The Importance Of Laws And Regulations In Ancient Greece

Was ancient Athens truly democratic? Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives. I believe that ancient Athens supported the early stages and development of democracy. Ancient Athens contributed many thoughts, and ideas to help form the idea of a democracy.(Doc A & B) Some of these ideas and thoughts where our constitution favors the many instead of the few, social class is not allowed to interfere with someone’s merit, and the franchise is open to all men who are of citizen birth by both parents. These are all examples of how they followed democracy, and contributed to its development.

Today, much of the world’s governments have converted to democracies. In the Ancient World, there was only one truly notable example of a democratic society: The City-State of Athens. This is actually the birthplace of democracy, where instead of the rich or powerful ruling, it was the citizens of the city-state that held the power. This advanced way of government was so effective and well structured, it even laid the foundations for the development of our own democracy, right here in the United States, over 2,000 years in the future. Prior to Athens’s collapse during the Peloponnesian War, it truly had an efficient and very organized system of government.

The Athenian government was a direct democracy, meaning the citizens of the city-state take absolute control over any vote. This was the plan for the government to control their people since the citizens

Democracy is defined as a government ruled by common people. The power of the should be in the hands of the largest class which is the poorest. The political system of ancient Athens was a Democracy, which involved all of its citizens.This system was divided in three parts: the ekklesia( a sovereign governing body who wrote the laws) the boule(representatives from the Athenian tribes) and the dikasteria, (the courts in which citizens argued cases in front of selected jurors). Every men could participate in the political process, being selected by lot to fill even the highest offices and being paid for pub- lic service. Four times a month proposals were debated and decisions were made openly so and any citizen could speak to the issues of the day.

The Athenian democracy went as far as being a government by the people within the narrow confines of the polis.# The citizens could pursue their private interests. They were also allowed to seek the seek the highest goals by placing their interests at the service of the city.#Pericles stated during the Funeral Oration at Samos that Athens was a “free state, both in politics and in social life.”# People might say it wasn’t fair because Pericles made Athenian citizenship limited to adult males who had an Athenian mother and father.# Citizens who wanted to, could try to achieve their private goals and manage their private affairs. They could have their interests at the service of the city to help them seek what they desire. “Pericles believed that man’s capacities and desires could be fulfilled at the highest possible level only through government participation.”# The government that allowed you the most active participation in government was a direct democracy, so Pericles chose that form of government for Athens.

In the Athenian Democracy, they had a form of government where citizens ruled directly and not through representatives. They had a legislature branch that would pass the laws, the executive branch would carry out the laws, and the judicial branch would conduct the trials with paid jurors. The executive branch was composed of a council of 500 men and the leaders were chosen by a lot. To be a citizen in Athens, you had to be a male, 18 years old, born from citizen parents, and your parents can't be a slave.

When evaluating the government of ancient Athens, some might say that it was a democracy, however, it can be better described as an oligarchy: a form of government in which a small group of people has the power and control (Doc. D by Mogens Herman Hansen). A democracy takes all the citizens’ opinions and thoughts into account, unlike an oligarchy that only takes the male citizens’ opinions and thoughts into account. Thus, Athens is more similar to an oligarchy than a democracy. The people of Athens also decide as a whole what the best government for their city-state was, as opposed to a democracy where the people elect representatives to make decisions for them and their city-state. Athens could be seen as not a true democracy because of the lack of basic democratic rules and methods such as what they define democracy as, who is able to vote, and how they vote.

Democracy. A democracy is a government which all the people of the state are involved in making decisions, such as voting for representatives. So was there a democracy that was set by the Athens? Or was it an oligarchy that represents how everyone is supposed to live. Although many say the athens lived a democratic life, the evidence says it itself, they didn’t.

Democracy is a “Government by the people”, Democracy was a central part of Athenian society and everyday life. The Athenian government held Ekklesia or assembly where citizens could go to vote on laws, issues and practically everything affecting Athenian life. They also had The Boule or council and the Dikastiria or the courts that helped make decisions and enforce laws. Through their actions the Athenians established a very early democracy.

Ancient Athens was built on a democratic government. A democracy is when a government allows all of its people, no matter what class and how wealthy they are, to vote and agree on their own laws. There are many documents and resources that can prove that Ancient Athens was truly built to be a democratic government.

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.

After the Athenians used democracy, other Greek cities attempted to follow the Athenian model of government, which were not as powerful or stable. Athenian democracy was a form of direct democracy. Direct democracy was where people did not elect officials to vote, but directly vote on legislation and bills individually. This form of democracy meant, “Every adult, male Athenian citizen had the right to participate in deliberations and voting in the law-making assembly and other governing institutions.”4

Imagine if someone you loved was shot. You call the cops, but they say that there is nothing that can be done because there are no laws saying they have to punish the criminal. If there were no laws, criminal could get away with crimes like that repeatedly without any punishment. This is a prime example of why laws are needed to keep society in order. The idea of rules in society has been around since King Hammurabi created the first set of laws in 1760 B.C. Egyptian civilizations created laws so that their society would last longer than other civilizations because people would respect their morals. William Golding, the author of Lord of the Flies, made a statement about human nature, saying that, “Man produces evil as a bee produces honey.” He had a theory that

There were many forms of government in Ancient Greece. The ones that will be discussed in the following paragraphs are monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy.

Greek democracy was best developed in the city-state of Athens from where the very word “democracy”, meaning “the rule of the people” stems. People ‘ruled’ by electing officials through lot and making important decisions by majority rule. Democracy was direct, meaning that the Athenians “allowed the whole citizenry to assemble in the central eklisia, or the equivalent today of the main city hall, to vote on important issues” (Makedon 1995). In this sense, Athenian democracy differed from representative democracy that is currently prevalent in most states, in which officials are elected through democratic vote and then given authority to make decisions for the people. In Athens, elected officials were paid, but the pay was very low so that it compared with the wages of the poorest citizens and only covered the compensation of their time and effort.