It is always the unpopular ideas
that seem to be the one worth pursuing. Ancient Greece, Athens to be more
specific, was under the reign of constant tyranny. Even through a time of
constant threats brings forth the idea of Democracy, which essentially changed
Greece for the better. It is this political stance that still stands in Greece
today. With that said, the Millennium Development Goals strive towards making
specific countries, those that may lack governmental or political substance and
work towards a future that can all the people to have a voice. From this,
hopefully, they too can reform themselves like Greece once done back in the
Ancient World. But before we get there, we need to understand how Athens,
Greece came to be the country it is today. This comes from the position that
Athens was in in the ancient world that ignites the beginnings of democracy and
how we see it in today’s society.
It was the end of Solon’s reign and overturned to
Peisistratos was the beginnings of the tyranny in Athens[1]. Peisistratos gained power in Athens through the
use of force; this started the tyranny of Peisistratos[2].
The government in which was run by Peisistratos was similar to that of Solon’s reign;
however, in regards to the aristocrats, most went into exile to avoid the
tyranny of Peisistratos2. When Peisistratos was in power he
controlled all weapons of the citizens making sure that they were disarmed,
thus holding weapons to himself2. With Peisistratos’ death brought
on the change to the polis of Athens, thus the birth of democracy.
Kleisthenes brought forth the change from tyranny to that of
a democracy. Due to the change in structure, many of the aristocrats that
sought exile in the previous reign returned to join the polis again1.
The notion of democracy was introduced at this time; however, Kleisthenes
lacked the articulation needed to bring forth his wants in change1. The
vision was there, the articulated description was not1.
Therefore, for this to have worked, Kleisthenes needed to
institute a reform which he did consisting of ten tribes[3].
To claim citizenship in Athens, it required enrolment in one of the tribes,
mostly being hereditary3. If a person was a part of the senate, this
constituted to be a part of the military3. It is these statues – the
people in whom the tribes were named after – that stood tall (insert picture),
this recognised the collaboration of all the tribes, united as one3.
3
3
These Allotment tokens were used to represent the connection of a deme (or
tribe)[4].
4
An inscribed piece of marble also states “There are ten [officials] appointed
by lot, five for the city and five for Piraeus. They are responsible for all
measures and weights, to ensure that the salesman use honest standards”, this
brings forth the notion of everyone has an equal vote4 . This is how we see democracy
as today.
4
In 6th Century B.C.E., the political, social and
cultural aspects were quite extensive. In this unknown time of change, the
entire Athenian structure was developing again[5].
In regards to the political views of Athens, Greece, the structure was quite
new, and the decision-making was influenced by the not by the one in power, or
a person to whom was bribed, but from the male population5. The
Athenian population sought the participation of all male citizens in running
the polis, this can be seen from Thucydides “We alone consider a citizen who
does not partake in politics not only one who minds his own business but
useless”5. The whole purpose of the democracy was to respect the
interests not of a minority but of the majority5. The social aspects
of this model of politics, were that women, children and slaves were declined
the right to vote, thus allowing only the men to govern the polis[6].
The encouragement of public involvement stemmed from the eligibility of men
sitting on the council, the requirement being that they were over the age of
thirty, this brought upon the equal-ness of people, and the division of class
was less defined than it was before the concept of democracy6. The
cultural aspects of this new democracy allowed those from a lower class to have
a more significant role in polis[7].
This became apparent as the Greeks became aware that Athens safety, wealth and
power was depended on the control of the sea, this job was placed on the
oarsman whom generally came from a lower class7. By catering to the
lower class man than significant benefits stemmed from it, especially in the
form of safety7. The political, social and cultural aspects of the
democracy model provided power to that of the people and from this created a
polis where every man had the choice to make life better for others, however,
the question is did it really work and was it efficient?
To answer the question that was just raised, yes it did
work, especially under the ruling of Pericles. Pericles made sure that all
citizens worked and participated otherwise they were marked for punishment[8].
If any citizen was caught for shirking their duties they were marked with red
paint to represent the punishment8. This made sure that the citizens
of Athens participated in their respective fields of work.
Democracy was brought forth early in the 6th
century B.C.E., and twenty-seven centuries later the model is still being used
today. The United Nations deems the political practice of democracy as ideal
and represents the core values and principles in which the UN relates to[9].
World leaders have declared in the Millennium Declaration that no effort will
be spared in order to promote and strengthen democracy within the world9.
However, in regards to this movement, more is still needed to be done9.
We are, however, not secluded to the notion that democracy
is not spreading throughout the world. For instance, principles shaped by
democracy are infused into the principles for some such cases as human rights,
from which are being produced worldwide[10].
Some such regional institutions are enhanced by democratic norms being added to
the preconditions and whatnot10. For example, the European Union now
requires a democratic government for membership and to promote democracy as its
foreign policy10. Mostly, democracy has been on the rise since the
demise of the model of communism[11].
Because of the depletion of communism in most countries, they have, in return,
opened themselves up for democracy to infiltrate their political stance11.
However, we have the opposing view of if globalisation narrows our choices than
how can democracy flourish in a place where choices are made by and for the
people[12].
In reality, it seems that the democracy is spreading around the world due to
globalisation, however, is it similar to that of Ancient Greece’s democracy, or
are we dealing with something completely different12. I guess only
time will tell.
As time progresses we see a shift that is the culture of
civilisations as they change due to political, social and cultural changes.
This is the case for Ancient Greece, back when it was under the reign of
constant tyranny, only to be rebirthed under the reign of democracy. It is this
transformation, and the relief in which it brought, that inspires that of today’s
society. As we looked back in history to expose the change in time that altered
the way the ancients thought and apply it to today, we can find correlations
that have occurred over the centuries. Where it links to that of the Millennium
Development Goals and the direction in which the world, in their eyes, will
hopefully, head towards. And with that, we can expose the movement of
globalisation and track the influence of democracy on the world we know today.
Bibliography
Agathe.gr.
(n.d.). Political Organizaton of Attica: Demes ad Tribal Representation.
Retrieved from
http://www.agathe.gr/democracy/political_organization_of_attica.html
The
reason that this site was used was to see how democracy in Athens developed.
From this multiple primary resources were discovered and placed with the body
of the essay. This particular site was part of a larger scale which was the
ancient Greece story. It provided the facts and backed up the knowledge with
primary sources. The descriptions provided were with detail and aided when
delving deeper into the topic.
Agathe.gr.
(n.d.). The Ten New Tribes. Retrieved from
http://www.agathe.gr/democracy/the_ten_new_tribes.html
This
being another page from the website the one above came from, it provided more
depth the knowledge that the first one presented. This page was the next bit
of information in the saga that this particular website brings forth. Just
like the other one, there was specific information that linked to the primary
and secondary sources in which are presented. It is the clarification of
these items that allows genre calibration to be done with more ease.
Cartwright, M.
(2014). Athenian Democracy. Retrieved from http://www.ancient.eu/Athenian_Democracy/
Upon
reading this reference, it showed that the author had a deep knowledge on the
topic and it was enjoyable to read his thoughts and research on the matter.
It provided perspectives that were not considered before and redirected the
thought process in which I was operating under. The clear links to other
sources allowed for a better and deeper understanding of the topic that is
democracy in Athens during the Ancient Greece era.
Crockett, S.
(2011). Has Globalization spread democracy around the world? Retrieved
from
http://www.e-ir.info/2011/08/27/has-globalization-spread-democracy-around-the-world/
This
resource here was very one sided, it wasn't until after reading other sources
did I realised the bias in it. It was straight to the point and no
deviations. It was helpful in that it provided insight into a topic that I
didn't have a great deal on knowledge in. However, it certainly provided
something to think about.
Dalpino, C.
(2001). Does globalization promote democracy?: An early assessment.
Retrieved from
http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2001/09/fall-democracy-dalpino
I found
with this particular site, it formed one idea about democracy and how it has
been influenced by democracy. There was little variation in the opposing
idea, that being the difference between this site and the one previously, the
last one focussed on one side of the argument and this site did the same
thing, with a little bit of the opposing idea sneaking in.
Forrest, W. G.
(1978). The Emergence of Greek Democracy: the character of Greek politics,
800-400 BC. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
This book
was detailed as it provided many aspects into the lives of Greeks over the
ancient era, being Spartan, Athenian or Cretan, just to name a few. What was
great was the links in which each city had with each other, it shows the
connections that arose and what it was like living in the ancient era.
Greenwald, J.
(2000). Ancient Greece & you. Retrieved from
http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/showcase/greenwaldgreece10.html
With this
site was clear as to the audience in which it was aimed at. It was obvious
that this website was aimed at high school students, however, it still gave
ideas in which provided knowledge on how Ancient Greece was. It integrated
the idea of democracy into the ancient Greece era.
Kagan, D. (1991).
Pericles of Athens and the birth of democracy. New York: The Free
Press.
As most
of the other resources provided the perspective of Kleisthenes, this
in fact provided a new perspective, Pericles. This showed how the democracy
grew under the influence of Pericles. It demonstrated how different the two
leaders ran the democracy and how successful they were in comparison to each
other.
Przeworski, A.
&. (2003). Globalization and Democracy. Retrieved from http://politics.as.nyu.edu/docs/IO/2800/sf4.pdf
This
resource provided a different perspective to the idea of democracy and
gloablisation. It gets the reader to think about the opposition to democracy
is linked to globalisation aspect. After reading this site, I had to
critically think about the problem at hand and stretch the mind in order to
understand the problem that arose. With all arguments it is beneficial to
hear both sides of the story, this is what this reference does.
Starr, C. (2015).
Peisistratus: Tyrant of Athens. Retrieved from Encyclopaedia
Britannica, Inc.: http://www.britannica.com/biograhy/Peisistratus
The sole
purpose of this site is to inform the reader about Peisistratus. It shows how
life was like under the ruling of Peisistratus. In regards to this site, the
information was brief, however, it did provide information that was succinct
and insightful.
Ushisory.org.
(2014). Democracy is born. Retrieved from
http://www.ushistory.org/civ/5b.asp
This site
was handy in that it provided insight into how democracy was made as well as
other influential aspects that impacted how democracy was run and how it is
influential in democracy used today. The insight was that it improved my
understanding in democracy in the ancient world and how it is applicable
today.
[1]
Forrest, W. G. (1978). The Emergence of
Greek Democracy: the character of Greek politics, 800-400 BC.(5th
Ed). Milan, Italy: Librex.
[2] Starr,
C. (2015). Peisistratus: Tyrant of
Athens. Retrieved 23rd September 2015 from http://www.britannica.com/biograhy/Peisistratus
[3] Agathe.gr.
(n.d.). The ten new tribes. Retrieved
23rd September 2015 from http://www.agathe.gr/democracy/the_ten_new_tribes.html
[4]
Agathe.gr. (n.d.) Political Organization
of Attica: Demes and Tribal Representation. Retrieved 23rd
September 2015 from
http://www.agathe.gr/democracy/political_organization_of_attica.html
[5]
Cartwright, M. (2014). Athenian
Democracy. Retrieved 23rd September 2015 from
http://www.ancient.eu/Athenian_Democracy/
[6]
Greenwald, J. (2000). Ancient Greece
& you. Retrieved 23rd September 2015 from
http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/showcase/greenwaldgreece10.html
[7]
Kagan, D. (1991). Pericles of Athens and
the birth of democracy. New York: The Free Press
[8]
Ushistory.org. (2014). Democracy is born.
Retrieved 23rd September 2015 from
http://www.ushistory.org/civ/5b.asp
[9]
United Nations. (n.d.). Democracy.
Retrieved 23rd September 2015 from
http://www.un.org/en/globalissues/democracy/index.shtml
[10]
Dalpino, C. (2001). Does globalization
promote democracy?: An early assessment. Retrieved 23rd
September 2015 from
http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2001/09/fall-democracy-dalpino
[11]
Crockett, S. (2011). Has Globalization
spread democracy around the world?. Retrieved 23rd September
2015 from
http://www.e-ir.info/2011/08/27/has-globalization-spread-democracy-around-the-world/
[12]
Przeworski, A. & Yebra, C. (2003). Globalization
and Democracy. [PDF File] Retrieved 23rd September 2015 from
http://politics.as.nyu.edu/docs/IO/2800/sf4.pdf
