Comparative Governmental Systems: Ancient and Modern
Where does democracy come from' Why is the U.S. Constitution sowhere did the framers gain such foresight. These are some of the manystudents and future historians have asked when they consider the origins ofcivilization and how it is that our system is so enlightened. The truth iskey features of both "democracy" and the Constitution have their origins inhistory. If we look at Ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, and India, wetraces of democratic thought that precipitated the rise of each of thosebut in all fairness, many of the critical threads of Western politicalcatalyzed by the very birth of Western society in the classical Although it is commonly believed that democracy was a form ofarose out of the period of the Enlightenment in Europe (1700's), therule" or "people rule" is actually thousands of years old. The term,describe those regimes that came as close as possible to Aristotle's
Sometimes this is referred to as an "indirectdemocracy" because thecitizens were not able to take part in the "direct" running of thegovernment. Slaves, women, andminors, and thosewithout property were excluded from participation in government. Just as the Twelve Tables of Law wereavailable for publicdisplay, so our original Constitution rests in public view in the NationalArchives for allcitizens to peruse. Bill of Rights andAmericanjurisprudence included the notion that all citizens were equal under thelaw. Western democracy is dependent on the structure of a"representativedemocracy. " We can clearly identify this of form of government in ourUnited StatesHouse of Representatives. The RomanRepublic was agovernment headed by elected leaders, yet real power was held by theSenate, whichrepresented the upper class, and two consuls, who served as heads of state. However, thehopeful distinction between ancient governments and modern governments isthat theidea of "people rule" will eventually become a more prominent condition ofself-determination. Thelegislative bodiesin Ancient times seemed to carry much more weight than modern governments. We can identify the practices of this type of ancientassembly incontemporary forms of government. "Plebeians, or commoners as they were also called, weresometimespunished for breaking laws they did not know existed. This after all is what democracy, self-government, andfreedom is alltruly about, the power to choose one's own destiny without interferencefrom those whoare privileged or in some autocratic system of rule. If welook at theparliamentary democracy of Great Britain, we will find a more removed formofdemocracy in their House of Lords and House of Commons. The twelve tables of law written on stone tablets were an earlyversion of whatone contemporary observer might liken to parchment paper (the substanceupon whichthe Constitution is written).
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