Transcript The Origin & Development of Democracy in Ancient Greece

The Origin & Development
of Democracy in Ancient
Greece
Objectives
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
What is Democracy?
What are the main types of democracy?
What pushed Greeks towards democracy?
Who was Solon and what were his reforms?
Who was Cleisthenes and what were his
reforms?
VI. Who was Pericles and what were his
reforms?
VII. What did Aristotle say about tyranny and
democracy?
Definition of Democracy
• Democracy:
– Word has Greek language origin
• Demos: people
• Kratos: rule
• = Rule by/of the people
Plato
• Greek philosopher Plato distinguished
democracy from:
– Aristocracy or Oligarchy: rule by a small
elite or wealthy class
– Monarchy: rule by one individual, i.e. king or
emperor
Main Types of Democracy
1. Direct Democracy:
– System of government where the power
rests with the citizens
– Citizens themselves are the power (without
representatives)
– Power is exercised through voting – each
citizen represents one vote
Is this what we have in America?
Main Types of Democracy
2. Representative Democracy:
– Citizens are elected as representatives
– Those elected officials are to act in the
interest of the citizens
– Normally they serve only for allotted period
of time
Origin and Causes of Democracy
• Began in Athens, Greece
• Approximately 508 B.C.
• Due to geography, isolated “city-states” began to
emerge
– City-states were given the name “polis”
• A polis (or city-state) is an area with its own
political system
– A polis was independent from other polis’ (poleis)
• Initially, a polis was styled after monarchies
(circa 700 B.C.)
• Over time, this evolved into an aristocratic style
of rule
• Over time, there became an imbalance of power
– Wealthy: more power; the rest of the citizenry: less
power
• This pushed Athens towards becoming a
democracy
Three Democratic Reformers
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•
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SOLON
Gap between wealthy & non-wealthy considered a crisis
Solon, a respected leader, elected to reform Athens
Reforms of Solon:
– Slavery outlawed
– The debts of farmers were abolished
– Established four classes of citizenship
• Based on wealth, not heredity
• Citizens of three highest classes could hold office
– All adult male citizens were granted citizenship
• This dramatically increased citizen participation in government
Three Democratic Reformers
• CLEISTHENES
• Reforms of Cleisthenes:
– Formed the Council of 500
• Members were chosen randomly from the citizenry
• Council was made a “legislature” (law-making
body)
Three Democratic Reformers
• PERICLES
• An instrumental figure in Athenian democracy
• Reforms of Pericles:
– All citizens of Athens encouraged to take part in government
– Council of 500 increased dramatically—at times, it was made up
of 6,000 members
– Number of paid government officials increased
– Lower-class citizens were now permitted to hold office
– Citizens who served as jurors were now paid
• Overall, the reforms increased participation among all
the social classes of Athens.
Read the two excerpts from Aristotle’s Politics
below. Dissect and shrink each excerpt to two
sentences.
• On the Nature of Tyranny:“The Tyrant must ‘cut down to
size’ those who raise their heads too high, destroy men
of Spirit, not allow common meals, political clubs or
education . . . and he must guard against all things that
might inspire courage and confidence among the people.
. . A tyrant must make every effort to know what each of
his subjects says and does . . . he must employ spies . . .
The tyrant must also encourage quarrels among the
people, pitting friend against friend, the common people
against the gentry and the wealthy against one another.
. . . The Tyrant must also be a warmonger so that the
people will be kept busy and will constantly feel the need
for a leader.
On the Nature of Democracy:“. . . rulers should
be chosen by all citizens and from all citizens . . .
each citizen should be ruled by all citizens and
all citizens by each one of them; . . . the tenure
of all offices . . . should be short; . . . the jury
courts should be chosen from all citizens; . . .
The assembly should be sovereign over all
things and no official is supreme over anything
accept quite unimportant matters; . . . no official
should serve for life.Equality does not imply that
the poor should rule instead of the rich or that
they alone should hold power, but that all people
should share power equally , according to their
numerical strength.
1.
According to Aristotle, how is democracy different from tyranny?
2.
What would be the benefits and disadvantages of tyranny and
democracy? Please list at least one benefit and one
disadvantage for each.
3.
Based on your readings and our discussion in class, how did the
history of Ancient Greece contribute to the development of
democracy of the democratic values described in section 1.
Explain using examples.