What Is Democracy?

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

What Is Democracy? Day 21 Complete a circle map. What is democracy? What does it mean in the UK today? Democracy and Ancient Greece Democracy is a fair political system where all adults vote for an elected government. This government then make decisions on how to run the country. There were three main systems of democracy in Adults in the UK vote in elections to choose a political party, Ancient Greece: MPs and the Prime Minister. Democracy began in Ancient Greece. In fact, the Ancient Greek system is very famous and has helped to shape many systems of democracy around the world today. The Ekklesia The Boule The Dikasteria The Ekklesia The Ekklesia was the main assembly of citizens who met 40 times a year to make laws and decisions. Any male Athenian citizen could attend. Out of 40,000 men, about 5,000 attended regularly. They made decisions by a simple majority vote. The Boule The boule were a group of 500 men who served for one year. They met daily and made lots of decisions. They decided what issues to take to the Ekklesia. They were chosen randomly. The Dikasteria Do you notice anything about who took part in democracy? The Dikasteria, or popular courts, was a group of 500 jurors who dealt with crimes. There were no rules or police so the Dikasteria decided what would be tried and what the sentences would be. The jurors were chosen daily at random from a group of male citizens over 30 years old. Who was a part of the democracy? Men, Athenian Citizens and Adults. Task- What are the differences between democracy now and in Ancient Greece? Complete the grid showing the differences. Challenge-Which parts of the systems of democracy are fair? Explain your reasons. Under 18s are not allowed to vote. Explain why you think that you should be allowed to vote..
Recommended publications
  • Democracy in Ancient Athens Was Different from What We Have in Canada Today
    54_ALB6SS_Ch3_F2 2/13/08 2:25 PM Page 54 CHAPTER Democracy in 3 Ancient Athens Take a long step 2500 years back in time. Imagine you are a boy living in the ancient city of Athens, Greece. Your slave, words matter! Cleandros [KLEE-an-thros], is walking you to school. Your father Ancient refers to something and a group of his friends hurry past talking loudly. They are on from a time more than their way to the Assembly. The Assembly is an important part of 2500 years ago. democratic government in Athens. All Athenian men who are citizens can take part in the Assembly. They debate issues of concern and vote on laws. As the son of a citizen, you look forward to being old enough to participate in the Assembly. The Birthplace of Democracy The ancient Greeks influenced how people today think about citizenship and rights. In Athens, a form of government developed in which the people participated. The democracy we enjoy in Canada had its roots in ancient Athens. ■ How did men who were citizens participate in the democratic government in Athens? ■ Did Athens have representative government? Explain. 54 54_ALB6SS_Ch3_F2 2/13/08 2:25 PM Page 55 “Watch Out for the Rope!” Cleandros takes you through the agora, a large, open area in the middle of the city. It is filled with market stalls and men shopping and talking. You notice a slave carrying a rope covered with red paint. He ? Inquiring Minds walks through the agora swinging the rope and marking the men’s clothing with paint.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Studies Grade 7 Week of 4-6-20 1. Log Onto Clever with Your
    Social Studies Grade 7 Week of 4-6-20 1. Log onto Clever with your BPS username and password. 2. Log into Newsela 3. Copy and paste this link into your browser: https://newsela.com/subject/other/2000220316 4. Complete the readings and assignments listed. If you can’t access the articles through Newsela, they are saved as PDFs under the Grade 7 Social Studies folder on the BPSMA Learning Resources Site. They are: • Democracy: A New Idea in Ancient Greece • Ancient Greece: Democracy is Born • Green Influence on U.S. Demoracy Complete the following: Directions: Read the three articles in the text set. Remember, you can change the reading level to what is most comfortable for you. While reading, use the following protocols: Handling changes in your life is an important skill to gain, especially during these times. Use the following supports to help get the most out of these texts. Highlight in PINK any words in the text you do not understand. Highlight in BLUE anything that you have a question about. Write an annotation to ask your question. (You can highlight right in the article. Click on the word or text with your mouse. Once you let go of the mouse, the highlight/annotation box will appear on your right. You can choose the color of the highlight and write a note or question in the annotation box). Pre-Reading Activity: KWL: Complete the KWL Chart to keep your information organized. You may use the one below or create your own on a piece of paper. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OUDVcJA6hjcteIhpA0f5ssvk28WNBhlK/view Post-Reading Activity: After reading the articles, complete a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the democracy of Ancient Greece and the United States.
    [Show full text]
  • Democracy and Empire in Greek Antiquity
    This course will explore the history, culture, and art of post- classical Greek antiquity, focusing on the period between two of the most studied and renowned figures of the ancient world: Alexander the Great and Cleopatra VII. We will learn and analyze how the ancient world changed with Alexander and his successors, emphasizing the political, social, and cultural transformations; changes in the religious landscape; and formation of the state. We will also discuss the legacy of the Hellenistic world as an integral part of our intellectual heritage. Developments in Athenian Democracy DRACONIAN Laws (DRACO)7th c BCE strict laws enforcing aristocratic rule- there was only one penalty prescribed, death, for every crime from murder down to loitering (see Plut. Sol. 17.1). - the new Constitution gave political rights to those Athenians “who bore arms,” those Athenians wealthy enough to afford the bronze armor and weapons of a hoplite. CRISIS- 1) Tensions among aristocrats- 2) Poor citizens, in years of poor harvests, had to mortgage portions of their land to wealthier citizens in exchange for food and seed to plant. They became more vulnerable to subsequent hardships (see Aristot. Ath. Pol. 2.1-2). SOLON- 6th c. SOLONIAN LAWS they did not establish a democracy as radical as what would follow He took steps to alleviate the crisis of debt that the poor suffered He abolished the practice of giving loans with a citizen’s freedom as collateral He gave every Athenian the right to appeal to a jury, thus taking ultimate authority for interpreting the law out of the hands of the Nine Archons (remnant of aristocracy) and putting it in the hands of a more democratic body, since any citizen could serve on a jury.
    [Show full text]
  • Public and Private
    POLIS. Revista de ideas y formas políticas de la Antigüedad Clásica 12,1999, pp. 181-228 PUBLIC AND PRÍVATE Konstantinos Mantas Athens A. ABSTRACT In this article we will try to give an answer to the question of changes in the visibility of women in the public sphere. The fact that élite women played a more energetic role in public life firom the late Hellenistic epoch on has been established by our research on the available sources (mostly epigraphical) in some regions of the Greco-Roman East, in particular W. Asia Minor (lonia and Caria) and in Aegean islands such as Lesbos, Chios, Samos, Teños, Syros and Paros. Nevertheless, the inscriptions, being brief summaries of the decrees which were put in the archives, fail to comment on the issue of the honorand's actual fiílfilment of the office, though sometimes they give indirect information on the lady's presence, eg in the stadium. But even if the female raagistrates were visible, did that have any effect on other women? Did the free, or at least the citizen women in the cities of the Román East enjoy more freedom in their raovement outside the oikos? Could women move freely in the agora, the theatre or any other public place? And if they did so, what about their mingling with men and regulations about their clothes and personal behaviour? Literature is important on that subject because it provides indirect information on all the aspects of the problem, but the archaising style and subject matter of many 181 Public and Prívate literary works, the hallmark of the Second Sophistic, throws doubt on their relevance to the era in which our research is located.
    [Show full text]
  • Synoikism, Urbanization, and Empire in the Early Hellenistic Period Ryan
    Synoikism, Urbanization, and Empire in the Early Hellenistic Period by Ryan Anthony Boehm A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Emily Mackil, Chair Professor Erich Gruen Professor Mark Griffith Spring 2011 Copyright © Ryan Anthony Boehm, 2011 ABSTRACT SYNOIKISM, URBANIZATION, AND EMPIRE IN THE EARLY HELLENISTIC PERIOD by Ryan Anthony Boehm Doctor of Philosophy in Ancient History and Mediterranean Archaeology University of California, Berkeley Professor Emily Mackil, Chair This dissertation, entitled “Synoikism, Urbanization, and Empire in the Early Hellenistic Period,” seeks to present a new approach to understanding the dynamic interaction between imperial powers and cities following the Macedonian conquest of Greece and Asia Minor. Rather than constructing a political narrative of the period, I focus on the role of reshaping urban centers and regional landscapes in the creation of empire in Greece and western Asia Minor. This period was marked by the rapid creation of new cities, major settlement and demographic shifts, and the reorganization, consolidation, or destruction of existing settlements and the urbanization of previously under- exploited regions. I analyze the complexities of this phenomenon across four frameworks: shifting settlement patterns, the regional and royal economy, civic religion, and the articulation of a new order in architectural and urban space. The introduction poses the central problem of the interrelationship between urbanization and imperial control and sets out the methodology of my dissertation. After briefly reviewing and critiquing previous approaches to this topic, which have focused mainly on creating catalogues, I point to the gains that can be made by shifting the focus to social and economic structures and asking more specific interpretive questions.
    [Show full text]
  • Cimon's Dismissal, Ephialtes' Revolution and the Peloponnesian Wars Cole, John R Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Winter 1974; 15, 4; Proquest Pg
    Cimon's Dismissal, Ephialtes' Revolution and the Peloponnesian Wars Cole, John R Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Winter 1974; 15, 4; ProQuest pg. 369 Cimon's Dismissal, Ephialtes' Revolution and the Peloponnesian Wars John R. Cole HE YEAR 462 B.C. may have marked the most acute crisis in what Bengtson calls "the decisive turning point in the internal and T 1 external histories" of Sparta and Athens. We lack the authori­ tative historical source to state from antiquity the case for 462 that Herodotus states for 480 or Thucydides for 431. But ancient histori­ cal tradition does suggest the unique concatenation of three calamities in 462. First in the tradition, at Sparta the earthquake of 464 and the subsequent helot rebellion shook the state to its very foundations, so that proud Sparta had to come as suppliant to Athens. Second, at Athens the <revolution' of Ephialtes overthrew Areopagite oligarchy and established Periclean democracy, hardly less calamitous an event in surviving accounts. Third, between Sparta and Athens opened the decisive rift, the <dismissal' of Cimon from Ithome by <fearful' Spartans, followed by his ostracism, the reversal of alliances, and the first of the Peloponnesian wars. The severity of these calamities was not doubted in antiquity. But our sources on the first two are uncritical enough and removed enough in time to encourage a measure of skepticism among moderns. Dio­ dorns, Plutarch and Pausanias are open to question, as is Aristotle. But on the third calamity, Thucydides has always seemed critical enough and close enough to command assent. It is my purpose to encourage a measure of skepticism concerning Thucydides' account of the <dismissal' of Cimon, the one event of this most crucial year that our best and earliest source emphasized.
    [Show full text]
  • The Athenian Empire
    Week 8: The Athenian Empire Lecture 13, The Delian League, Key Words Aeschylus’ Persians Plataea Mycale Second Ionian Revolt Samos Chios Lesbos Leotychidas Xanthippus Sestos Panhellenism Medizers Corinth Common Oaths Common Freedom Asia Minor Themistocles Pausanias Dorcis Hegemony by Invitation Aristides Uliades of Samos Byzantium Hybris Delos Ionia Hellespont Caria Thrace NATO UN Phoros Hellenotamias Synod Local Autonomy 1 Lecture 14, From League to Empire, Key Words Eion Strymon Scyros Dolopians Cleruchy Carystus Naxos Eurymedon Caria Lycia Thasos Ennea Hodoi Indemnity Diodorus Thucydides Athenian Imperial Democracy Tribute Lists Garrisons 2 Chronological Table for the Pentekontaetia 479-431 481/0 Hellenic League, a standard offensive and defensive alliance (symmachia), formed with 31 members under Spartan leadership. 480/79 Persian War; battles under Spartan leadership: Thermopylae (King Leonidas), Artemesium and Salamis (Eurybiades), Plataea (Pausanias), and Mycale (King Leotychides). 479 Thank-offerings dedicated at Delphi for victory over Persia including serpent column listing 31 cities faithful to “the Hellenes”. Samos, Chios, and Lesbos, and other islanders enrolled in the Hellenic League. Sparta, alarmed by the growth of Athenian power and daring, send envoys to urge the Athenians not to rebuild their walls, but Themistocles rejects the idea and tricks the envoys; Athenians rebuild walls using old statues as ‘fill’, while Themistocles is on diplomatic mission to Sparta. Following the departure of Leotychides and the Peloponnesian contingents, Xanthippus and the Athenians cross over to Sestos on the European side of the Hellespont, lay siege to the town, and capture the Persian fortress. Themistocles persuades the Athenians to complete fortifications at Piraeus, begun in 492; while Cimon promotes cooperation with Sparta, Themistocles hostile to the hegemon of the Peloponnesian and Hellenic leagues; attempts to rouse anti-Spartan feelings.
    [Show full text]
  • Democracy: a New Idea in Ancient Greece by History.Com, Adapted by Newsela Staff on 01.24.17 Word Count 680 Level 960L
    Democracy: A New Idea in Ancient Greece By History.com, adapted by Newsela staff on 01.24.17 Word Count 680 Level 960L A painting of the city of Athens showing the buildings ordered built by the ruler Pericles. It was painted by Leo von Klenze in 1846 and is called "Reconstruction of the Acropolis and Areus Pagus in Athens." In the year 507 B.C., the Athenian leader Cleisthenes introduced a system of political reforms that he called demokratia, or “rule by the people.” This system was made up of three separate institutions: the ekklesia, a governing body that wrote laws; the boule, a council of representatives from the ten Athenian tribes; and the dikasteria, the popular courts in which citizens argued cases. Although this Athenian democracy would last for only two centuries, Cleisthenes’ invention was one of ancient Greece’s most enduring contributions to the modern world. A new system In a democracy, the Greek historian Herodotus wrote, everyone is equal before the law. Before Cleisthenes introduced his reforms, the wealthiest Athenians had controlled the political process. The new demokratia opened it up to the middle- and working-class people who made up the army and navy. However, this privilege was still limited to a small part of the Athenian population. For example, in Athens in the middle of the 4th century there were about 100,000 citizens, about 10,000 "resident foreigners" and 150,000 slaves. Out of all those people, only male citizens who This article is available at 5 reading levels at https://newsela.com.
    [Show full text]
  • Review Article a Note on Paulin Ismard's Democracy's Slaves: A
    Polis, The Journal for Ancient Greek AND ROMAN Political Thought 36 (2019) 337-345 brill.com/agpt Review Article ∵ A Note on Paulin Ismard’s Democracy’s Slaves: a Political History of Ancient Greece Mogens Herman Hansen Associate Professor Emeritus, University of Copenhagen, The Saxo Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark [email protected] Ismard, Paulin, (2017), Democracy’s Slaves: A Political History of Ancient Greece. Translated by Jane Marie Todd. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. x + 188 pp. $35.00. ISBN 9780674660076. Originally published as Démocratie contre les experts: Les esclaves publics en Grèce ancienne (Paris: Éditions du Seuil, 2015). The topic of Ismard’s book is the crucial importance of publicly owned slaves in the Greek poleis in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, and in particular in democratic Athens. But his study includes a considerable and valuable amount of comparative material about public slaves in other civilizations: in Rome, in African and Asian kingdoms as well as slavery in the colonial period in the Americas, Africa and Asia. In this note I focus on his treatment of the public slaves in democratic Athens, called demosioi, and sometimes hyperetai. Analysing the working of Athenian democracy in the classical period we notice a basic distinction between ‘politics’ and ‘administration’, which cor- responds to a dichotomy between decision-making and administrative institutions. The decision-making institutions were the demos, the boule, the dikasteria and, in the 4th century, the nomothetai. The administrative were © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/20512996-12340213 338 Hansen some seven hundred archai,1 mostly working together in boards of ten and the boule, which was technically an arche viz.
    [Show full text]
  • Ancient Greek Democracy Demokratia and the Demos
    ANCIENT GREEK DEMOCRACY Directions: write 3 facts from each heading that explain the organization or process of democracy in Greece. In the 507 B.C., the Athenian leader Cleisthenes introduced a system of political reforms that he called demokratia, or “rule by the people.” This system was comprised of three separate institutions: the ekklesia, a sovereign governing body that wrote laws and dictated foreign policy; the boule, a council of representatives from the ten Athenian tribes; and the dikasteria, the popular courts in which citizens argued cases before a group of lottery-selected jurors. Although this Athenian democracy would survive for only two centuries, Cleisthenes’ invention was one of ancient Greece’s most enduring contributions to the modern world. DEMOKRATIA AND THE DEMOS “In a democracy,” the Greek historian Herodotus wrote, “there is, first, that most splendid of virtues, equality before the law.” It was true that Cleisthenes’ demokratia abolished the political distinctions between the Athenian aristocrats who had long monopolized the political decision-making process and the middle- and working-class people who made up the army and the navy (and whose incipient discontent was the reason Cleisthenes introduced his reforms in the first place). However, the “equality” Herodotus described was limited to a small segment of the Athenian population. For example, in Athens in the middle of the 4th century there were about 100,000 citizens (Athenian citizenship was limited to men and women whose parents had also been Athenian citizens), about 10,000 metoikoi, or “resident foreigners” and 150,000 slaves. Out of all those people, only male citizens who were older than 18 were a part of the demos, meaning only about 40,000 people could participate in the democratic process.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 10 Section 3 Athens and Democracy
    Name: _____________________________ Date: __________________ H.W.#: ______ My World History Chapter 10 – Ancient Greece: Section 3 “Democracy in Athens” pp. 312 - 317 Terms to understand when reading: Governmental structures in Greece – Most people agree that the seeds of our democratic society are rooted in the early government structure of the great Greek city of ancient Athens. However, the change towards a democratic society did not happen quickly. The Greeks experimented with several forms of government and most city-states did not agree on forming only one united government structure. Around 508 B.C., leaders in Athens rebelled against the Spartan style of government and began the process of moving towards a government ruled by the many instead of the few. The terms below define the common government styles one would encounter throughout the city-states of ancient Greece. a. oligarchy - This is a style of government where the political power is wielded by only a select few who were always members of the ruling aristocracy. In ancient Greece, there were usually 5 members of a council who decided all the laws, rules, and punishments for the lower classes. The warring city-state of Sparta had an oligarchy system of rule. The citizenship was denied a voice or in their government and there were no voting rights. b. tyranny – The main difference between an oligarchy and a tyranny is that a tyranny is a form of government that is run entirely by one key political figure head. The tyrant leader often gains support by offering to improve the lives of the poorer members of the citizenship.
    [Show full text]
  • Western Civ. Id
    Western Civ. Id The Age of Pericles Greek Thought Alexander the Great The Hellenistic World and The Athenian Empire Page 5 Page 9 Page 13 Page 17 THE RISE OF ATHENS Today, we must look at the second great polis, that of the Athenians. As we did in the case of Sparta, we must first look at the geography of Athens and the influence of that geography on her growth. The territory of the Athenians occupied a rocky peninsula in central Greece called Attica. Unlike Laconia, the Spartan homeland, the area of Attica included very little good farmland. It was generally a poor region except for silver. The city of Athens itself was about five miles from the coast, but it was near enough to use several good harbors in her territory. This meant that if Athens were to become an important state, she would have to rely on trade rather than farming. Before 500 B.C. when Athenian trade was still limited, the polis remained backward and relatively weak. But as her trade developed after 500, she became one of the most powerful and most progressive of all the Greek city-states. The dialect of Attica is closely related to the Ionian (Iconic) dialects. This means that the original population of Attica were predominately Mycenaean Greeks who lived in Attica before the start of the Iron Age. Evidence about the earliest organization of the Athenian polis is limited, but there is enough information to give at least some idea of the conditions there. As I suggested above, Athens remained relatively backward during her early history.
    [Show full text]