One of the many states of Greece, ancient Athens was indeed not truly democratic as a result of not inclusive, other than male citizens, to gain authority in ancient Athens, Demokratia was ruled by male citizens only, excluding women, free foreigners(Metics) and slaves.(Document D), therefore ruling Athens was only accessible to male citizen since since women, free foreigners(Metics), and slaves were not allowed to rule as a result of not being male citizens. Some people believe they were more democratic than us today, but I think they were never a true democratic government. Additionally, the reliability affected by the emotive language being employed in this article as the author utilises this language it demonstrates that bias is present. Hence, Absolutism was made possible by new innovations and characterized as a phenomenon of Early Modern Europe, rather than that of the middle Ages, where the clergy and nobility counterbalanced as a result of mutual. Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. I do not believe that in the 4th to 5th century BCE ancient Athen were democratic for many reasons. Each city-state had its own government. Compare the advantages and disadvantages for settlers of Greece's physical geography. Each year 500 names were chosen from all the citizens of ancient Athens. Advantage: They had access to trade, transportation, fish, and water. What are the pros and cons of democracy in ancient Greece? HomeBrowse. In Document 2, an excerpt from The Spartan Constitution by Aristotle theres a quote that states they praise Lacedaemon because it is made up of oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy.. This quote tells exactly what type of government Sparta had. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. However up until 500 BCE, the concept of Democracy was a foreign concept, and the great civilizations of that era were run by monarchs, aristocrats, and religious leaders of sorts. The Athenians created a new kind of government where the people chose their leaders. She or he will best know the preferred format. The secret ballot, First of all, it is important to know the definition of democracy and its aspects. Athens is the symbol of freedom, art, and democracy in the conscience of the civilized world. Sparta, on the other hand, was recognized for its military strength. Person who pays rent, either in money or crops, to grow crops on another person's land. Times change and with it human desires, but not many people challenge it or seem to think outside the box. If they did not fulfill their duty they would be fined and sometimes marked with red paint. Disadvantages: takes more time to make decisions, more costly. Athens owes the first penal and civil law code to Draco. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. Possibly could make faster decisions. All city-states differed from each other in some ways but all shared some characteristics too. One of the main advantages of Athenian, Before the Age of Absolutism, institutions, such as the Church, legislatures, or social elites, restrained monarchical power. Advantage: They had access to trade, transportation, fish, and water. CON: Much of the citys accommodation is pricey. The different city states had their own ideas on social control and values in their government. Tenant farmer Person who pays rent, either in money or crops, to grow crops on another person's land Metic Foreigner in a Greek city-state, often a merchant or artisan Slavery Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century B.C.E. There was a thriving city. However up until 500 BCE, the concept of Democracy was a foreign concept, and the great civilizations of that era were run by monarchs, aristocrats, and religious leaders of sorts. In Ancient Athens, a new system arose that would greatly impact the course of history. Although, if we look at the Athens, we see that they had no issues with plentiful land, as they possessed large and populous territory. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Alexis de Tocqueville penned Democracy in America after he spent month America in the 1831, where he witnessed a new democratic system. In a relatively resource-poor region, a society rose from the access of foreign sources of raw materials and markets abroad. Women had no contributing role in politics. The biggest difference between Athenian democracy and almost all other democracies is that the Athenians had a direct democracy rather than being representative. What were the advantages and disadvantages of the city-state form of government? Rather than vote for representatives, like we do, each citizen was expected to vote for every law. Athens weaknesses included its unwritten laws, lack of unity at the beginning, insatiable hunger for new territories, and constant power struggles with other poleis. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. As a system to control a state or community, government serves for citizens and put them first. Lycurgus accomplished the consolidation. WebIn Homeric Age, the regime of Athens is citizens can go into politics directly, just like governor who wield the supreme power, this kind of regime called Direct Democracy. Pros And Cons of Ancient Athenian Democracy and Pros and Cons of American Democracy. The Athenians were stronger because they had a better geography, government, cultural achievements, and I would rather live in the Athens. The direct democracy of Athens wasnt actually as inclusive and steady as the statement at Pericles 's funeral state, Our Constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people (Doc C). In fact, of the 450,000 citizens of Athens in 430 BC, only about 40,000 people had the power to vote. When asking what is democracy, the answer is never truly defiente. First, all true democracies limit majority rule in order to protect the rights of minorities. Democracy (disadvantage) Only the elite or upper class had a role in government, lower class not represented. The ancient civilization of greece was different from many of the civilizations in its time. Democracy is the rule of the whole of the people,excluding minors and maniacs only. The reason why Takaki tells us the story of his interaction with the taxi cab driver is because the driver assumed since he was not white, that he was not American. Their government was Demokratia, and this excluded the women, the children, the metics, and the slaves. Democracy is an aspect that can be included in many different governments including, republics, monarchies, and theocracies. Draco organized laws by putting them in a written code, letting everyone know what the laws were and, In historical Europe, many of the countries were ruled by tyrants who dictated the citizens daily lives. The period of prosperity in Athens was so short lived because they only had one strong leader, Pericles. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The people of Athens were interested in arts, music, and intellectual pursuits. Apart from many smaller changes, it was mainly based on the opportunity for all citizens over 20 to take part in governing the country. National Geographic Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization. Government failure is a term to describe how government intervention can cause its own problems. Athenian democracy also had one-year term limits. It also represents the control of an organization or group by the majority of its members. Elements of more than one of these forms also co-existed, however, and the modern connotations of labels such as these are not necessarily the same as those that prevailed in Ancient Greece. Athenians were the most scholarly types while the Spartans were more of the military type. Because of this, Athens cannot be considered democratic. Sarah Appleton, National Geographic Society. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. However, in Athens, girls did not receive an education like the boys in Athen did but, instead, were expected to become housewives. What are the disadvantages of having government? Unfortunately, the assembly was open to all citizens except women. 8 What was the government like in ancient Greece? Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. Every citizen in Athens is allowed to take part in government, even poor citizens. The Athenian form of democracy was a contradiction in the sense that it did not allow participation of a large section of the public, namely, women and slaves. During the times of Ancient Greece, two major forms of government existed, democracy and oligarchy. Athenian Values. The first reason is because Our constitution favors many instead of the few, this is also why it's called a democracy. For example, here in the United states which is a democracy, everyone is allowed to vote and have land. Athens was a small city compared to Rome that honored and protected citizenship. As we know, this system is a norm to the Western world, in order to preserve personal freedom and make sure that the will of the people is upheld. Democracy is now prescribed as inseparable from good governance and an antidote to corruption. They took politics very seriously and made sure that everyone had a voiced opinion. In a democracy all of the people are able to vote, and have a choice on who runs their city. The city-state of Athens, 5th century Athens to be precise, is the inventor and first practitioner of democracy. The two biggest city-states have always had issues. While it has been stated that Athens is the cradle of democracy, and that it was better than any of the other governments in the world, it was still a work in progress. The Athenian democracy, while it did give more power to the people, still left a lot of citizens out. WebAs a result the Ancient Greece developed into isolated, small, independent communities. In ancient Greece, demokratia, otherwise known as democracy can be battered down into demo, and kratia. Athens was a small city compared to Rome that honored and protected citizenship. Greece was organized into many different city-states. Tyranny Cons: Cons: Some tyrants were corrupt. They are just more carful. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. On the other hand, direct democracy is not a good chose for America. Athens also had much more trading power, and controlled more land than Sparta. What were the limitations of the ancient Greeks? During that year, they were responsible for making new laws and controlled all parts of the political process. According to the Athens and Sparta Document Set, a democracy means rule by the people. Their job was to oversee the decisions made by the assembly. What does checks and balances refer to quizlet? The ancient Greeks were the first to create a democracy. Secondly, Giovanni Sartori (1997), a Political Science Researcher states that democracy is an abbreviation that means Liberal Democracy. Questions/ Activities: Do reading #1 and answer these questions: * Make a list of the major characteristics/beliefs of the religion of the ancient Greeks. When women were forced to produce offspring, many of the weak babies were left to die. This is one reason Ancient Athens was not a democracy. The term, Democracy, stems from the Greek word demokratia which means rule by the people and it wasnt until around 500 BCE in Athens where the first examples of democracy originated. They became skilled sailors. Two of the most well known and powerful city-states were Sparta and Athens. WebThe Democracy of Ancient Greece was used heavily in creating modern American Democracy. The Pros And Cons Of Ancient Athenian Democracy. This group of people only included white male citizens, meaning that slaves, foreign born residents, women and some men who hadnt obtained citizenship couldnt vote (Doc D). They also had five overseers who were elected to do regular every-day operations of Sparta. Athens strengths included its large size, large trireme navy, wealth, and democratic government. Disadvantage: Unpredictable sea, need boats to travel. In the 4th to 5th century B.C, Athens was going through a prosperous period and in this period its people made remarkable achievements. Sparta lacked in education, they were too harsh on the children in military training, and the Spartans didnt allow traveling. Apart from many smaller changes, it was mainly based on the opportunity for all citizens over 20 to take part in governing the country. Pre-Classical Greece saw a Dorian movement take place after the Trojan war. Ancient Athens, had a much more stronger basis than ancient Sparta. (Figure 2). One reason why Athens had a greater respect for human rights is that they had a direct democracy, while Sparta had an oligarchy. The Greek idea of democracy was different from present-day democracy because, in Athens, all adult citizens were required to take an active part in the government. The mountains make trade within Greeces borders difficult. To vote, citizens had to attend the assembly on the day the vote took place. What was the limits of democracy in ancient Greece? Aristotle once said, The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. Athens was established in 3000 BC, while Sparta was respectively established in 431 BC. Why is Greece the birthplace of democracy? Limits of Greek Democracy Socrates (469-399 BCE) and Aristotle (384-322 BCE), two of the most influential of the ancient Greek philosophers, were suspicious of the idea of equality. What were the advantages and disadvantages of the city-state model of government in Greece? Lets look at two of them. WebWidely thought of as the birthplace of democracy, Athens is Greece's central hub and has contributed much to the worlds of art, theatre, architecture, philosophy and politics. In fact, there were internal struggles and disagreements. But they were loyal to their city-state. If you have questions about licensing content on this page, please contact ngimagecollection@natgeo.com for more information and to obtain a license. Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors. The word democracy has its origins in the Greek language. Spartan. A Monarchy is a political system ruled by one individual Athens was the warm welcoming city-state in Ancient Greece, most unlike the horrific neighboring city-state, Sparta. Cinesiolgists study sceletons. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. The Athenian definition of citizens was also different from modern-day citizens: only free men were considered citizens in Athens. The plague also led to social unrest and lack of unity. According to Peter Joyce (2005), the democratic government was initiated in the Greek city state of Athens in the fifth century B.C., so as a consequence, the word democracy derived from two Greek words, demos (meaning people) and kratos (meaning power) , which means government by the people. Some of the strengths of Athenian democracy include making decisions based on the opinions of many rather than a few, giving responsibility to more citizens and making records available for public examination. 5. Oligarchy (advantage) If the leader is strong/effective, the civilization is in good shape. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, democracy can simply be defined as the government of the people, but lately it seems as if that definition has become invalid. Sparta advantage. These two city states shared some common characteristics whilst in some instances they were very different from each other. The five most powerful Greek city-states were; Athens, Sparta, Corinth. It may not be able to serve the needs of an emergency situation. Disadvantages: Not a lot of flat land to farm, Diffcult to travel over land, Diffcult to unite under a single government, limited natural resources. WebAdvantages And Disadvantages Of Athens Democracy characterized in terms of unlimited political power anymore as it has transformed to a more citizen-friendly government. The city-states of Athens and Sparta are the best representatives of democracy and oligarchy, respectively. Disadvantages: Limited rainfall. Athens was a democratic state that was peaceful and where women were open to culture and democracy. 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. The Athenians established a direct democracy where the people voted directly on the matter at hand. (Ancient Greek Democracy, History.com) The Romans then created their own type of democracy, where the citizens elected leaders to represent the peoples opinion. (Crabill, Ancient Rome) While neither the Athenian nor the Roman democracies were perfect by any means, they both, Whats more, Democracy was rising in Athens. The Athens was more superior then Sparta. By 508 BCE, Cleisthenes came to power in Athens and creates a democratic constitution of all people. Representative democracy is a government in which citizens vote for representatives who create and change laws that govern the people rather than getting to vote directly on the laws themselves. Like the Spartans they too wanted to protect their state but unlike the Spartans, the Athenians strove for excellence not only in being warriors but also in their everyday lives.