Ancient Athens: A Democratic City

Decent Essays
I believe that ancient Athens was a democracy city. My Reasons for

thinking this is because all men had equal political rights such as freedom of speech

and the right vote. And this system mean that it is a democracy. Another fact about why it

is a democratic city is that not only were the citizens in the democracy they made

themselves make the decisions on how they would live. And how they would vote is that

if a majority of the people voted yes then they would dispersed and came back together

two months later. Then they would bring there ostracons and they would see with one

threatened them the most and they exile them for ten years and they were thought of

anti democratic.(Doc E)

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    Was Athens truly a democracy? Athens was not a democracy because, the government members were the ones who determined who was a citizen, who obtained rights to vote, and who was a slave. An example would be, citizen men, only of Athens could vote, women and metics were not allowed to vote. This would prove that it indeed was not a democracy, and was proven to be a oligarchy, where as high social class and men would be making the calls, even though stated by Pericles, that social class should not interfere. (Document A, B) A council would gather once a year to see if anyone was a threat to democracy, if the answer was yes, two months later, they would come back with the name of the person and remove them from that political area.…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ancient Greek democracy appears to have ended as a result of both internal and external factors. Like the subsequent Roman Empire, the Athenian state appears to have over-reached in its militaristic ambitions, ultimately weakening it; while the relative strength of other empires enabled them to take Greece over. The imposition of rule by foreign empires finally ended Greek democracy. From internally, Athens moved from being a defender of its own nation to an aggressor though it would have no doubt maintained that this was in its national security interests. One of the consequences of this aggression and ambition was the loss of the alliances that had helped repel the Persians and in some cases their subjugation (Brand, n.d., p.28).…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    I personally think that Athens is not represented as democratic. There were aspects that were considered democratic but there were also aspects that were considered oligarchy. The word democracy means “government by the people.” But in Athens, “Demokratia” was rule by male citizens only, excluding women, free foreigners, and slaves. The people performed rule candidly, however democracy today means rule by the representatives of the people.…

    • 226 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Greek Democracy Dbq

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The most important Democracy was at Athens. In Athens elected officials and an assembly of citizens met and citizens learned to speak their minds and take pride in their freedom and the independence. Why did Democracy form in Greece? One reason was warfare. The Greeks were occasionally…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For most of its existence Canada has been viewed as a democratic government that is well suited for its people, but like any other political regime it has its weaknesses. Canada’s history, appreciation for human, legal and civil rights shows that this country has the possibility to uphold a legitimate democracy. However, the recent events are raising concern within the population, and the question begins to form is our political system slipping? While Canada has been ranked consistently in the top 10 democracies in the world, we as Canadian citizens still have many unresolved issues that have not been addressed. Throughout this paper the strengths and weakness of Canadian democracy will be discussed.…

    • 870 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Pericles Funeral Oration

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Pericles describes Athens as a democracy, he states “It’s administration favors the many instead of a few; this is why it is called a democracy.” Pericles sees Athens as being…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Miss Mayella Ewell convicted Tom Robinson of rape and beating, putting the small town of Maycomb, Alabama, in a crazed fit. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella wins power by using class, gender, and race. Tom Robinson is an African- American man, living in a heavily segregated town in Alabama during the 1930’s. Of course he was not going to win the trial but, because of this, Mayella gains power. When Tom is found guilty, Miss Ewell learns she is powerful because of those three categories.…

    • 613 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    With the facts on the table, and the speeches in writing, the fact is. Athens was a pure example of a classic, democratic…

    • 626 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Was ancient Athens truly democratic ? To say about how Athens was more of a democratic civilization, it was not because of how most things that certain people are allowed to do in the city it was because there was not much laws and our order between one another. but between the democracy and the city of Athens it was not so secure about their laws or order because of how most people were citizens at some weren’t because of how they were born in the city with their parent but their parents came to Athens as uncivilized people. But in order to be a citizen there in Athens you would have to be born there and also your parents to be from there as also to be able to have law and order in the population of the city. Also as of how men had more…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In its 224-year history, the Electoral College has faced both criticism and praise, with those criticizing it’s singularly focused on its elimination. However, the fact that it continues to play a key role in the electoral system of the United Sates is proof of its necessity. The following is an examination of the role of the Electoral College with a view to assessing whether it meets the criteria for a democratic form of government in accordance with the views of John Locke as presented in Second Treatise of Government. The aim of the research is to properly identify the position that the Electoral College holds in the Democracy of the United Stated of America in light of John Locke’s postulations in the Second Treatise of Government. Often referred to as the father of democracy, John Locke’s views as presented in the…

    • 230 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Factionalism In America

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Early Americans fought for independence from the British due to the lack of representation with the British government, which drove much of the discord of the colonies with the ruling government. After the American Revolution, the new governing documents, the Articles of Confederation, had to be revamped to satisfy the people in their quest for freedom and self-governing. A democratic government has the responsibility to be responsive to its citizens, but every citizen must have equal opportunity to influence that government; the political parties are tasked with finding ways to get the citizens actively involved, which is a challenging task. Factionalism was developed early in the history of our country.…

    • 1092 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the rise of Athens, Athenians established democracy, and their city-state was named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Although Athens was started by the Mycenaean’s, the foundation was built by four tyrants; Draco, Solon, Peisistratus, and Cleisthenes. The first tyrant Draco ruled with an iron fist and started the “Draco’s code”, and all citizens knew the laws. Draco ended aristocracy so that the rich could not decide what the poor has to do, and could not make laws. The second tyrant Solon extended citizenship for artisans and merchants that were not born in Athens.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Athens, Sparta, and Thebes all failed to create a lasting “Greek Empire.” While each polis had its own strengths and weaknesses, the poleis all failed for similar reasons. The poleis failed mainly due to almost constant power struggles, arrogance, and involvement in conflicts they should not have been involved in. Athens, Sparta, and Thebes all failed in spite of various strengths and due to various weaknesses. Athens’ strengths included its large size, large trireme navy, wealth, and democratic government.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Athenian Democracy Dbq

    • 158 Words
    • 1 Pages

    I think the athens democracy is in Document B, that the child has to be born with both citizen parents. The child has to be 18 to free born and be a citizen. The kid can’t be a called a citizen if he or she doesn't have a mom or dad. In Document C, the men are the only ones to vote. The women, children, metics and slaves can’t vote.…

    • 158 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Education and Democracy are entangled in American history and thought. Each one shapes the other. Plato mentions the cycle of cities and soul. The best city is the aristocracy, followed by a timocracy, oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. The type of souls to be found in the city are a philosopher, timocract, oligarchy, democrat, and a tyrant, respectively.…

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays