Transcript File - Mr. Heffernan

DEMOCRATIC
DEVELOPMENTS
HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY
ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY
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1100 BCE – citizens in Athens, Greece, were
already practicing a form of popular
government by limiting the activities of their
king;
The “Popular Assembly” was called the
“ECCLESIA;”
This was a gathering of all the adult male
citizens to speak and vote about major issues;
ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY
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The Ecclesia was the closest to an ideal
democracy but it could be inefficient because
of the number of participants (about 40,000);
Voting was completed in a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ fashion
in order to limit the debates;
Decisions were made on majority rule only;
ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY
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The representative form of government was
the “Council of Elders” or the AEROPAGUS;
These were men of wealth whose role was to
make some of the laws, but the Ecclesia still
had the power to veto the decisions;
Citizens of Athens had both rights and
responsibilities; they were considered equal
under the law; were all contributing members
to the success (or failure) of their city;
DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS
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After the fall of the Roman Empire, monarchs
(kings/queens) whose power was hereditary,
ruled by Divine Right;
They believed that there were God’s ordained
representatives on earth, and their word was
law;
Citizenship meant following orders and
supporting the monarch – militarily and
financially;
DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS
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1215, England
King John, was forced by the aristocratic class
(nobles and knights) to sign the Magna Carta
(Great Charter) to limit his abuse of the
taxation system;
King John was requesting too much money
from the lower classes because of a number of
political failures during his reign;
DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS
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This document limited the power of the king
and changed the roles for some of the people;
The Magna Carta was influential on most of
the constitutional forms of government that
exist in the world today;
It also provided more security to be given to
the people in relation to the legal actions of the
king;
IMPORTANT FACTORS OF
MAGNA CARTA
Defined rights and responsibilities between the
king and the nobles;
II. Protected citizens from arbitrary (unjustified)
taxes;
III. The king was now subject to the law;
IV. Protected citizens from arbitrary arrest and
imprisonment;
V. Eliminated cruel and unusual punishment;
VI. Developed the principle of double jeopardy (cannot
be charged with the same crime twice);
I.
RULE OF LAW
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This legal principle allow society to function
in an orderly fashion;
Democratic societies make the most use of this
system as it provides the most sense of fairness
among citizens;
There are four main elements of the Rule of
Law that reflect the understanding that has to
exist between government and the people;
RULE OF LAW
I.
Individuals have to recognize and accept
that laws are necessary and that they
represent certain societal values and must
be enforced;
II.
People are governed by law, not arbitrary
power; (Due process of law – cannot force
someone to wait an inordinate amount of
time before charging them);
RULE OF LAW
III. The law applies equally to all people and
the government; No one is above the law.
IV. There has to be a manner to change the laws
in a peaceful and orderly fashion; as
society’s values change, so should their
laws;
ASSIGNMENT and SUBMISSION
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Submit at the end of the class
In your textbooks, answer the following on a separate
sheet of paper, using proper sentence format;
Identify your responses with the date, page number
and question number;
Pg. 5 #1 -3
Pg. 7 #1, 2 (Canadian Symbols)
Pg. 8 #3
Pg. 12 #1, 2