advantages and disadvantages of democracy in ancient greece

Each polis differ particular on economically, politically, and military, When in doubt, however, the city-states did not get along. Hard work and equality is what makes a nation outstanding. The biggest advantage of democracy in polis was the general possibility of taking part in public life for all free citizens. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. What were the advantages and disadvantages of the city-state form of government? During 750-500 B.C.E, Ancient Greece is a place that is known for some city-states, called poleis. In America today, democracy is something we take pride in. This completely contradicts the all-inclusive concept of direct democracy that the Athenian government preached so frequently. In fact, there were internal struggles and disagreements. It was easy for the Athenians to see who the people are due to the population number at the time. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. I believe that ancient Athens was not a true democracy. When the two words are put together it forms , meaning rule of the people. But they were loyal to their city-state. Web3.It made abuse of power complicated, as you could always bring a charge against an official in the peoples assembly. 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. As I will come to. Athens direct democracy had elected officials including ten generals, magistrates, and others (PBS 1). 7 What are the limitations of a majority rule democracy? 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. HomeBrowse. How do I choose between my boyfriend and my best friend? The community showed little cohesion as a group. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. What are the pros and cons of democracy in ancient Greece? What does checks and balances refer to quizlet? Sea travel connected Greece to other societies. The Spartan government is made up of kings and elders only. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Possibly could make faster decisions. When you look at the literal definition of democracy in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, there is a decently large explanation. Athens is the capital and the largest city of Greece. As stated in the article The Problem with Democracy Today, contrary to other political institutions who holds the power is not clearly stated if the regime is a, Liberal Democracy is a democratic system of government in which individual rights and freedoms are officially recognized and protected, and the exercise of political power is limited by the rule of law. Although the competing city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually different as well as governmentally diverse, they both managed to become dominating powers in Ancient Greece. Unlike Sparta, who has an oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy. What are the pros and cons of democracy in ancient Greece? Slavery. The assembly met on the hill of the Pnyx to make these important decisions. 7 What are some pros and cons of Spartan society? Climate was varied but moderate, with temperature between 48 degrees Fahrenheit in winter and 80 degrees Fahrenheit in summer. Sparta lacked in education, they were too harsh on the children in military training, and the Spartans didnt allow traveling. 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. Alexis de Tocqueville penned Democracy in America after he spent month America in the 1831, where he witnessed a new democratic system. In Athens, the ruler Draco tried to make many reforms in the city state. 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. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. Athenians made it clear that the poor helped build the city 's power and not just the wealthy. What were the advantages and disadvantages of Greece? 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. Athens was the largest polis in Greece. Democracy in ancient Greece served as one of the first forms of self-rule government in the ancient world. Athens is more superior than Sparta through, government, economy, and culture. The Greeks never unified, Sparta is a better place to have an exciting or joyful life because you would be isolated by mountains and oceans. What are the advantages and disadvantages of ancient Greece? The assembly passed laws and made policy decisions (PBS 1). 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. 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. What did ancient Greece do for democracy? Due to the geographical disadvantages of grease The civilization was divided into many city-states instead of having one main government. Every citizen in Athens is allowed to take part in government, even poor citizens. 5 What are the disadvantages of Constitution? The Aetolians settled while the Dorians divided into two forces and continued on where one force took over Messenia and the other moved into Laconia and Sparta. If you have questions about licensing content on this page, please contact [email protected] for more information and to obtain a license. Athens organized a group of Greek city states into the Delian League and eventually lead and dominated all of the city states in the League. They took politics very seriously and made sure that everyone had a voiced opinion. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This society came to be known as one of the largest nations in Eurasia. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. While Athens was a democracy, Sparta was an oligarchy, which means ruled by few powerful and wealthy people. Two of the biggest city-states were Athens and Sparta. There was a thriving city. When you reach out to him or her, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource. A Monarchy is a political system ruled by one individual Oligarchy (disadvantage) Over time, middle/lower classes realized they still had little to no say in government Tyranny (disadvantage), Start studying advantages and disadvantages of government in ancient greece. Also, the so called Ostrakismos made it possible to ban corrupt politicians from athens. Its also said that Sparta is the foundation for the governments we now have in the world. 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. The current American democracy may have steamed from Athens, but they do not really have that much in common. To have a powerful and lasting empire with great prosperity you must have a series of strong leaders. The mountains make trade within Greeces borders difficult. The Athenians created a new kind of government where the people chose their leaders. What are the pros and cons of Athenian society? Sea travel connected Greece to other societies. As records were made available for public examination, there was a means of holding public officials to account. Democracy is now prescribed as inseparable from good governance and an antidote to corruption. These mountains and oceans would make Sparta would be in a condition of prosperity and comfort. Use this knowledge to correct the spelling errors below. But those attitudes shifted in the course of the 5th century under the influence of the Persian invasions of Greece in 480479 bce. The mountains also make communication from city to city slow. Government failure is a term to describe how government intervention can cause its own problems. On the other hand, Sparta had an oligarchy. According to the State of the World Atlas, 44% of the worlds population live in a stable democracy. They were only given a cloak - no shoes or other clothes, and not enough food so they had to steal (to learn survival skills). 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. What is democracy? Democracy is the modern day standard for governmental systems. The plague also led to social unrest and lack of unity. In addition, citizens had the chance to spend time acting as council representatives, which gave them power and direct involvement with decision making. Its also said that Sparta is the foundation for the governments we now have in the world. Sparta is far better than Athens on the grounds that their armed force was strong and defensive. They became skilled sailors. Each city-state had its own form of government and its own army, and even sometimes its own navy. Athens was also referred to as the birthplace of democracy, a government system still in use today! The ancient civilization of greece was different from many of the civilizations in its time. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Being the birthplace of democracy gives Ancient Greece a very important reputation. Government failure. 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. The women had limited rights and privileges, had restricted movement in public, and were very segregated from the men. Each city-state had its own government. WebThe Sea shaped the Greek civilizations as rivers did in the other ancient civilizations. WebAdvantages And Disadvantages Of Athens Democracy characterized in terms of unlimited political power anymore as it has transformed to a more citizen-friendly government. A body of land that has water on three sides, A narrow strip of land that connects two bodies of land, A peninsula; the southern portion of Greece, The Balkan peninsula, connected to other parts of Europe to the north, Elements of a Story and Plot : Base Literary, advantages and disadvantages of government in, Unit 2: Renaissance and Reformation Vocabulary, Of Mice and Men: Chapter 5 & 6 Review Project, Disadvantages and Advantages of Japan's Locat, Dahia Ibo Shabaka, Larry S. Krieger, Linda Black, Phillip C. Naylor, Roger B. Beck, PT600 - SysPath - Pathologies of Endocrine Sy. One of the many states of Greece, ancient Athens, was indeed not truly democratic as a result of not even using the essentials of democracy that is used today, Thus, by our standards, it was oligarchy, not democracy.(Document D), therefore ancient Athens was not using democracy as their form of government, they were using oligarchy,another form of government in which a small group of people has power and control, as their form of government instead of democracy. 8 What are the advantages and disadvantages of ancient Greece? During the times of Ancient Greece, two major forms of government existed, democracy and oligarchy. Spartas government was said to have a mixture of the major types of government which is oligarchy, monarchy, and democracy. Two of the most well known and powerful city-states were Sparta and Athens. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience. Athens stood out from Sparta as well as the other city-states not only because of its immense population but also because it was the commercial leader of Greece and was home to a great navy. 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. The Athenians were stronger because they had a better geography, government, cultural achievements, and I would rather live in the Athens. Athens had a geographic advantage because they were very superior. The Athens lived by the Sea which was an advantage because they had an excellent trading system. What disadvantages did Athens have? During that year, they were responsible for making new laws and controlled all parts of the political process. The five most powerful Greek city-states were; Athens, Sparta, Corinth. While Athens was a democracy, Sparta was an oligarchy, which means ruled by few powerful and wealthy people. Greece was organized into many different city-states. Democracy in Athenian government the way that the citizens pass a vote is getting done, in elected by the assembly annually for making decisions about military matters and by showing hands. Athens was truly democratic because everyone had the equal justice, people were voted into office, and ones social class did not determine what a person could become. Democracy (disadvantage) Only the elite or upper class had a role in government, lower class not represented. What are the pros and cons of tyranny in ancient Greece? 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. Athens owes the first penal and civil law code to Draco. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. 7 What was the disadvantage of democracy in ancient Greece? Although, if we look at the Athens, we see that they had no issues with plentiful land, as they possessed large and populous territory. Self- Government/Democracy: "Rule by the people." Amongst those city states Athens and Sparta were two of the most powerful and considered in Greek history as the most influential states to western civilisation. 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. 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. (Document B): The second reason is that if the court decides that someone has no right to be enrolled as a citizen he becomes. Athens Disadvantages: Not a lot of flat land to farm, Diffcult to travel over land, Diffcult to unite under a single government, limited natural resources. Sparta and Athens are very different from the way they are administered as well as their practices. The most common governments in the city-states consisted of monarchies, oligarchies, dictatorships, and sometimes democracies. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. These reasons include Pericles rise to power, the different members of government and their powers, and the changes in the idea of a democracy. Members of Spartan offices were also restricted to people who had very high social standing. First, all true democracies limit majority rule in order to protect the rights of minorities. The ancient civilization of Greece contained many different city-states; two of these city-states were Sparta and Athens. Athens had a geographic advantage because they were very superior. Athenian Values. When a new law was proposed, all the citizens of Athens had the opportunity to vote on it. Sea travel connected Greece to other societies. What were the strengths and weaknesses of ancient Greece? How do these two city-states differ? This limits the majoritys right to rule. The history of Ancient Athens dates back to 6,000 years ago. While both Athenian and Roman form of democracy was a major step away from autocratic rule, but they both had their drawbacks. Sparta and Athens had differences and similarities in the way they governed their city states, in how they established their military forces, how they treated women, their marriage customs and social gatherings. Since the Spartans were only concerned with being great warriors, the Athenians became the cultural center of Greece during the Hellenic period. When asking what is democracy, the answer is never truly defiente. The Athens was more superior then Sparta. Who was not allowed to become a citizen of Greece? Overall, I think Athens is better and safer to live in then Sparta. Athens was a small city compared to Rome that honored and protected citizenship. The Pros And Cons Of Ancient Athenian Democracy. 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. There was some farmland for crops, but the Greeks could always count on seafood and waterfowl to eat. The Spartans changed their society to remove all social distinction and became the greatest soldiers in Greece. So there are some representatives want to use the direct democracy like some old country such as ancient Greek. Two of the most well known and powerful city-states were Sparta and Athens. Athenians made it clear that the poor helped build the city 's power and not just the wealthy. Draco organized laws by putting them in a written code, letting everyone know what the laws were and, The name comes from demos-people and kratos-power, so literally power of the people. This excluded a majority of the population: slaves, freed slaves, children, women and metics (foreign residents in Athens).