The City-State Democracy Chapter 11: Lesson 3 The City-State Democracy

Forms of Government Each city-state of Greece was independent and the people of each one figured out what kind of government worked best for them Earliest form of government in Greece was monarchy, or rule by a monarch A monarch is a king or queen who has supreme power Aristocracy is another name for the upper class or nobility The aristocracy were people who were descended from high-born ancestors In an aristocracy, people rule because of their inherited social class Some city-states developed a political system called an oligarchy, which means “rule by the few” In an oligarchy, people rule because of wealth or land ownership

Tyrants Because poor people were not part of government, they often resented being shut out and often rebelled A tyrant was someone who took power in an illegal way Greek tyrants worked to help the poor and created building programs to provide jobs Played an important role in the development of rule by the people and overthrowing the oligarchy Showed that if common people united behind a leader, they could gain the power to make changes

Athens Builds a Limited Democracy One of the major legacies of ancient Greece is the idea of citizenship, which they invented A citizen is a person who is loyal to a government and how is entitled to protection by that government To Greeks, a citizen was a person with the right to take part in ruling the city-state Had to be born to parents who were free citizens People of both upper and lower classes were citizens, but only upper-class citizens had power During the 500s B.C., two leaders in Athens made gradual reforms that gave people more power: Solon and Cleisthenes

Solon and Cleisthenes The nobles elected Solon to lead Athens Made reforms that helped prevent a revolt by the poor Freed people who had become slaves because of debts and made a law that no citizen could be enslaved Organized citizens into four classes based on wealth, not birth Rich men had more power-yet this was still a fairer system than the old one that limited power to nobles Allowed all citizens to serve in the assembly and help elect leaders Cleisthenes increased the citizens’ power even more Took power away from the nobles and organized citizens into groups based on place of residence, not wealth Any citizen could now vote on laws

Direct Democracy Athens moved toward an early form of democracy, a government in which the citizens make political decision All the citizens meet to decide on the laws Had a limited democracy meaning it did not include all of the people who lived in the city-state Only free adult males were citizens who could take part in the government Women, slaves, and foreigners could not take part

Classwork!!! Please complete #2-7 on pg. 376 using complete sentences in your notebook. Due TODAY!!!!!