Athenian democracy was guided by the principle of isonomy. Isonomy basically means that everyone in Athens is equal before the law‚ and all citizens have equal participation in creating the law (Breaugh‚ 2011). Even though citizens are equal in the political sphere‚ they were not equal in other areas of the polis. The lower classes in Athenian democracy were equal in the sense that they had an equal to vote on the laws‚ and to
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structures of these two city-states. Athens would become the first democracy that humans would create‚ while Sparta would sacrifice stature and power to maintain the restrictive government and institutional forms needed to prop up their warrior culture. Athenian citizens were counted as all free‚ native-born males over the age of 20. Women‚ foreigners‚ and slaves were excluded from political power and input. The main body of Athenian government was the Assembly‚ which consisted of all of the citizens
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In his eulogy delivered before the Athenians in 431-430 B.C during the Peloponnesian wars‚ Pericles states‚ “we are called a democracy‚ for the administration‚ is in the hands of many and not of the few.” In this quote‚ Pericles is communicating the idea that they are a democracy because the type of government that they have is special to them as well as very inclusive‚ unlike other governments at the time. The eulogy of Pericles should be considered accurate to a moderate extent because while on
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council and assembly. “The council of Areopagus” was the Anthenian council. This council served as an important legal institution under the the Athenian democracy. This council existed long before democracy and its power and composition changed many times over the centuries. The Athens conducted an assembly it was the regular gathering of male Athenian citizens to listen to‚ discuss‚ and vote on decrees such as‚ finical and religious matters‚ public festivals and wars‚ and treaties with foreign
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ATHENIAN GOVERNMENT & DEMOCRACY ATHENIAN GOVERNMENT & DEMOCRACY Ever wonder where and how democracy began? According to an article entitled “Athenian Government Prior to Democracy”; ancient Athens is credited with having developed one of the first democracies on this earth (1). Blackwell states that the name democracy comes from “demos-people and kratos-power”‚ meaning “power of the people” (2). Mills states that Athenian democracy did not come about easy‚ yet it was through
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agree that democracy is the best form of government. As a result‚ their outlook upon the first great democratic system in Western civilization is largely affected by their own predilection. Others‚ however‚ can see major flaws in Athenian democracy. These opposing stances are no recent development. The positives and negatives of this form of government have been argued and deliberated ever since it first transpired‚ nearly 25 centuries ago. Indeed‚ most of the criticism made of democracy today was
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assessment of values that the ancient Athenians attributed to their concept of democracy. ‘Mean’ is a very general word‚ and in this question could allow for all manner of possible answers‚ those focused on the practice of democracy‚ on the legal meaning‚ etc. But ‘mean’ implies interpretation and a certain degree of subjectivity by those trying to derive meaning. In this case‚ the term will refer to how the Athenians‚ as a people‚ perceived their democracy‚ in terms of both the political institutions
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Democracy was very important in ancient Greece because it gave citizens the opportunity to be involved in government decisions‚ allowed freedom of speech‚ equal rights‚ and eliminated the possibility of a ruler becoming too powerful. Most free men were able to vote and actively be a part of government but this did exclude women‚ children‚ and slaves. Cleisthenes who was a lawgiver in ancient Athens is credited to reforming Athens from an oligarchy (government by the few) to a democracy (government
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Ancient Athens is credited with having developed one of the first democracies on this earth. The city-state’s democracy‚ which was known as a direct or radical democracy‚ was at its peak under the rule of Pericles (circa 495- 430 BC). Prior to the development of what was an extremely active democracy‚ the Athenians were under various forms of government‚ including monarchy‚ oligarchy and tyranny. Monarchy The city-states in Greece were established some time around the 9th century BC. From around
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Athenian democracy originated and formed from the three definitions of "Demos". First of all‚ Demos is the Greek word for "village"‚ but the Greeks also used this word to translate as "People" and "Assembly". Initially‚ Demos means "Village" because it refers to the first step of democracy. The Athenians had a voting district‚ it was referred to as the "deme" and administrated the Assembly List. In order to qualify for the Assembly list‚ 18 year old males would have to prove to a political official
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