Perhaps the most important contribution of ancient Greece to modern western culture is the concept of government "by the people." Throughout history in many cultures the ability to govern has belonged to powerful minorities that maintained their position by dominating society with overwhelming power. This concept led to abuses and inequalities that could usually only be corrected by revolution and violence. The Athenians imagined a new power structure - one that can best be described as an "employee government". Government officials are "hired" by the citizens and can be "fired" just as easily.
The practice of democracy in Greece was not exactly like the democracies of today. Because the citizens of a city-state like Athens lived in a relatively small geographic region it was possible for the decision makers to meet in a public forum to discuss the pressing concerns of the day. Imagine if you will what it would be like if all the decisions concerning taxes, war, and building projects for Pulaski County were made in public votes held at the Center for Rural Development. Can you imagine the community involvement and the passionate advocacy that would take place? By comparison, in the modern US democratic system the citizens are so spread out that it is impossible for a meeting, and often people feel that decisions made in government only barely affect them. That's why we choose representatives to speak for us in Frankfort and Washington, D.C.
This week's assignment is to visit the following British Broadcasting Company website and read about government in ancient Greece:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml
Answer the questions: Should democracy be updated to better serve US citizens? With the invention of the internet, should the process be changed, and, if so, how?
Your work this past week was especially good - keep it up! Have a good week.
Democracy as defined by Abraham Lincoln is "Government of the People, by the people, and for the people." The word democracy comes from the the ancient Greek word demokratia which meant 'people-power'. In 750-500 BC, ancient Greek governments differed. There was no central control or empire because the Greek city-states were self-governing so governing formats developed independently. City-states were also frequently ruled by heredity monarchies that were called basileus. This was typically a leadership of the wealthiest citizens. City-states were also commonly aristocracies, which meant 'rule by the best'. Two types of ancient Greek governments were tyrannies and democracy.
ReplyDeleteTyrants means one-man rule. In 632 Athens attempted to rule by tyranny but they were associated with democracy. As I have already said, democracy means power of the people. However, in Athens there was not full participation in political structure because only 10% of the people were considered citizens. The Athenian democracy was a direct rule, unlike today.
In ancient Greek there was two forms of rule that had a particular infleunce over the region. These rules were the Spartan and Athenian types of rule. Sparta had a military rule, this military tradition was crucial to the strength of their government and it was remarkable. Now, the Athenians, which were rivals of Sparta, was a different government. Their government was a democracy. Decisions that were made by an assembly were carried out by the magistrate and council.
No, I do not think the US democracy should be updated. I believe we should return to the way the constitution was originally intended, based on the way the originators intended it to be interpret at the time it was written. If by saying this it means our democracy should be changed, then by all means I believe it should. But only to go back to the foundation of our constitution and its real meaning, before men started to interpret and re-write it to their own liking.
http://www.suite101.com/content/forms-of-government-in-ancient-greek-city-states-a84980
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml
Many of the words we use when talking about goverment comes from Ancient Greece. Words like politics, deomocracy, monarchy, tyranny. All forms of goverment, including the goverment of the United States of America. Perhaps you didn't know that democracy is not a new thing. No, not new at all.
ReplyDeleteThe most famous people who use a govermental system of democracy, besides America, is Athens, Greece. Athens was a city-state in Ancient Greece and the place of Democracy. However, many do not know that Athens was, at one time, a dictatership. Throught many years, Athens went from dictatorship, to democracy, and back and forth and back and forth. When the Romans conquered Greece, democracy in Greece was extinguished for good.
As for the question that was posed, do I think that the democratic system of America should be updated to better serve U.S. citizens, I must say, I honestly am not sure. America's goverment has changed so much since the Constitution was signed all those many years ago. If it means changing the way our goverment is at the present to go back to the foundations of the Constitution, then by all means, change our goverment back!!
However, no goverment is ever perfect. I can't think of a better illistration of this fact then the American Civil War. Despite what many want to believe, the War started over States Rights, over goverment. The Confederate States of America was formed because the Southern states did not agree with all the laws being made in Washington D.C. and because they felt that the North was getting all the advantages and the South was, basically, getting a raw deal. They wanted each state to control the laws that went on in their own state, to have different rules in each and every state. This proved to be the downfall of the Confederacy in ways that I can not go into at the present.
When the War Between the States was over, the democratic goverment of hte United States was torn up and, though it was slowly pieced back together, I do not believe that it has ever been the same. If our democracy could go back to the way it was before the Civil War, only be stronger, then America would be in great shape. Of course, the goverment would not be exactly the same, due to new technology and stuff, but it would be close and, I believe, better in different ways.
Works cited: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml
Visted on: September 28, 2010
There are many different kinds of governments. There is communist, tyranny, aristocrats, and of course the kind of government that we have…. Democracy. Although there are so many different types of government I think that the government system our founding fathers set up was the best of that time and age and even the best today hundreds of years later, which is saying something about their brilliance.But not many people know that there are two different types of democracy. There are representative and direct democracies. In my opinion I believe that the form of democracy that the United States of America uses is a fine form of government and governs the US citizens to the best of a man’s government can. I also believe there are instance when the people can overthrow the governments decisions if its for the best interest of the countries well being. I believe that the president should not be a ruler but a voice of the people, a person to voice the opinion of his (her in the future perhaps) people. I believe that even though we do have new technology and new thought processes and new morals even that the democracy that was set up in Independence Hall Pennsylvania is the best way to keep the United State’s government.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml#three
ReplyDeleteThere are many words and terms we get from the ancient Greeks, most of our political terms even come from Greek culture such as monarchy, aristocracy, tyranny, oligarchy, and democracy. The word democracy comes from the Greek word demokratia. It means people power. Abraham Lincoln said it was "government of the people, by the people, and for the people." Although there are similarities in both our and Greece's government, there are also differences, three particular differences: of scale, of participation, and of eligibility. First, of scale, there were no censuses in Athens, so they did not know how many people there were to vote. Second, level of participation, they wanted everyone to vote and were a direct democracy, which is different from our representative democracy, and we choose politicians to rule for us. Third, the key difference is eligibility, only adult male citizens needed to apply for the privileges and duties of democratic government , and a birth criterion of double descent, from a Athenian mother and father was strictly insisted upon. Women were excluded. No, I do not thin k the constitution should be updated or changed, its being miss interpreted which is pretty much updating it and that is not doing us any good. If it should be updated, it should be updated back to the way our founding father intended it to be in the first place. which would be the way it originally was.
ReplyDeleteworks cited http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml
ReplyDeleteThere are two different kinds of democracy. The direct and representative democracy. In the direct democracy you vote direct for laws, etc. So you need to get everybody involved and you need meetings where you can vote for these things. In the representative democracy you vote for a representative who has the most similar opinion.
ReplyDeleteI think the direct democracy is the most fairest and clearest form of democracy where really everybody can vote and express his opinion. So I would prefer the direct democracy. The problem is it is a very big effort to organize elections and it is only possible to practise this system in a small region or country. So the big countrys can't use it, like the USA.
I think the democracy shouldn't be updated because it is already very good for the US citizens. Many people think the representative democracy is not good because that way their opinion doesn't really has an influenze in the politics, but the USA is just such a big country whith so many citizens that in every system their opinion wouldn't effect very much. This is a problem of the size of the country and not of the system.
Also, I don't know the exactly number of voters but I heard that many citizens didn't voted so I think the first think to change would be the participation rate in elections. I mean, it only takes 5 minutes to vote and if you would have the direct democracy you would have to travel very far and spend a lot more time. How many people would then go to vote?
I think the internet is a very good way for elections. That way you maybe could get the direct democracy without the problem that the country is too big.
They maybe could open a website from the goverment where you can vote on different laws or bills and you have to LogIn with your ID-Code or something like that.
I think that would be a good alternative for the future but not possible right now.
The internet is too dangerous for such important elections and it is too easy to cheat on the internet. Also, not everybody in the country has internet so it wouldn't be equal for everybody. Another problem is maybe, that the internet network would just crack down because there are so many people at the same time in the internet. So I think the goverment should spend some time and money to get the internet more save and accessible for everybody.
Works cited
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml
The first Question is not clear about whether it is asking about our current form of democracy or the ancient Greek form. Because of this I will answer the question for both.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Greek form I do think that it would have to be changed to fit better into our modern world. As the article stated there are three major differences between what the ancient Greeks needed and what we need today. The first is the scale at which the governments are run. Today it would be impossible for everybody to meet at one time and decide what should be done. This is why we use a representative democracy. The second difference is participation. Now days not every body participates in the electoral process. From what I gathered from the article in ancient Greece if you were eligible you participated. That brings us to the third difference eligibility. Back then women, children, slaves, and foreigners were not allowed to vote. These reasons are why I think that the original form would have to be changed.
For the current American form of democracy I think that it also could be changed. I think that there is always room for improvement and refinement.
For the second question I think that using the internet is a amazing idea for the government. A lot of people don’t want to take the time to look up information about candidates and stuff, but if they had it all in one spot on the internet then possibly more people would try to learn about the candidates is stead of just voting by party.
to Alexandria Grace, I really like your essay on the democracy in Greece. I learned a lot from it and it really helped me understand the democracy in Greece better. I learned about tyranny, that it means one man rule and that Greece actually tried a tyranny and that it did not end up working out for them in the end because all the people were not considered citizen so not all were fully participating in the new tyranny government system. I agree with you that the constitution should not be changed or updated because it was good the way it was when our founding father made it, but it gets misinterpreted and it should not be. But Great job on your essay Alexandria Grace, I really enjoyed it!!
ReplyDeleteto GaGalicious, I really enjoyed your essay on Greek democracy, and i really learned a lot from it. Like all the different types of government. But great job, I really liked your essay
ReplyDeleteDemocracy is a political form of government in which governing power is derived from the people, either directly by the people or by means of elected representatives of the people. The two types of democracies are known more commonly as direct and representative democracy. Here in the United States of America we are run by a representative government. We choose who is in office and makes our major decisions, such as laws. Ancient Greece, however, was run by more of a direct democracy. The Greeks would gather together and decide how a decision would be made.
ReplyDeleteTo answer this week’s question: I think that it’s possible for America to be ruled by a direct democracy but it would be very difficult even with the technology, like internet, that we have in today’s society. If we were to use the internet as a source of getting political decisions made there would be so many different voices and opinions that it would be difficult to conclude with a clear decision that pleases everyone.
Although, there is always room for improvement in our government today, I just don’t think that a direct democracy would be the way for America to go.
In the fourth century BC by the time of Aristotle ,Athens was most of the democracies, the oldest, the most stable, the most long-lived and also the most radical.so I’m going to talk about the greek democracies . Greece in those times was not a single political entity but rather a collection of some 1,500 polis or cities scattered round the Mediterranean and Black Sea shores , as Plato once charmingly put it. Those cities that were not democracies were either oligarchies - where power was in the hands of the few richest citizens , called 'tyrannies'. Tyrannies usually grew out of oligarchies like this in an oligarchy, each of the aristocrats is always trying to get more power than the others. But the other aristocrats keep them from doing it. But if one of the aristocrats thinks of asking for help from the poor people, he can get ahead that way, and may make himself tyrant. So a tyrant is like a king, but a king who does not have the law or religion behind him, and only rules because the poor people support him. Naturally the other aristocrats hated tyrants, and tried to stop them and go back to an oligarchy again. In order to stay in power, the tyrant has to promise the poor people that he will do good things for them, so they will support him. Usually the tyrant promises one or two of these things in cases where the sole ruler power by force rather than inheritance.
ReplyDeleteI think America is direct democracy .
Demokratia. What does that mean? What does it stand for? Demokratia was an acient Greek word literally meaning people power. This was the word that the Greeks used to describe the earliest form of democracy. Back in the times of ancient Greece democracy was different.
ReplyDeleteThere are two kinds of democracy: representative and direct. Representative is the kind of democracy we use today. We choose or elect or government officials who we think will best represent and support our needs and desires. We don't actually go and make the decisions and tell the president what we want. We don't go and say thats what we want do it or we'll kick your butt. We can only hope that whoever gets elected will support what we want and need. On the other hand direct democracy would pretty much be like the people of Somerset getting together and deciding their laws and what they want and they can choose a leader and kick him out at any time and they can say we want or don't want this or that. This was the type of democracy the Greeks used for the most part.
In this weeks homework we have been assigned we are supposed to answer two questions. When I thought about it, I realized these were pretty tough questions to answer and really I'm not sure how to answer them.
The first question was should democracy be updated to to better serve the U.S. citizens? Abraham Lincoln once defined democracy as government of the people, by the people, and for the people. I believe that this is what democracy should be. If that isn't what our government is then something is wrong and it needs to be fixed. Also this country and our government was founded on the constitution and the declaration of independence such. I think and our government needs to quit doing things that go against the founding documents of our country. We need to change what we are doing. So I guess you could say that the answer to this question isn't that we need to change and update democracy, we just need to go back to those founding documents and start doing what we are supposed to.
Akers I really don't understand what you mean by the second question but I'm going to give an answer and I'm sorry if its the the kind you are looking for.... I do not think that internet should have anything to do with our government really and we shouldn't rely so heavily upon it.
Works cited:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml
By Professor Paul Cartledge
Last updated 2009-11-05
date researched 9-30-2010
the word democracy origianally came from classical Greek demokratia - 'government of the people by the people for the people', as Abraham Lincoln put it. while reading the articles i noticed how they really stressed the three main differences between our democracy and the greek democracy... those being: that of scale, and of participation and also of eligibility. there are a huge variety of things i could say about each one of these but it would take all day and way over 200 words :) our democracy as of right now is a representitive democracy and even though it might be more conveniant not having to do all the work ourselves i still thing it would be nice for us as occupints of the united states it would be nice to voice our piece to the govermental officials without haveing to go through so many congressional represinitives. and with the invention of internet i think the process could be more direct and that maybe it would make thinks some what easier. but all in all its safe to say history isnt a high point in my life so theres not much more i can think of to say, so there it is :)
ReplyDeleteSimon Heinzel,
ReplyDeleteGood job on your essay!! :) I agree with what you put about the internet not being a safe way to vote right now. However, I disagree with what you say about it possibly being a good idea in the future. Now, I will admit, I am old fashioned. Heck, I would still be livin' like it was the 1800s if I could, but that aside, I still think using the internet would be a bad idea. As you stated, the internet is to easy to crack into, shut down, and it would not be fair for those who don't have internet. However, America is already in to much debt and to spend more money to make voting easier would be a waste of time and money that we can't afford, or so I believe. I also don't think it would make a differance. If people won't take 5 minutes out of their lives to go and vote, why would they take the same 5 minutes to go and vote over the internet? Some people just don't care about voiting or anything. Anyways, good essay!!! :)
Camden,
ReplyDeleteGood essay!! Although I disagree with what you said about the internet being a good idea to use for voting. Yes, it would be ncie to have one website with all the information that you need to know about the canidates running. However, as I have said before, voting over the internet just isn't very resonable. Perhaps someone cracks into your voting account (if you take Simon's idea of log in ID's and stuff) and changes your vote. Or if, as Simon also pointed out, the system shuts down for one reason or another? Perhaps in the future using the internet would be a good idea, but not at the current moment of time. Good essay though!! :)
Democracy is defined by governement of the people, by the people, and for the people.
ReplyDeleteDemocracy is very present today. Most of the countries are using it. The two kinds of democracies are direct, were the people choose the law they want and sign a petition. It was use in Ancient Greece. But it was not it was not exacly the same. The Greece cities were self governement.
The second one is representative, the citizens choose someone to represent them. The represents are choose by the things they want to change or opignons they have.
In Greek history there was two types of governemnt:
Tyrannies, ruled by one man, a tyran. But this kind of governemnt didn' t work that good.
The second one, direct democracy, ruled by citizens who were just 10% of the populations. The womans, slaves and chidren were not citizens.
To come to the American democracy, I don t think it must be updateted. A country is a country, it' s based on rules that with time must be change bet the bases stays the same. If the democracy changes, the people change, the country changes. It' s good to stay to the origines of our land, and do everything to not lose our past. People died to have a democracy like we have now. To honor them we should keep it. the only time I will say we can change it is when there is a big problem and it' s the only way that it can have a good result.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml
Democracy is a political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them. Many countries have attempted to have a democratic government, but Greece was the first.
ReplyDeleteIn 400 BC, the time of Aristotle, Greece was divided into city-states and there were about 1500 cities, each with its own governmental body. However, many felt these democratic bodies were for the wealthiest and most educated citizens. Even with all of its imperfections, the system was the first example of a government by the people.
Should democracy be updated to better serve US citizens? A good democracy is constantly evolving to better serve the people in a country. Not that the foundation of democracy changes, but its ideas and sub-structures should always evolve to strengthen the system. In this way, the government should always be developing and emerging into a stronger organism. Without this, the democratic process could be stagnant and it does not work as well as it should.
With the invention of the Internet, should the process be changed, and, if so, how?
The thought of using the Internet in the democratic process is a little frightening and making it accessible to the greater public may be too loose. Also, the chance to vote could be compromised, because of fraud or the lack of the Internet in many homes. I think human supervision is still the best procedure to vote. However, to use it to campaign is effective.
Just as in Greece many years ago the democratic type of government seems to still function best for the people today.
When we think about politics, we often borrow vocabularies from the acient Greeks. Like the words, manarchy, arstocracy, tyranny, oligarchy and democracy.
ReplyDeleteThe acient Greek word demokratia, means literally "people power". There is a theory that the word demokratia was coined by democracy's enemies, rich and artistocratic people who didn't like being outvoted.
By time of Artistotle (fourth century BC) there were more than just one democracy.
Architects of the first democracies of the modern era, postrevolutionary France and the United States, claimed a line of decent from classical Greek demokatia.
"Government of the people by the people for the people", as Abraham Lincoln put in.
But there are three differences between our and the Greeks system in particulari of scale, of participation and of elisibility.
I think maybe, it is not the democracy which should be better. I think people must generally be better informed about politic. Because the ignorance of people is a problem. Especially young people do often not really know whats going on in the politics.
I do not think that the internet could help by changing the process of the democracy, but I think it is good, that you can find information about politics, and not only for one country. It is just really important, that people know what happened in their home country , but also in the world politics.
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml)
Work cited:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml
Well, I'm having a hard time answering these questions. But firstly, I think that Abraham Lincoln was right when he defined democracy as: "government of the people, by the people, and for the people."
ReplyDeleteDemocracy literally means 'people power'. Although our government might have to adjust to new technology, I don't think updating it would be best. The United States' representative democracy has been a pretty efficient system for the country's majority decision. Falling back on our founder's documents would definitely be the thing to do right now though.
Second Question.
I think that the internet's security has too many flaws right now and would be risky for vital things like this; such as, dealing with our democracy.
The quote "Anthenian democracy was direct and in your face..." is rather refreshing. Today with T.V. cameras and staging and rigging numbers you wonder what truth really is.
ReplyDeleteI do think the thought most officials and all jurymen were selected by lot sounds too good to be true. Now does lot mean dice (and were they loaded) or straws?
I understand how you would want a Athenian born person to run for office, but to be able to vote? If I remember right, Paul was born a Roman citizen and the Roman soldier had to pay for his citizenship. I think the way the Athenian people had it set up, it could breed pride, narrow mindedness and exclusiveness.
I value the importance the Greeks put in placing their buildings at the center of the city. I believe that gave the citizens of that country understanding of the necessity of good government.
Now for the "potsherd" policy. What would keep people from making up rumors and creating unrest to keep an honest man from being able to serve in office or fulfill his time of service without being afraid that he might be railroaded out of office. "The Potsherd" would make a great name for a movie.
Should democracy be updated to better serve the people? Yes, if the end product would be "to serve" the people. I think the idea of seeing someone face to face and serving them is a lot better than trying to serve a name on the internet.
In the English language there are many words that were derived from the language of Greece. One of which is Democracy, taken out of the Greek word demokratia. This word literally means “people power.” And so does, Democracy. Democracy is a form of government that which the people of that particular nation pick their government figure. And thus, America is a democratic nation.
ReplyDeleteShould democracy be updated to better serve US citizens? There are some things that I don’t like going on in our country, but some things that I do lovee. The government here, at some times can be a bit shabby, but aren’t we all human? Sometimes we don’t agree on things, and other times we couldn’t fit together more perfectly. Honestly, and truly, I like it the way it is. Were being heard, even now. With the Teen Court thing we heard about in class yesterday, and the YMCA organization, there rising up the next generation of leaders, and people who want to be heard. I don’t think it should be updated per say, but there are things I would like to change.
With the invention of the internet, should the process be changed, and, if so, how? I don’t think so, even though we have a faster way of communication, we should stick with the process we have now.
The ancient Greek word “demokratia” means people-power. Today we use the word “democracy” which means the same thing as the ancient Greek word. Abraham Lincoln described democracy in a few simple words we have probably heard at one time or another: “government of the people by the people for the people.” While our country probably adapted some of the ancient Greeks’ democracy, our version of democracy has a few differences.
ReplyDeleteTo start off, the Greeks had no proper censuses. Next, today’s democracy is what we call a representative democracy while the Greeks had a more direct democracy. In other words, we chose specific people to speak for us in government affairs. In direct democracy, most of the people with a high rank in the government were selected by lot.
I don’t think we will ever find the perfect form of government. Democracy is as good as government can get, despite its imperfections. Like humans, government isn’t always going to turn out perfectly. Do I think some aspects of our government should change? Well, sure. There is always room for improvement. I would like our government to trust in God. That would be an amazing change. Imagine how wonderful our country would be if we were dedicated to fulfilling the will of our Lord.
The internet has opened up doors to read about political gossip whenever we chose. Despite the fact that it has seriously advanced technology, I don’t think it should affect our government. Really, I don’t see Facebook being an issue in our democracy.
This week Im writing about government in ancient Greece and about the invention of the internet. That sounds very interisting
ReplyDeleteand exciting.
We are living in a very different world, but without the ancient Greeks we wouldn't have the words to talk.
There are two different kinds of democracy. The direct and representative democracy and I think here in the
United States of America we are run by a representative government.
Representative democracy is a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people,
as opposed to autocracy and direct democracy.
But in Greek they using for democracy demokratia.
Demokratia came from the acient Greek word literally meaning people power.
There is a theory that the word " demokratia " was minted by democracy's enemies. If the theory is truth then democracy must
originally have meant something like 'mob rule' or 'dictatorship of the proletariat'.
Then there was the question.. "With the invention of the internet, should the process be changed, and, if so, how?
I think that could be a good way to do elections in future but not right now,
because I think the invention of the internet is not very secure and it can be hacked eventually for such important elections.
Also it is too easy to cheat on the internet which would greatly distort the election results.
A different problem is not everyone has Internet in America, because he lives very far away.
camden,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your essay!!
I can' t imagine having the same type of governement that the Ancient Greek had! But we need to keep in mind that just 10% of the population could vote or be elected because the womans, slave and children were not citizens.
I think the motivation of the Ancient Greek to be elected was much bigger than us. Since most of them had a chance, they wanted to do their best. Most of the people now don' t realize the importance of going to vote. But we should think about the first ones that cared for the others, and that gave their life so we could live in peace. That is also why I think we should try to keep our governement like it was before because our country was founded on some bases. And we need to keep thoses bases.
I think one of the only way to motivate people to go and vote is to show them the consequences. And also tell them that would they want to do the sme thing that people already did before and how hard it is! People need to think more about the futur, about their children.. And we need to think about it too! If you died to give someone liberty and peace that you didn' t have would you like them to lose it too? Do you prefer one life or two? And would you like to be honor for the things you did for others?
Jerome H.G. Geils-Lindemann,
ReplyDeleteGood Job for your Essay!
You are right for the internet. I don' t think evryting sould be done on the internet. At leastnot for the moment. Some person don' t even know how to use a computer! But it could be helpful for those who work on a computer, so they could just do it when they work.
Alexandria Grace, I liked your explanation of the different forms of government. I think it would be very interesting to take all the city-states in ancient Greece and figure out why people accepted the government formats the way they did.
ReplyDeleteWas it because they followed the people that had the most money, the aristocracies or was it the tyrants that could be the bullies? The Spartans had the military base in their form of government that commanded respect. I agree with you if we change anything let's go back to the way our forefathers meant for the constitution to look like. They are the ones who made the ultimate sacrifice.
C.S.3. Thank you for being concise in your explanation of Greek government. I wonder if the ancient Greek government knew who the true Athenians were that could vote, and catered to them? You kinda have to give the Greeks a little grace on wanting everybody to vote in regards to direct democracy.I'm glad we pick representatives. To get anything passed would take even longer than it does now. Birth criteria in voting just doesn't seem right! I agree with you, don't mess with the Constitution unless it's to make it back the way our founding fathers intended it.
I forgot my source cite. bbc.uk/history
Should Democrasy be updated to better serve U.S citizens? My answer would have to be no. Our modern America wouldn't work well under a democrasy like Greece's. For there are differences between our's and their's. One example is the level of participation. Sure many Americans would be overjoyed about having such a stong say so in government, but let's be real. We have millions of people in America that couldn't care less about politics; they don't don't care enough to take a preference and say whether they are democratic or republican; they just rely on a higher power's ruling opinions and accept it the Gospel truth. In Greece they were "In-your-face" about it to make sure they had a high level of participation. As I have stated, I don't think everyone would like that in modern America.
ReplyDeleteAnother example is that everybody had power with their voice, especially the poor. Personly, I want the decisions made for this country to be made by educated and prestigous men who know what there talking about, and know what the best direction to take is in our economic and overseas struggles. Simply because in our vast country like this, there are several voices to be heard. Though some of those voices are of wisdom, some of those people wouldn't know the first thing about politics. They would just make ruling based upon how it best suits them and their lifestyle.
No, the process should not be changed by the invention of the internet.All decision making should be done in person. Sure, America is now in a downward spiral, but looking at the positives you can't blame the process. It's worked well for us for 200 something years, and it would still have us on top if we would not have turned away from God in our decision making.
So my final conclusion is that, Greece modeled our democrasy to what it is today, but I'm glad we somewhat shaped it to better fit America and its way of life as we know it.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml
Charity, I liked yours because we do agree on alot of things, like we agree that the invention of the internet should not effect the process. Pretty much, I was trying to say the same thing as you, I just put alot of my own personal ideas into it.
ReplyDeleteEileen, not pointing you out or anything, there might of been more than one that did this(heck, I have probably did this in the past), but more than half of your essay was cited word-for-word from the article. I don't know, I guess I just expect everyone to have drops of content here and there from the article, and then the rest is what they have to say about it. I want everyone to have there own oppinions, and be able to support there oppinions in more than just a couple sentences. Though I see you did put some of your own words into it, good job on that note Eileen.
morgan,
ReplyDeletei had never really paid much attention in the past to how people layed out their essay like how they typed it or how they started it... until i read your essay the first sentance or two really grabbed my atention and it pushed me to read further and further until i had eventually completed your essay. it was very good and extremely informitive... i learned alot from it. great job on your essay, i really liked it :)
jerome,
ReplyDeleteyou did a very very good job on your essay i agree with you that not everything in the world should revolve around the internet but sadly they do anyway... in my opinion your point was strongly stated and somehow to me it seemed like it dug a little deeper than most without over doing it. i especially liked it when you said that with out the greeks we wouldnt have the words to say... i just thought that was really good way of putting it. but anyways you did a really good job :)
Eileen, good job on your essay! And I totally agree with you that young people nowadays are not well enough informed about the governmental decisions of their country. And what I dislike the most are that politic articles, for example in newspapers, are always written in such a complex way. I have heard many people complaining about those long articles, which are hard to understand, especially for the younger generation. I personally like the idea of having politics class in school. I think there are effective ways to bring the information to people without confusing them.
ReplyDeleteAlexandria Grace, it really intrigued me that you commented on Sparta and Athens. First of all I was unaware that these two city-states had two completely different governmental systems and lifestyles. Athens concentrated on wisdom and knowledge while Sparta developed a strong militaristic system. In the end, both systems of government were not strong enough to endure. Maybe they would have succeeded if a combination of both systems had existed. It is the tendency of some great governmental systems to become one-sided.
Stella,
ReplyDeleteGreat Job!! I liked your essay a lot and it amazed me that there were about 1500 cities with their own separate government body. Thats just so many different government bodies. I agree with you in the fact that just thinking about the use of the internet in the democratic process is frightening. So very good job, your report was very interesting!!
To Alexandria Grace, I really like to read your essay about the Greeks democracy. I agree with what you said. That is so unbelievable that Greek was and is still important for the world. You responded to that very well about the question: “Should democracy be updated to better serve US citizens?” I never interested about the Greek, but now I learned a lot from it and with your essay it is easy to understand. I really enjoy your essay. Great job Alex.
ReplyDeleteDear Simon Heinzel, I really really enjoy reading your first essay. It was very easy to understand your essay. I agree with all what you said. I would say the same about the invention Internet. Probably the government needs 10-15 years more to do elections in the internet. But also I think if we do elections in the internet in 15 year, then we lose lots of jobs, because there working in the offices for counting the votes. Great job Simon
Elena,
ReplyDeleteGreat Job, I loved your report. I liked your definitions of direct, representative democracies, and a tyranny. I agree that Tyrannies never really worked that well. Probably because it was the rule of just one man. I think its interesting that women, slaves, and children werent counted as citizens.. not fair!! ha But I also dont think that the American democracy should be updated. Good Job!!
Willus thank you for your positive compliment on my essay, but I am sorry that mine will not be that complimentary. Are you saying that poor people cannot make a good or appealing decision about who would rule them? Yes, I could understand of where you are coming from about the educated part of a man. But even people who are NOT that educated can voice their opinion, and sometimes it might vary with ours. Just because the “poor” and the “uneducated” population of our country might choose someone different, or even someone who is more intellectual then Mr. Akers (Which might not even happen, considering he is verrryyyyyy knowledgeable (: ) chooses someone different, does not mean that we should not give them a right to vote. Everyone in this country has that right, but it is our duty that we should know who we should vote for. So the right comes with a duty and with that duty comes responsibility. We all hold a form of somewhat of responsibility.
ReplyDeleteJerome, your essay was quite intriguing, especially that last part. I agree. Agree that it would be better when the internet is more advanced and secured.
GaGalicious,
ReplyDeleteGreat Job. I agree that through all the different types of government that our founding fathers chose the best of that time and still to this day the best. Also I like how you said that the president shouldn't be a ruler but a voice of the people. And I also definitly agree that in some certain situations the people can overthrow the decisions of the government. You just over all did a great Job!!
Camden, good job on your essay. I agree that there is always room for improvement in our government. I’m sure everyone agrees with that point. I like how you mentioned that the Greeks who were eligible for voting actually jumped on that opportunity. So many Americans complain about the outcome of elections even though they themselves did not vote. I often wonder why we don’t vote. What’s so hard about writing someone’s name on a ballet or pressing a button on a computer?
ReplyDeleteMorgan, I agree with everything you said in your essay except for the part about the internet. I believe that the internet has been one of the greatest technological advancements in our culture. Let’s say a college student who just turned eighteen wants to vote, but his knowledge of the candidates are limited. All he has to do is search their name and he can find as much information as he wants about that candidate. Also, it is extremely important to keep up to date with world events. The internet is a fast way of accomplishing this. I do agree that we shouldn’t rely so heavily upon internet. We should never stop reading magazines, newspapers, and books. I simply that that because it has had such a huge impact on our culture, it isn’t something that should be forgotten.
there are 2 types of democracy.the direct and representative democracy.in the direct democracy everyone in the town gathers together and vote on things.in the representative democracy you vote for representatives with similar opinions of yours.i think the direct democracy is the fairest and clearest form of democracy where everybody can vote and express his opinion.so i would preferthe direct democracy.the problemis it is a big effortto organize electionsand it is only possible to practice this in a small region or country.so the big countries,such as the united states,cant use this system.i think the the democracy should not be updated,becauseit is already very good for the citizens of the u.s..many people think the representative democracy is not good,because that way their opinion doesnt really have a influence in the politics,but the united states is just such a big country with so many citizens that in every system their opinion wouldnt efffect very much.thids is a problem of the size of the country and not of the system.also,i dont know the exact number of voters but ive heard that many citizens didnt vote.so i think to change would be the participation rate in elections.i mean,it onlt takes 5 minutesto vote and if we had a direct democracy you would have to travelvery far and spend a lot more time.
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