Democracy And Athenian Democracy

The word democracy derives from two Greek words; ‘demos’ which means ‘the people’ and ‘kratein’ which means to rule. Democracy is defined as a government, by and for the people because ‘power is not of a minority but of the whole people’ (Thucydides). Originally democracy meant rule by the common people. In the sense, and even before the beginning of modern class society, it was very much a social class affair. This meant that power should be in the hands of the largest class: the poorest, least educated and those without land or property. As a result, democracy was feared and rejected by the educated, cultured and wealthy. In classical Greece, democracy was seen by the liberal and the educated as one of the worst types of government and society imaginable and often thought of as a ‘bad word’. The rule of the people was regarded as a threat to all the cherished values of a civilized orderly society.

Athenian democracy developments began in the 6th century BC. Democratic revolutions occurred in Athens in 508BC and lasted for nearly two years. This political system involved all of its citizens, and not only their representatives by giving them daily access to civic affairs and political powers. Both decision-making and decision-enforcing were the duty of every Athenian citizen, not just 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.

Those who came from the aristocratic class were not in favour of democracy, rather the poor citizens of the Athenian society. There were specific requirements in the Athenian constitution for a person to be considered a true Athenian citizen...

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... the ‘people as a whole’, however the democratic system which was present in ancient Athens only allowed the minority to have a say in political matters rather than the majority. Freedom of speech was advocated however not every Athenian had the right to do so, unless they were a legitimate citizen. The boule enforced ‘perfect people equality’, as you had the same chance as everybody else, however this only extended out to, yet again, only those who were considered citizens. There was a criteria to which had to be fulfilled and in the case of the boule, one had to be male and over the age of 30.

The Athenian government had their fears of corruption which is why they selected their jury on the days of the assemblies. The courts auditing of people though exhibited a sign of distrust even though it was just a way of checking everything was in place and accounted for.