Week 3 Democracy Paper

Ancient Democracy vs Modern Democracy
By:
Frankie Bratkovics

The first well-known democracy was in Athens. Though other Greek cities set up democracies none were as powerful, stable or as well documented as Athens. Athens democracy had some of the highest rate of participation known. There are few reasons why Ancient democracy differs from modern democracy. One being that the Athenian democracy was exclusive. Only certain people could participate. Another difference was the main bodies of governance; The Assembly, the Boule, and the Courts. Finally the legal system was less challenging in Ancient Athens.

The estimates of the population of ancient Athens does vary. Women, children, slaves and non-citizens of Athens were not allowed to vote. To be granted the right to vote, one must be a male over the age of 18 freeborn Athenian and had completed the years of intense military training. This would limit the possible voters to those who were born into the right families (Chou, 300). Certain situations could exclude a citizen from being able to vote, if their rights were under suspension usually for failing to pay a debt. However, an ineligible individual could earn the rights of a full citizen of Athens by gaining at lease six thousand votes of approval. This may require a heroic act or a special service to the state. In modern Democracy, and U.S. citizen at the age of 18 or older is allowed to vote. You do not have to be of certain gender, or have military training in order vote.

The true sites of power were in one of the three main bodies of the government in Ancient Athens. The Assembly had hundreds or thousands of citizens gathered to debate a policy or legislation took place. Since there were no political parties, voting was simply by majority. Citizens were expected to meet and take their part in the proceedings.

The Boule was a smaller council of officials that ran the affairs of the city itself. The presidency of the Boule was rotated monthly among 10 executives. This section of their government was responsible for a large portion of the administration of the state.

The final section of the government in Athens was the Courts. This system was centered on full citizen’s rights. The Courts dictated both criminal actions and private suits. It is very similar to the Assembly meeting. There was no hierarchy in the courtroom. Justice was very swift and the case rarely last more than a day (Chou, 305). There are few different sizes of juries that they used in the Courts. It could range from two hundred to six thousand members on the jury. They range from the different cases that are brought to the Courts. While in the modern democracy there are only 12 members that sit on the jury at one time.

In today’s democracy, you are able to represent yourself, have the state take care of a lawyer for you or you are able to pay for a lawyer. It is up to you on what you want to do if you are going to Court. In Ancient Athens individuals often represented themselves. It was easier for someone to represent him or herself then have someone try to represent them. You were probably the only person who had your best interest in mind. It was also a little bit easier for someone to bring charges against another person and start a trail. In conclusion, you can still see some of what Ancient Athens has started with democracy in our government today. Yet there are still some differences in what is and what was. Athens voting system was very exclusive, not everyone was created equal during that time, the three main bodies of the government that make the decisions, and the legal system was less challenging. Unlike in today’s legal system, you need evidence to show a crime has been committed, then there will be an investigation and so forth.

Reference:

Chou, Mark. 2010. Democracy in an Age of Tragedy: Democracy, tragedy and Paradox. Pg 290-311. Retired from: http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=85757a79-5c31-4dc3-8b4a-dfe8fce42683%40sessionmgr4&vid=6&hid=14