Athenian democracy

Democracy The roots of Democracy can be traced back to the year 508 BC, when Cleisthenes, put in power by the people, put into effect major political reforms in Athens. In 462 BC a Direct Democracy was introduced by Pericles to the Athenian people which allowed them to vote and participate in the administration of the state. Direct Democracy has two preconditions, “The community must be small enough for citizens to be capable of attending debates and voting on issues. And its economy must give…

Our City of Athens has been struggling for some time now to become a stronger city. At this time we are facing a battle just as difficult as the recent battles we have faced. As an assembly, we granted the metics who fought with Thrasybulus the right to citizenship. Those metics showed loyalty, strength, and passion to give Athens a chance to get back to the city we once were. Those characteristics shown by the metics are similar characteristics the slaves who also fought showed as well. I…

Is Rousseau a defender of direct democracy? Critically discuss. In the book ‘of the social contract’ by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Rousseau dissects and tries to understand what or whom gives authorities like kings and law makers their power, in doing so he identifies the general will of which he considers to be the main legitimiser of such powers, as will be looked at in detail later in this essay. Prior to examining this particular concept, I will attempt to address the question this essay is bent…

political capital acquired by the middle class represented a threat to the aristocratic claim to power. Nonetheless, the transition to democracy was far from expedite and such form of government arose only after Kleisthenes’ reforms. Ironically, the aristocracy played a crucial and protagonist role in the development of previous reforms. According to Vassillopolus, the Athenian ruling elite “allowed Solon extraordinary powers” to modify the legislation in an attempt to avoid any possibility of…

Democracy, a revolutionary political form of government that has ever been evolving since it was first introduced. For approximately two thousand five hundred years, democracy has played a vital role in world politics. The preferred political system of free peoples throughout the world, democracy originated on the streets of Athens and became ingrained in Greek Society. In 508 B.C., Cleisthenes, an Athenian ruler, had reformed a government ruled by the people; thus, he established the…

two of the most predominant, conspicuous, and celebrated city-states in Ancient Greece. Although both city-states allowed the government to be elected by the people, Sparta was ruled by two kings while Athens government served to be the first ever democracy. Inside of these two city-states there was much resemblance and contrasts whether it was socially, politically, or economically. Sparta and Athens, aside from the way the women were portrayed, had strikingly differing viewpoints on how…

therefore that we abolish the monarchy and increase the power of the people” (3.80). Croesus describes the Lacedaemonians and Athenians as the two greatest Greek nations, both of which practice isonomia (1.56). Herodotus provides an impeccable description of the advantages of giving power to the people as…

Democracy is a deviant constitution where the virtuous few turn out worse than the many when they come together even though the virtuous have the upper hand in individuality. A wise individual could be overruled by the many who combine their virtue and wisdom (Miller 2012). Aristotle’s view on democracy was that it was a subjective form of a constitutional government. A constitutional government was one where the ‘many’ ruled; however democracy was the contorted view. “The Athenian system…

parliamentary representative democratic republic. The leader (president) is Prokopis Pavlopoulos. The historically dominant parties have been New Democracy (ND) and the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) , in more recent elections, five parties have emerged; new or re-emerging (SYRIZA, Independent Greeks, Golden Dawn, DIMAR, and KKE) New Democracy - Its ideology is socially conservative, with economically liberal elements. ND supports and implements the economic bail-out program for Greece.…

population participating in the political life (Brand, n.d.). This would be unacceptable in today’s democratic world, which is a world that value democracy as one of the most important aspects of society. Greek democracy, at least in the Classical times, has failed; and the modern system also presents some important pitfalls. However, as it is said, modern democracy still is the least worse system ever…