The Origin & Development of Democracy in Ancient

Greece

Objectives

I. What is Democracy?II. What are the main types of democracy?III. What pushed Greeks towards democracy?IV. Who was Solon and what were his reforms?V. Who was Cleisthenes and what were his

reforms?VI. Who was Pericles and what were his

reforms?VII. What did Aristotle say about tyranny and

democracy?

Definition of Democracy

• Democracy: – Word has Greek language origin

• Demos: people • Kratos: rule

• = Rule by/of the people

Plato

• Greek philosopher Plato distinguished democracy from:– Aristocracy or Oligarchy: rule by a small

elite or wealthy class– Monarchy: rule by one individual, i.e. king or

emperor

Main Types of Democracy

1. Direct Democracy:– System of government where the power

rests with the citizens– Citizens themselves are the power (without

representatives)– Power is exercised through voting – each

citizen represents one vote

Is this what we have in America?

Main Types of Democracy

2. Representative Democracy: – Citizens are elected as representatives – Those elected officials are to act in the

interest of the citizens– Normally they serve only for allotted period

of time

Origin and Causes of Democracy

• Began in Athens, Greece• Approximately 508 B.C. • Due to geography, isolated “city-states” began to

emerge– City-states were given the name “polis”

• A polis (or city-state) is an area with its own political system– A polis was independent from other polis’ (poleis)

• Initially, a polis was styled after monarchies (circa 700 B.C.)

• Over time, this evolved into an aristocratic style of rule

• Over time, there became an imbalance of power– Wealthy: more power; the rest of the citizenry: less

power

• This pushed Athens towards becoming a democracy

Three Democratic Reformers

• SOLON• Gap between wealthy & non-wealthy considered a crisis• Solon, a respected leader, elected to reform Athens• Reforms of Solon:

– Slavery outlawed– The debts of farmers were abolished– Established four classes of citizenship

• Based on wealth, not heredity• Citizens of three highest classes could hold office

– All adult male citizens were granted citizenship• This dramatically increased citizen participation in government

• CLEISTHENES

• Reforms of Cleisthenes:– Formed the Council of 500

• Members were chosen randomly from the citizenry• Council was made a “legislature” (law-making

body)

Three Democratic Reformers

• PERICLES• An instrumental figure in Athenian democracy• Reforms of Pericles:

– All citizens of Athens encouraged to take part in government– Council of 500 increased dramatically—at times, it was made up

of 6,000 members– Number of paid government officials increased– Lower-class citizens were now permitted to hold office– Citizens who served as jurors were now paid

• Overall, the reforms increased participation among all the social classes of Athens.

Three Democratic Reformers

Read the two excerpts from Aristotle’s Politics below. Dissect and shrink each excerpt to two

sentences.

• On the Nature of Tyranny:“The Tyrant must ‘cut down to size’ those who raise their heads too high, destroy men of Spirit, not allow common meals, political clubs or education . . . and he must guard against all things that might inspire courage and confidence among the people. . . A tyrant must make every effort to know what each of his subjects says and does . . . he must employ spies . . . The tyrant must also encourage quarrels among the people, pitting friend against friend, the common people against the gentry and the wealthy against one another. . . . The Tyrant must also be a warmonger so that the people will be kept busy and will constantly feel the need for a leader.

On the Nature of Democracy:“. . . rulers should be chosen by all citizens and from all citizens . . . each citizen should be ruled by all citizens and all citizens by each one of them; . . . the tenure of all offices . . . should be short; . . . the jury courts should be chosen from all citizens; . . . The assembly should be sovereign over all things and no official is supreme over anything accept quite unimportant matters; . . . no official should serve for life.Equality does not imply that the poor should rule instead of the rich or that they alone should hold power, but that all people should share power equally , according to their numerical strength.

1. According to Aristotle, how is democracy different from tyranny?

2. What would be the benefits and disadvantages of tyranny and democracy? Please list at least one benefit and one disadvantage for each.

3. Based on your readings and our discussion in class, how did the history of Ancient Greece contribute to the development of democracy of the democratic values described in section 1. Explain using examples.