History Pre-1500AD

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A Comparison of Athenian Democracy and American Democracy

Many consider democracy as the best thing that has ever happened to human societies . Democracy is often related to the concept of freedom and associated terms like freedom of speech and freedom of the press The United States of America is using democracy as its form of government . Other countries also had followed and had modeled their style of governance to the USA . There must reasons for the popularity of democratic governance for governance is

certainly no joking matter . To explore this query , it is important to note that democracy do not find its beginnings in the USA , its origins go way back to ancient times Athenian democracy is regarded as one of the earliest form of democracy During the time of its formulations was the first time in history wherein the term democracy ' was first used . It is undeniable that modern democracy owes much from Athenian democracy . It is also as important to note that the arguably two most successful and influential societies in history , the Athenian and American society , had utilized the same kind of governance : democracy

This seeks to attempt to compare Athenian democracy and American democracy and see if there are similarities and dissimilarities between the two societies . This undertaking could be useful for individuals who have queries about the nature of America 's version of democracy as similarities and dissimilarities would only surface when Athenian democracy and American democracy are juxtaposed

Democracy

Before we traverse further in this discussion , it is imperative that we have a definition of the term Democracy ' for this to have a guiding trajectory . According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary , a government is considered democratic when supreme powers are given to the people and the people can exercise both directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections (Merriam-Webster ) In simpler terms , a society is considered democratic when the powers to govern are bestowed should be on the people , not to politicians . It is the type of governance that follows the by the people and for the people ' principle

Athenian democracy

Athenian democracy may be unfamiliar to some so here is a brief background . Around 500 BC , Athenian democracy was developed by ancient Greeks , particularly the inhabitants of Athens . Athens was considered to be one of the first societies that had harbored a democratic system of governance . Some other cities of ancient Greece also had their versions of democracy , but all of those versions proved to be inferior to the Athenian Democracy

Athenian democracy difference to American democracy in terms of political power

In terms of political power , there are explicit differences between the two . Athenian democracy can be categorized as direct democracy Direct democracy is described as the type of governance wherein the people vote on executive bills and legislations . There is no need to for politicians and representatives in Athenian democracy . They have some public officials , but their political...