Government in Athens

 Few people have power  Aristocrats  Richest men in town  Served as judges  Commoners  No say  Citizens

 Tyrants  Today, thought of as harsh  In Greece, usually good  Strong armies  Made improvements  Stayed in power  Strong armies  Well liked  Started in 546 BC  Back to aristocracy Peisistratus

 500 BC Cleisthenes  Wealthy man  Overthrew aristocracy  Father of Democracy  World’s first democracy

 All citizens have a say  All citizens could vote  All citizens could speak their mind and were encouraged to  After speeches, votes took place  Usually show of hands  Secret ballots  Who are the citizens?

 Who wasn’t a citizen?  Women  Slaves  Foreigners  Kids

 Assembly was too large  Difficult to make some decisions  Selected officials  Decided which laws to discuss

 Led the gov’t from 460 BC to 429 BC  Believed in citizen participation  Paid officials, jurors, etc…  Encouraged them to spread democracy

 330’s BC conquered by the Macedonians  King ruled like a tyrant  Able to keep democracy  Very limited  Assembly met but could not upset the king  320 BC  Lost what little democracy they had

DIRECT DEMOCRACY REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY  All citizens met as a group to debate and vote directly on every issue  No separation of powers.  Only “citizens” could vote  Free men from Athens  Elect representatives to debate and vote on issues for the citizens  Separation of powers. Citizens elect some people to create laws, others to enforce laws, and others to be judges  Male and female citizens have the right to vote

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