Essay On Athenian Democracy

The three branches of the United States government are modeled after three parts of Athenian democracy. Athenian democracy implemented three institutions that ran their government. While Athenian democracy was made up of the Ekklesia, the Boule, and Dikasteria, American democracy is made up of the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branch. There is a close resemblance in the Legislative and Judicial branches of American democracy and the Ekklesia, the Boule, and Dikasteria institutions of Athenian democracy.
The United States House of Representatives has many similarities to the Ekklesia in Athens. The Ekklesia is also referred to as the Assembly, and was “the sovereign ruling body of Athens” (History.com Staff). Participation in the Assembly was originally allotted only to males with at least two years of military experience, but Solon opened it up to all Athenian citizens. In order for the Assembly to operate, a quorum of 6,000 people was required on some occasions (Revolvy). They wrote and revised laws, disciplined public officials,
In Athens, in order to vote someone had to meet two qualifications. The first was that they had to be a citizens. In order to be a citizen in Athens at this time one must be a free man, woman, or child. Slaves were not considered to be citizens at this point in time (Packard Humanities Institute). The second qualification they had to meet was that they had to show up to the Assembly on the day that the vote was being cast. The date in which the vote would be taken was posted in advance and citizens would gather on that day when the Assembly met to cast their vote. This system allowed everyone the opportunity to vote and take part in government (Packard Humanities Institute). Once the votes had been casted they decided whom was the winner based off of majority rule. In order to be considered the winner, one must have fifty percent of the vote plus