Athenian Democracy
A Democracy is defined as a government of, by and for the people. Originally, democracy meant rule by the common people. In this sense, and even before the beginning of modern class society, it was very much a class affair. It meant that power should be in the hands of the largest class: the poorest, least educated and the propertyless. As a result, democracy was feared and rejected by the educated, the cultured, and the wealthy. In classical Greece, democracy was seen by the enlightened and the educated as one of the worst types of government and society imaginable. The rule of the people was regarded as a threat to all the cherished values of a civilized and orderly society. It would curtail individual freedom and would lead to anarchy. The political system of ancient Athens was a Democracy, which involved all of its citizens and not only their representatives, by giving then daily access to civic affairs and political power. Both decision-making and decision-enforcing were the duty of every citizen, not just of those elected by them or by their leaders. The citizens of Athens were directly involved not only in government matters, but also in matters of justice, as there was no separation of powers in ancient Athens.
Of course, one could complain that the democracy excluded the majority of the population of Athens. It rejects citizen participation, or what has come to be termed direct democracy, on the grounds of impracticality. However, these two schools of thought never manifested themselves in the form of clearly defined, organized political parties. He divided Athens in to ten tribes based on geographical distribution and increased the Boule to 500 citizens. "h The Council, which concentrated on policy implementation and administrative matters. Indeed women, resident aliens, and slaves could not participate in the democratic process. Thus the majority of the voting public are governed by a government not of their own choosing. Both in the United States and in Britain participation in the electoral process is relatively low. Every year from citizens, who had volunteered, 6000 jurors were selected by lot and were sworn in. Bibliography ReferencesAbbot, Evelyn. The epistates summoned the prytaneis and the Council and was chairman of the Assmebly. The democratic Assemblies could change character overnight; they would often eagerly follow a particular leader, and then exile that leader often for no reasonGovernment functions were assigned to two bodies:"h The Assembly, which focused on policy decision-making. He was an Aristocrat who was dedicated to Democracy.
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