29 September 2013 What are the Unique Traits of Athenian Democracy? There are several traits that make Athenian democracy unique not only in the ancient world but also in the modern world as well. For the first time in recorded history‚ citizens had a say in what laws were to govern them . Democracy was an unknown and alien concept in the ancient world‚ and Athenians knew that their political process was different in and they were intensely proud of it. “Our form of government does not enter
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Democracy in Athens What does the Classical Greece’s heritage consist in? In 431 B.C‚ war erupted in Greece as two very different Greek city-states‚ Athens and Sparta‚ fought for domination of the Greek world. In the first winter of the war held a public funeral to honor those who had died in battle. As was the custom in Athens‚ one leading citizen was asked to address the crowd‚ and on this day it was Pericles who spoke to the people. In this famous Funeral Oration‚ Pericles gave voice to
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Origins of Democracy Democracy refers to a type of political system in which the people‚ or people they elect to be representatives‚ govern themselves‚ rather than being governed by a dictatorship or monarch. It is supposedly said that the democratic form of government began in Ancient Athens in 508 BC‚ but this form of government may have existed well before the turn of the 5th century. It is logical to assume that democracy‚ no matter how quaint or complex‚ began with the tribes. As having
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Democracy is a state of which helps our civilization function properly. What was the Athenian democracy like? Was it just like the democracy of the United States we live in today? First we must take note of the political ideas of the Greeks. What did the Greeks mean by democracy? Their constitution is called a democracy because power was in the hands of not a minority but of a whole people. Everyone was believed to be equal in the eyes of the law. Political life is open and free‚ and so were the
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that for some reason or another people as a whole do not like change. Even though democracy keeps an individual or a group take power the people of the government will not be taken advantage of or be mistreated. Many things is not about an idea being or bad‚ sometimes change is not fair to all the people. But why did the Athenian democracy fail in about 100 years if it was a government made for the people. Before democracy the people in ancient Greece were run by the people on top of the wealth and power
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Pericles was the leader of Athens and was born in 495BC and died in 429BC. His father‚ Xanthippus was a political leader who grew up in the family of the Alcmaeonids and his mother‚ Agariste provided Pericles with political value and a relgious defilement. Growing up Pericles was very bright‚ his family was wealthy which meant he had access to the best teachers in the whole of Athens. This meant he was able to fully pursue his education. As a young man‚ Pericles used much of his wealth to support
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The pen‚ at least in ancient Greece‚ often times proved to be mightier than the sword. As Victoria Wohl said in “Rhetoric of the Athenian citizen‚” “citizenship…was defined by speech‚ the citizen’s right to speak his mind freely in the Assembly” (162). To be able to defend oneself‚ discuss law‚ work for the courts‚ be on jury was part of being a citizen in Greece. Because speech was so important‚ how words were said and pieced together held even greater significance. People would often hire‚ logographers
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called a democracy when we still had millions of slaves. Our nation today is called a democracy when millions of citizens never exercise their right to vote‚ a few hundred party leaders select our national political candidates‚ and only those who have million-dollar treasuries can run for political office with a reasonable chance of winning. Latin American military dictatorships are called democracies. South Vietnam with a single candidate for president during the Vietnam War was called a democracy. The
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Pericles was the leader of Athens and was born in 495 BC and died in 429 BC. His father‚ Xanthippus was a political leader and military commander for Athens who grew up in the family of the Alcmaeonids. His mother‚ Agariste provided Pericles with political value and a religious background. Growing up Pericles was very bright‚ his family was wealthy which meant he had access to the best teachers in the whole of Athens. This meant he was able to fully pursue his education. As a young man‚ Pericles
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What was wrong with the ancient Athenian democracy? One of the most remarkable elements of the modern world of politics is the surprising popularity of democracy. The word and the concept of democracy‚ which nowadays is mostly seen as a necessary form of government for the 21st century‚ 26/01/2011-08:35:02 emerged for the first time in Antiquity‚ in the city-state of Athens in the 5th century BC. After so many years‚ the word‚ demokratia‚ still has the same meaning‚ the rule of the people
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