everyone have a say in government and letting people choose who represents them or letting them represent themselves. Although some aspect of democracy are prevalent in ancient Greece, there are exceptions which show how undemocratic life truly was. According to “The Oration of Pericles” written by Thucydides, “Administration is in the hands, not of the few, but of the whole people… Election to public office is made on the basis of ability, not on the basis of membership to a particular class”(Source Two). As stated by Thucydides, the people of Athens did get to vote for representatives who they saw best