Download ANCIENT GREECE

ANCIENT GREECE
Government
6-1 (continued)
Around 750 B.C. villages
joined together to form
city-states with their own
government and laws
Most city-states were
controlled by aristocrats
Middle classes eventually
took over government of
city-states through Tyrants
Around 594 B.C., Solon
reformed the laws of
Athens
• Athens became
the leading
democracy of
the ancient
world
• Only free men
with Athenian
parents could be
citizens
Athenian Democracy
• Over 2400 years
ago, the famous
Greek general,
Pericles, said, "It is
true that we
(Athenians) are
called a
democracy, for the
administration is in
the hands of the
many and not the
few, with equal
justice to all alike
in their private
disputes."
Athenian Democracy
• Only in Athens,
and only for a
short time, "rule
by many" meant
that all citizens
had to be willing
to take an active
part in
government.
That was the
law.
Athenian Democracy
• Each year, 500
names were
drawn from all
the citizens of
Athens. Those
500 citizens had
to serve for one
year as the law
makers of
ancient Athens.
Athenian Democracy
• All citizens of
Athens were
required to vote on
any new law that
this body of 500
citizens created.
One man, one vote,
majority ruled.
Women, children,
and slaves were
not citizens, and
thus could not
vote.
Athenian Democracy
• After the
Peloponnesian War
with Sparta, which
Athens lost, once
again Athens was
ruled by a small group
of people. But for a
brief period of about
100 years, Athens
was a democracy. It
was not a perfect
democracy, but it
established the roots
of democracy. We
owe Athens a lot!
Two Types of Democracy
• A Direct
Democracy:
citizens vote to
make their own
laws
• A Representative
Democracy: citizens
vote for
representatives that
make laws
Compare and contrast democracy in
Ancient Greece (A) with democracy in
the U.S.(B)
Greece
United States
Would Greek democracy work in the U.S.?
Why or why not?
THE END