Ancient Greek Government Research Paper

The three major types of government that existed in ancient Athens were oligarchy, democracy, and tyranny. Democracy is a government where the government was controlled by the people and is used a lot today. Oligarchy is like democracy but was ruled by only a few like the rich. Tyranny was very common in ancient Greece but now only a few countries still use this method where only one man is in charge, like a king. Ruled by the people. In the direct democracy, the government is controlled by the people. The citizens are able to vote on things and discuss about problems and the government. A good thing in this system was how the people were able to make choices throughout the government in a voting system which was very efficient and balanced. Stated in the “Ancient Civilizations: through renaissance” textbook, it says that the people felt power and freedom which kept them happy. Although direct democracy seems perfect, not everything went well. It took a
lot of time trying to vote because major decisions needed more than six thousand people and at often times up to thirty thousand people came to vote. In ancient greece, being a citizen meant you had to be male and you couldn’t be an immigrant to vote. This government ended in 338 BC, when king Philip II attacked Athens and won. Oligarchy, meaning ruled by the few, was ruled by the rich and was formed by “the four hundred” in 411 BC when the Peloponnesian war took place. The rulers were from rich families and thanks to this the economy grew well. Unlike tyranny, oligarchy still let people debate giving some opinions but the common people didn’t have a voice to speak with. The aristocrats made laws that allowed them to stay richer and citizens that couldn’t pay taxes were forced into slavery. Citizens opposed of a system that “let the rich get richer and the poor get poorer” so they attacked the aristocrats alongside them military. Ruled by one.
Tyranny is a government where only one man ruled, a tyrant, who held power through the use of force. When the people overthrew oligarchy Peisistratus became a tyrant and ruled athens in 546 BC. Only one man was in control so laws were made faster than ever and the system was very simple. Because there was only one tyrant, debating didn’t exist making some of the tyrant’s opinions unequal. The citizens felt the lost of power and rebelled to the tyrant. For example, when Peisistratus died, his son took over where the people overthrew the tyrant. Although today the word “tyranny” is used in a bad way as a man mad with power, tyranny was successful throughout ancient greece. Ancient athens used these three governments, oligarchy, tyranny, and democracy that were very useful throughout history and was spread around the world. Ruled by the people, ruled by a few, and ruled by one, these governments was an efficient way of controlling ancient greece and some of these governments are still used
today.