1. The Origin & Development of Democracy in Ancient Greece

2. Objectives What is Democracy? What are the main types of democracy?
What pushed Greeks towards democracy?
Who was Solon and what were his reforms?
Who was Cleisthenes and what were his reforms?
Who was Pericles and what were his reforms?
What did Aristotle say about tyranny and democracy?

3. Definition of Democracy
Word has Greek language origin
Demos: people
Kratos: rule
Rule by/of the people

4. 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

5. Main Types of Democracy
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

6. Main Types of Democracy
. 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

7. 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)

8. Evolution of Democracy
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

9. 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

10. Three Democratic Reformers
CLEISTHENES
Reforms of Cleisthenes:
Formed the Council of 500
Members were chosen randomly from the citizenry
Council was made a “legislature” (law-making body)

11. 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.

12. On the Nature of Tyranny:
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.”

13. 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.