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 (not necessarily ethnic minorities, just small groups of people) 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 and so numerous that it is impossible for everyone to meet (that's why we choose representatives to speak for us in Frankfort and Washington, D.C.), and
often people feel that decisions made in government only barely affect them.
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, how could our political system be modernized to become more accessible to citizens?
Your work this past week was especially good - keep it up! Have a
good week.
I think that our democracy bests fits the enviroment we live in. there are so many people in todays socity that dont know anything about the government. they dont need to be involved if they dont know anything about what there voting for. even with people voting on natinoal regional and district officials they just pick a random guy on the list and say theve done their part in the government. well their wrong. to do your part in the government you need to stay up to date with whats going on International nationally and locally. and when an election is coming up find out what each person wants to to and really think about if that person can make that happen then go vote for the person that best fits in with what the needs are. and i think that their sould be a website online that has whats going on it the government and that gives a bio? back ground on all government officials.
ReplyDeleteGood job on your essay austin! You really enhanced my knowledge.
DeleteDemocracy. In order to answer the question he proposed to us, we first have to know what democracy means. According to the Webster’s Dictionary Democracy is government by the people. What does that mean? People having a say in what the government does and the decisions they make. So do I think the people should have democracy? Absolutely! We do have democracy by voting and choosing our presidents and being able to run of offices. The second question about the internet and modernizing, truly, I don’t know how much more modern we can get. I am positive there will be bigger better things out there, but as of right now my mind can’t comprehend. I thought it is, neat how there the main to parties which are republicans and democrats but yet we have representatives to speak for us to speak. I think that is neat/ different (can’t figure the right word to use.) But overall I think personally it is ok although for everything there is room for improvement.
ReplyDeleteGreat job on your essay! Your opinions were clear and you could tell you had researched the subject.
DeleteI agree, you did a great job on your assignment Bethany!
DeleteBethany- I really liked your essay. I like how you used the actual Webster's Dictionary definition of the word democracy.Great Job!
DeleteIn ancient Greece the power was given to the people and it was for the people. The people voted and their vote directly affected the outcome of elections and such. Unlike in the US were we elect representatives who go for us to congress to place their vote. The main reason for this is because our people are so widespread across the United States. Where as in ancient Greece the people were in smaller groups and the people could all meet and have a vote. There were hundreds of Greek democracies. Greece in those times was not a single political party but rather a collection of some 1,500 separate cities scattered round the Mediterranean and Black Sea. I think that our democracy should be updated in were the people have more direct control. Again this is hard because we have such a wide spread population but with modern technology this can no longer be a problem. The invention of the internet was a big deal. It allows people from all over globe to be able to communicate and interact. What better way than to organize political events on the internet? Almost all people in the US have access to a computer whether it is at home or at a public place such as a library. I think that this would be the best way for the government to get everybody involved. This option would present problems though. There are always people who can’t have access to the internet but I do think it’s the best choice.
ReplyDeleteWhere does democracy come from? The ancient Greeks are responsible for several different types of government including: a monarchy, tyranny, oligarchy, aristocracy, and yes, a democracy. A democracy is a type government that is ruled by the people. The origin of the word democracy comes from the prefix demo- meaning “people” and –cracy meaning “rule.”
ReplyDeleteDemocracy in the United States is different than that of Greece. For example, in Greece they would take a random draw of the common people to choose their officials, whereas in America we vote for the candidate we want to represent us. The population of ancient Greece consisted of only about 250,000 people which is significantly small compared to the U.S. This made a huge difference in the amount of participation the Greek people had in government. Another key difference in their way of government and ours is that only the men were eligible to participate in the government which made a major cut to the amount of people able to participate.
Our system of democracy in the U.S. is good, but it could be advanced through our use of technology. There could be a webpage were people could go to too learn about the current political status of an issue or upcoming political race. In this, people could better understand and be involved in our government system. It is very important for citizens to be aware of and up to date on what’s going on in our country, because the decisions our leaders make affect us and can change our day to day lifestyles.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/greeks/greekdemocracy_01.shtml Sept. 21
Great job on your essay! It was written well and full of information. I liked how you explained what "democracy" means.
DeleteGood essay, Sarah. I agree that it would be great if there was a government website were we could find out information about the candidates.
DeleteDemocracy is a beautiful thing and it has shaped America into what it is today. One thing that I believe would make our democratic system better is if we got rid of the electoral college. I think the college is old-school and worked great when getting to a place to vote was a hassle, but there is no need for that today. I also believe that we would have very different results in our presidential elections if it was done away with. The popular vote is much more important than the college vote because the government is supposed to be by the people for the people. The Internet has unarguably changed the world. One way we could use this new tool is voting online. It allows us to look up information with ease and keep up with the election and its candidates. Instead of having to drive out to remote locations and wait in lines, we could go to our computer and vote within a couple of minutes.
ReplyDeletegood essay Lydia. I agree that we should get rid of the electoral college system.
DeleteLydia- I liked your essay this week! It was really nice to see your views on democracy. I do agree with your view on the electoral college. Great job!
DeleteUpdating democracy would not be necessary for US citizens. Democracy worked in ancient Greece for many year and has worked in America for over 200 years. Why fix something if it ain’t broke? In Greece when they voted it was a lot like we do it today, they voted directly for the person they wanted to win. And in America we vote for the person we want to represent us.
ReplyDeleteThe definition of “democracy” at dictionary.com says, “government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system.” So ask you can see it’s for the people by the people. And we shouldn’t take it for granted.
The problem with the second question about making the process more assessable is that there still are many, many people without internet. For those who cannot access the internet easily, little in the political process has changed in many years, so getting out and voting might be the only some people have a say in our government. Also the political system has already been modernized, like the politicians have face book pages and twitter accounts. Branches of government have websites. Any part of the political process or any politician can be researched online; unfortunately there are also some gossip pages about political figures that don’t do any good. Those pages just expose them and their families to public ridicule and take any privacy the family may deserve away.
Nice essay Abby! I really liked your opinion about why the United State's government doesn't need to be updated. Although not everyone will agree about it, I thought you had a good argument along with facts to back it up.
DeleteA democracy is a system of government in which the people either directly or indirectly rule their nation. The ancient Athenians were the first society to have a democracy. Democracy then spread throughout ancient Greece. Although the Greek democracy was lead by men such as Ephialtes and Pericles, they had a direct democracy were the people actually made all the decisions for the government themselves. Now as to rather or not our democracy should be updated to make our democracy more direct, my answer is “yes” and “no.” I think that Americans should have more of an active say in the decisions of this country. When our government was started, the goal of the congress was to express the desires of the people, sadly this doesn’t always happen. For example, when congress passed the healthcare bill, a majority of Americans were against it. Direct democracy is the only way to make sure that the voice of the people is truly heard. On the other hand, I do not think that most Americans know enough to make decisions in this way. Most Americans sure to lazy or uninformed to make good decisions, some American should not even be voting for president, let alone every decision that affects the United States.
ReplyDeleteThe ancient Greeks are resposible for many of our political terms we use today. The Greeks came up with the democracy government. I personally, do not think it is better off for the US citizens that the government does not be updated to better off the peoiple. The reason this would not ne necessary because our government is doing just fine now using the old documents and laws laid down by our founders in the country. The founders of our country had the idea of what kind of government and what the laws and punishment would be. Updating some things would be good for the people but as a whole i thing the government does not need to be updated. Technology, such as the internet, have advanced the citizens knowledge of government for the simple fact of the average American citizen has access to all the things happening in our country. I find this very crucial for the citizens so they can more involved with the the things that are going on in the governmebt of our country.
ReplyDeleteI definetely agree with you that our political system doesn't need updating. Good job Jacob!
DeleteGreat job on your essay Jacob. I agree with most of the points you made.
DeleteIn the United States, we are a democracy. Which means, “by the people and for the people.” This means that the people of America get to decide who the leader/president will be. Greece’s idea of democracy and Americas are very different. The Greeks would draw names of regular people to elect as leaders. In America, we don’t randomly choose people for office. We look at their background, their collage education and beliefs before we even consider putting them into office. Another difference was that Greece’s president had much more power than America’s. To answer the first question, I think democracy could be updated, but that doesn’t necessarily mean to change every thing about it. It is the same principle as the Greeks, but since technology has changed our world so much, I think it is good to update the democracy to better serve US citizens. With the invention of the Internet, our political system is more modernized because people can use the Internet to hopefully select good candidates for office. You can learn so much more about people from the Internet. The internet can get people more involved and aware of current events going on around the world.
ReplyDeleteGood essay Lexie! And you're right the internet should be used to make a more informed decision about the candidates.
DeleteComparing the Greek democratic system to todays current democratic system there really aren't that may differences, and despite how long ago the political system was formed I don't think it needs to be updated or even can be. Any "updating" now a days would almost make our democracy no longer a democracy though I do believe there should be some sort of competency standard to vote.
ReplyDeleteWith the invention of the internet I do believe it would serve our political system well to utilize it so much more. Most people check their facebook more than the news so why not post things about the election on facebook or youtube. If the govergnment used the internet and social media I feel like it better get news of the election and the candidates out and better inform the people who vote.
The ancient Greeks are responsible for many different types of government including the democracy. A democracy is a government that by the people and for the people. In Greece, democracy was way different than democracy in the United States; they would take a random draw of common people to choose their officials. In America we vote for who we want to represent us. The population of ancient Greece only consisted of about 250,000 people, which is very small compared to the population of the U.S. Also, the Athenian democracy was more of direct and in-your-face. The officials and jurymen were selected by lot and they only allowed men to participate, which made a major cut to the amount of people they allowed to participate. Our system of democracy is good, but I think it could be updated to better serve the U.S. citizens because so many people are so reliable and use technology now that they may become more interested in political events if they could access them online. It is very important for us as citizens to be aware of what is going on in our country and by doing that more people would become more interested and maybe even more aware.
ReplyDeleteGood essay Summer! I agree with you that by using the internet it will attract more people to get involved with politics and voting. Nice work!
DeleteDemocracy is something that makes America quite special. With the democracy, people’s voices get heard in a more efficient and concise way. To me, like most people said, it is a beautiful thing. Of course it has its flaws, but it allows us more freedoms and- for that matter-nothing is perfect. I believe that our democracy might not be perfect, but it works and is efficient for the time being. As the times are changing and new generations are moving “in”, I think that there are several things we could do with technology. Like Sarah said, websites with the issues and political stances would be a phenomenal idea and perhaps even apps for smartphones. Overall, democracy is really interesting and with something new being invented every day, I’m sure it will only improve.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Rebecca
In order to answer this week’s assignment we’re going to need to know what a democracy is. According to dictionary.com a democracy is a government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised directly by them or by their elected agents under a free electoral system. With that being said, “Should democracy be updated to better serve us citizens?” I think no, I think it was set by the Greeks and it needs to stay the way it is. If we change it or update it all it’s going to do is confuse people and right now it works and makes since to all so I think keeping it the way it is would be the better option. Second question, “With the invention of internet, how could our political system be modernized to become more accessible to citizens?” I think that our political system could be modernized by more people getting involved in order to get people involved though you’re going to have to make it interesting and really catch their eyes. Having local rally’s and political events so the citizens can meet and greet who their going to vote for!
ReplyDelete