Scribd
Upload
40 views1 page

Greek and American Democracy

Ancient Greek democracy allowed all male citizens to directly vote on issues of government in small city-states, while modern American democracy is a representative democracy where elected officials vote on behalf of citizens to prevent absolute power and protect democracy. Key differences are that ancient Greece had direct democracy through public assemblies, while America has an indirect representative democracy through three balanced government branches with checks and balances. Both systems drew from the original Greek concepts of demos and kratos, or "the people's power."

Uploaded by

Parker Scoglio Student - PantherCreekHS
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
40 views1 page

Greek and American Democracy

Ancient Greek democracy allowed all male citizens to directly vote on issues of government in small city-states, while modern American democracy is a representative democracy where elected officials vote on behalf of citizens to prevent absolute power and protect democracy. Key differences are that ancient Greece had direct democracy through public assemblies, while America has an indirect representative democracy through three balanced government branches with checks and balances. Both systems drew from the original Greek concepts of demos and kratos, or "the people's power."

Uploaded by

Parker Scoglio Student - PantherCreekHS
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

Compare and Contrast Democracy: Ancient Greece and Modern America

-Read this passage and answer the questions at the end of the page

The dictionary defines democracy as “a government in which the supreme power is vested in the
people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving free
elections.” But the original meaning can be found in the original Greek word ​demokratia​, a compound of two
Greek concepts. The first is that of ​demos​, meaning “the people;” the second is ​kratos​, meaning “power.”
Literally taken, democracy is “the people’s power,” and its influence is seen in many modern-day political
systems. The Greek system of government was perhaps closer to a true democracy or rule by the people than
any other in history. The Greeks viewed dictatorship as the worst possible form of government, so their
government evolved as the exact opposite. Their civilization was broken down into small city-states (never
more than 10,000 citizens), and all the men voted on all issues of government. There were no representatives
in the Greek system of government. Instead, they ruled themselves directly; each man was a lifelong member
of the decision-making body. This was almost a total democracy except for the fact that women and slaves
(over 50% of the population) were not considered citizens and were not allowed to vote. Despite this, no other
civilization has come close to democracy as its creators, the Greeks, and many later civilizations have
incorporated this Greek idea as part of their foundation for their government.

Ancient Greece: Direct Democracy


The Greek form of government was the city-state. Every Greek city was an independent state. At its
best, in the city state of Athens, the public Assembly of all of the citizens made all important decisions on such
questions as peace or war. They dealt with all serious questions of taxation and the appointed the generals
who should lead them in times of war. They organized the administration of the state, appointed officials and
kept check on them. The public assembly of all the citizens was the government. The vast majority of Greek
officials were chosen by a method which amounted to putting names into a hat and appointed the ones whose
names came out. That was known as “allotment.” Not only did the Greeks choose all officials by a lot, they
limited their time service. When a man had served once, as a general rule, he was excluded from serving
again because the Greeks believed in rotation, everybody taking his turn to administer the state. The Greeks
believed in this form of government because they felt when everyone got a chance to vote there was equality.

Democracy in America
Modern American democracy is in the form of a democratic republic or of a representative democracy.
A representative democracy came about in the United States because the colonists were tired of taxation
without representation and wanted a more fair system where the people had more say in the rule of the
country. They did not desire the Athenian form of democracy however, as they feared it would give the people
too much power and would lend control of the government to the uneducated masses. What they came up with
was a representative democracy wherein elected representatives rather than direct rule by the people rule the
government. These representatives are elected with the idea that they will accurately represent their
constituents, but in case some don’t, the U.S. government is divided into three branches to keep corruption in
check. These three branches are the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. No one branch contains
absolute power, rather, each branch is balanced off of the others, creating a system of checks and balances to
protect the principles of democracy.

You might also like