advantages and disadvantages of democracy in ancient greece

What are the limitations of a majority rule democracy? Sparta and Athens were different in their values, politics, and societies. Pros: Many Tyrants ruled well and helped poor families by cancelling the debts of poor farmers. While Athens was a democracy, Sparta was an oligarchy, which means ruled by few powerful and wealthy people. 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. They had two kings who controlled the army and religions of Sparta. Its also said that Sparta is the foundation for the governments we now have in the world. In document A, I found that is truly democratic because your social class is not allowed the interfere with someone 's merit. Who were excluded from Greeces limited democracy? Now, there are a lot of people was worried about the system, because there are too many problems of their government. The two biggest city-states have always had issues. The system and ideas employed by the ancient Greeks had profound influences on how democracy developed, and its impact on the formation of the U.S. government. Democracy is the modern day standard for governmental systems. WebHowever, Athens under the rule of Pericles should be considered a democracy for several reasons. together can be a bad action taken by the government. Advantage: They had access to trade, transportation, fish, and water. Rather than vote for representatives, like we do, each citizen was expected to vote for every law. Disadvantages: Not a lot of flat land to farm, Diffcult to travel over land, Diffcult to unite under a single government, limited natural resources. Democracy Cons: Cons: Only citizens got to vote. Sparta lacked land area and was forced to seek other land in the fertile plain of Messenia. Disadvantages: Not a lot of flat land to farm, Diffcult to travel over land, Diffcult to unite under a single government, limited natural resources. Ancient Greece was comprised of small city-states, of which Sparta and Athens were two. It may not be able to serve the needs of an emergency situation. Athenians were the most scholarly types while the Spartans were more of the military type. Weaknesses include the voters ability to make poor decisions and be swayed by rhetoric and short office terms that made implementing policies difficult. National Geographic Headquarters 1145 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20036. This basically means that if you are not wetly than they won't treat us the same as wealthy people. 6 What is the original meaning of democracy? The city of Athens was named after their special goddess. The Spartan government is made up of kings and elders only. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. 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. 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. Spartas kings ruled until death or forcibly removed from office. WebOverall, ancient Athens was indeed not truly democratic as a result of the government having male citizens have authority, being an oligarchy government instead of a democratic government, and voting not accessible to women, free foreigners (Metics), and slaves except for male citizens. In fact, it adhered to a military oligarchy most of its existence. In the 4th to 5th century B.C, Athens was going through a prosperous period and in this period its people made remarkable achievements. 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. Greece was organized into many different city-states. Athenians made it clear that the poor helped build the city 's power and not just the wealthy. 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. One of the biggest weaknesses of Athenian democracy was highlighted by Plato; the masses are sometimes ignorant, and they are likely to be swayed by rhetoric. The two biggest city-states have always had issues. Sparta lacked in education, they were too harsh on the children in military training, and the Spartans didnt allow traveling. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The period of prosperity in Athens was so short lived because they only had one strong leader, Pericles. Ancient Greece is also known for many things like the birthplace of the first Olympics, beautiful architecture, and famous philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. This is the great story of Ancient Greece and how individualism changed the view Greece had on certain issues. But there are some differences between these two power houses. Why was the Athenian form of democracy a contradiction? The ancient civilization of greece was different from many of the civilizations in its time. What is the original meaning of democracy? Sparta and Athens were different in their values, politics, and societies. 8 Who was not allowed to become a citizen of Greece? WebOne of the main advantages of Athenian democracy was that the archon and his eight assistants were elected annually. The. But those attitudes shifted in the course of the 5th century under the influence of the Persian invasions of Greece in 480479 bce. Oligarchy (disadvantage) Over time, middle/lower classes realized they still had little to no say in government Tyranny (disadvantage) What was the government like in ancient Greece? The word democracy is greek, the word demos means people and kratos means power. With this came many different governments for each city-state causing each city-state to have a different View On their morals. 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. Disadvantage: Unpredictable sea, need boats to travel. By our understanding it was an oligarchy, not democracy. The community showed little cohesion as a group. Since the Spartans were only concerned with being great warriors, the Athenians became the cultural center of Greece during the Hellenic period. Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century B.C.E. 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. If they did not fulfill their duty they would be fined and sometimes marked with red paint. What are the advantages and disadvantages of Athens? Today we think of democracy as majority rule. This means that the people of the said community can either rule directly or indirectly by electing officials to make decisions for the betterment of the people. However, in Athens, girls did not receive an education like the boys in Athen did but, instead, were expected to become housewives. However, they choose the candidates based on the (1)facades they create, which causes the people to become (2)distorted by their seemingly noble intentions. The first inhabitants of Attica (the wider area of Athens), of who we are aware, lived during the Neolithic Period (6,000-2,800 BC). It combines two shorter words: demos meaning whole citizen living within a particular city-state and kratos meaning power or rule. The city-state of Athens, 5th century Athens to be precise, is the inventor and first practitioner of democracy. Every citizen in Athens is allowed to take part in government, even poor citizens. Due to the fact that Sparta had a very military lifestyle, they were good at raising strong outspoken women in a society where women were kept at home. After investigating the given evidence, it can be determined Ancient Athens did not always vote on important matters and only a small majority of the population could vote. The Spartan men get more and children become great warriors because they at war and war training for 23 years. Democracy, a form of government, allows the people in their own nationality to vote for people in order for them to become representatives as a result to vote on new laws that would affect their own nationality. The answers given may be; a society where everyone votes, or by dictionary definition a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of the state; typically through elected representation. However when analyzing the etymology of the word democracy we come to find out that demos means the people and kratia means rule or power in greek. A democracy is a form of government that is ruled by the people and controlled by the people. Athens is more superior than Sparta through, government, economy, and culture. A belief in shared power: based on a suspicion of concentrated power (whether by individuals, groups or governments). Advantages: Made it hard for enemies to get to Greece, Greeks developed very small, close kit communities, hill top lookouts for invaders. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Education was very important in Athens. 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. On the other hand, direct democracy is not a good chose for America. The city-state of Athens, 5th century Athens to be precise, is the inventor and first practitioner of democracy. In ancient Athens only the men were able to vote. The history of Ancient Athens dates back to 6,000 years ago. As I will come to. Use this knowledge to correct the spelling errors below. The advantages of Greeks geography is that they had protection from invaders and some disadvantages were that they had a hard time farming and traveling. reading #2: "Greek Art." 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. Apart from many smaller changes, it was mainly based on the opportunity for all citizens over 20 to take part in governing the country. Democracy (disadvantage) Only the elite or upper class had a role in government, lower class not represented. Why was logical and public speaking emphasized more in Athens than any other city-state? Democracy, a noun that means the society is governed by the people, a system of voting, and majority rules. The United States has a representative democracy. National Geographic Society is a 501 (c)(3) organization. When looking at this definition and trying to decide whether the Athenian democratic system was truly democratic, one would have to go with the answer no. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. Be developed in ancient Greece, Direct Democracy helped ancient Greece make tons of achievements in different fields; also laid the fundamental of western political system of modern time. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Absolutism was characterized by the ending of feudal partitioning, consolidation of power with the monarch, rise of state, rise of professional standing armies, professional bureaucracies, the codification of state laws, and the rise of ideologies that justify the absolutist monarchy. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having mountains cover ancient Greece? Athens was a much more superior polis compared to Sparta because the Athenians invented new ideas and creations that supported the people, such as democracy, the Athenians led the Delian League, and Sparta created the Peloponnesian League after the Athenians created their alliance, and the Athenians changed the ways of their government many times to suit the people, and the Spartans did not. This is why we give the ebook compilations in contribution to our knowledge of ancient Greece--its politics, philosophy, and literature, from Homer to Plato. In Athens, the ruler Draco tried to make many reforms in the city state. The countrys valleys, mountainous terrain, and offshore islands encouraged the development of many city-states. The first reason is because Our constitution favors many instead of the few, this is also why it's called a democracy. WebThe advantages of Greeks geography is that they had protection from invaders and some disadvantages were that they had a hard time farming and traveling. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. It consists of two short words: demos which means either a citizen in a particular city-state or the lower orders, and kratos which means either rule or power - but these two are not of the same meaning. Democracy is an aspect that can be included in many different governments including, republics, monarchies, and theocracies. Apart from many smaller changes, it was mainly based on the opportunity for all citizens over 20 to take part in governing the country. What are the advantages of the ancient Greek system? I do not believe that in the 4th to 5th century BCE ancient Athen were democratic for many reasons. In many scientific or philosophical words derived from Greek, the letter kkk is used to spell the kkk sound, as in skeptical and kleptomania. The Athenian democracy was not equitable, and it did not consider slaves and foreigners. The most common governments in the city-states consisted of monarchies, oligarchies, dictatorships, and sometimes democracies. They became skilled sailors. This limits the majoritys right to rule. Sparta is far better than Athens on the grounds that their armed force was strong and defensive. This means a lot more people got to attend political affairs. Great economy. What were the strengths and weaknesses of ancient Greece? Two of the most well known and powerful city-states were Sparta and Athens. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". Both Athens and Sparta had a similar government system. When a new law was proposed, all the citizens of Athens had the opportunity to vote on it. How do these two city-states differ? Its population was over five times as great as the other small city-states. It seems fair and gives equality to all regardless of social class. Democracy is the modern day standard for governmental systems. One of the earliest known democracies was in Athens, a city-state in southern, ancient Greece. They also had a council of five hundred. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. The difference in land as well as population perceives a relative historical comparison. Their division led to the widespread of language and culture. Copyright 2023 IPL.org All rights reserved. They also had five overseers who were elected to do regular every-day operations of Sparta. They were the main city with an area of land around them. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Metic. Most would find it easier to find more similarities among these two groups of mighty people. Democracy in Ancient Greece was very direct. This excluded a majority of the population: slaves, freed slaves, children, women and metics (foreign residents in Athens). Disadvantages: Limited rainfall. Those 500 citizens had to actively serve in the government for one year. As a system to control a state or community, government serves for citizens and put them first. Two of the biggest city-states were Athens and Sparta. Athens was a democratic state that was peaceful and where women were open to culture and democracy. A tyrants son does not usually inherit his fathers power. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century B.C.E. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. The plague also led to social unrest and lack of unity. According to the Athens and Sparta Document Set, a democracy means rule by the people. By clicking Accept All, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. It took longer to make political decisions than some of the city-states that operated oligarchies did. They became skilled sailors. Established on September 17, 1787, the U.S. Constitution established Americas national government and fundamental laws, and guaranteed rights for its citizens. During the late Archaic Greek and Classical periods, two particular city-states were in existence with significant similarities as well as differences. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. Athenians elected government officials through lot (Document B). Which is correct poinsettia or poinsettia? Hard work and equality is what makes a nation outstanding. What was one advantage in the Greek world? 7 What are the limitations of a majority rule democracy? The mountains also make communication from city to city slow. A a majority of one race or religion or political opinion is not allowed to suppress the rights of other groups. Adversely, it is not a social norm to ask yourself why this system is in place, or if it is truly what man hungers for? The people of ancient Greece took advantage of all this saltwater and coastline and became outstanding fishermen and sailors. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Sparta is far better than Athens on the grounds that their armed force was strong and defensive. The ancient civilization of Greece contained many different city-states; two of these city-states were Sparta and Athens. The Athenian democracy, while it did give more power to the people, still left a lot of citizens out. Self- Government/Democracy: "Rule by the people." Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state. Advantages: small, easy to control, centralized. Democracy in ancient Greece served as one of the first forms of self-rule government in the ancient world. Although, if we look at the Athens, we see that they had no issues with plentiful land, as they possessed large and populous territory. Due to the fact that Sparta had a very military lifestyle, they were good at raising strong outspoken women in a society where women were kept at home. Advantage: They had access to trade, transportation, fish, and water. 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 Athenian definition of citizens was also different from modern-day citizens: only free men were considered citizens in Athens. While Athens is widely regarded as the first historical example of a democratic system, some scholars believe that the Roman Empires republic system was more democratic than that of the Greek. The Athenian democracy, while it did give more power to the people, still left a lot of citizens out. 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. Ancient Athens, had a much more stronger basis than ancient Sparta. Athens strengths included its large size, large trireme navy, wealth, and democratic government. Compare the advantages and disadvantages for settlers of Greece's physical geography. if the majority of the citizens didn't like the ideas of a single citizen they were to be banished or killed. The concept of leadership was prevalent in the ancient world. This caused some to view them with hostility which sparked the conflicts between Athens and Sparta that lead to the Peloponnesian War. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. She or he will best know the preferred format. Disadvantage: Unpredictable sea, need boats to travel. No i don't think Athens was truly democratic because, all the rules of ancient Athens are very unfair with all their rules and rights for all citizens. An outstanding statesman and poet called Solon acted in, The name comes from demos-people and kratos-power, so literally power of the people. 1996 - 2023 National Geographic Society. Sparta, it appears, had fewer changes to government over time as compared to Athens. Mountains covered about three-fourths of ancient Greece. This is because of Athenian cultural achievements, government and social climate. What was the disadvantage of democracy in ancient Greece? For example, if youre poor youre still able to serve the state or be part of the government. For example, here in the United states which is a democracy, everyone is allowed to vote and have land. Democracy. Disadvantages: Not a lot of flat land to farm, Diffcult to travel over land, Diffcult to unite under a single government, limited natural resources. Demo, meaning the people, and kratia meaning the power or rule. + PRO: Though harder to find, more affordable options exist. Some farmers in archaic and classic Greece werent choosing which crops to plant based on local nutritional needs. The Sea shaped the Greek civilizations as rivers did in the other ancient civilizations.      As we look back upon the two significant differences in the governmental systems of Sparta and Athens, there are also many other characteristics that distinguish the differences and similarities of these two city states. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Athens original government was a monarchy ruled by one king, however, the king's influence began to diminish with the changing times and soon Athens was under the rule of an oligarchy. 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. It was easy for the Athenians to see who the people are due to the population number at the time. Advantages: protects individual rights, input is taken from many different sources to make a governmental decision, people are the government. It was possible to prolong the rule for the next term but in case of any abnormalities a quick change of government took place. WebThe Sea shaped the Greek civilizations as rivers did in the other ancient civilizations. While there were opportunities for public officials to be reelected, this did mean that implementing policies became difficult, as there was not enough time to execute them. It was possible to prolong the rule for the next term but in case of any abnormalities a quick change of government took place. Government failure. When you look at the literal definition of democracy in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, there is a decently large explanation. In addition, citizens had the chance to spend time acting as council representatives, which gave them power and direct involvement with decision making. Athens on the other hand had a democracy as stated in Document 3, an excerpt from Funeral Orations by Pericles a quotes from this excerpt states it is true that our government is a democracy, because its administration is in the hands, not of the few, but of many.. This quote clearly states that the type of government Athens has is a, Athens is superior towards Sparta throughout ancient Greek history. This is one reason Ancient Athens was not a democracy. This form of government had to start somewhere, however, and ideas of democracy can be shown in many early documents written by some of the first peoples to colonize the Americas. Only the men truly had a say, and ran ancient Athens. 3 What were the advantages and disadvantages of the city-state model of government in Greece? From the system of creating new laws to the checks and balances that define the American government.

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