Analysis of Good Government Viewpoints of Ancient Greece and China

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Many great civilizations have come and gone and have left a lasting impact in our world. However, very few have had such a lasting impact in world’s history like ancient China and Greece. Both civilizations have influenced us tremendously and have given us much knowledge that guides how we think, behave, and live our lives. Even though both civilizations gave us many things such as philosophical views and values, their contributions in government set them apart based on their contributions to our current governmental system. Although similar to each other in some ways, ancient Greece and China had many dissimilar viewpoints about good government; these viewpoints can be broken down and analyzed to see how Greece’s views of good government were more focused on society while China’s views were more focused on spirituality and morality.
Greece and China had many similarities, which centered on who should rule. For instance, both civilizations had a portion of their beliefs of good government centered on the personal characteristics of the individual. From the works of Sparta, we can see that they focused more on personal abilities of an individual and whether he showed enough qualification to lead them. According to the Spartan Constitution, a person in Sparta would look to another with strength with obedience and respect; as a result, the more strength and respect you can command, the better chance you have to lead (Reader 73). The Chinese can also be shown to center their views in this way by observing the Analects of Confucius which explain to us that the most moral individuals or in other words, the most humane and wisest, are the people who should be allowed to rule. For example, according to the Analects, Confucius says that ru...

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...nt even though they had similar beliefs in how one should rule.
Although similar to each other in some ways, ancient Greece and China had many dissimilar viewpoints about good government; these viewpoints can be broken down and analyzed to see how Greece’s views of good government were more focused on society while China’s views were more focused on spirituality and morality. Ancient China and Greece have been two of the most important and influential societies in recorded history based on what they have given us. However, their work in government has been most important because it has shaped the outcomes of societies around the world. We have only scratched the surface of something extremely interesting in this work; only by further developing our knowledge about these topics can we hope to develop new ways to cope with issues facing our world today.
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