1. DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENTS
HISTORY OF DEMOCRACY

2. ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY
1100 BCE – citizens in Athens, Greece, were already practicing a form of popular government by limiting the activities of their king;
The “Popular Assembly” was called the “ECCLESIA;”
This was a gathering of all the adult male citizens to speak and vote about major issues;

3. ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY
The Ecclesia was the closest to an ideal democracy but it could be inefficient because of the number of participants (about 40,000);
Voting was completed in a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ fashion in order to limit the debates;
Decisions were made on majority rule only;

4. ATHENIAN DEMOCRACY
The representative form of government was the “Council of Elders” or the AEROPAGUS;
These were men of wealth whose role was to make some of the laws, but the Ecclesia still had the power to veto the decisions;
Citizens of Athens had both rights and responsibilities; they were considered equal under the law; were all contributing members to the success (or failure) of their city;

5. DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS
After the fall of the Roman Empire, monarchs (kings/queens) whose power was hereditary, ruled by Divine Right;
They believed that there were God’s ordained representatives on earth, and their word was law;
Citizenship meant following orders and supporting the monarch – militarily and financially;

6. DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS 1215, England
King John, was forced by the aristocratic class (nobles and knights) to sign the Magna Carta (Great Charter) to limit his abuse of the taxation system;
King John was requesting too much money from the lower classes because of a number of political failures during his reign;

7. DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS
This document limited the power of the king and changed the roles for some of the people;
The Magna Carta was influential on most of the constitutional forms of government that exist in the world today;
It also provided more security to be given to the people in relation to the legal actions of the king;

8. IMPORTANT FACTORS OF MAGNA CARTA
Defined rights and responsibilities between the king and the nobles;
II. Protected citizens from arbitrary (unjustified) taxes;
III. The king was now subject to the law;
IV. Protected citizens from arbitrary arrest and imprisonment;
V. Eliminated cruel and unusual punishment;
VI. Developed the principle of double jeopardy (cannot be charged with the same crime twice);

9. RULE OF LAW
This legal principle allow society to function in an orderly fashion;
Democratic societies make the most use of this system as it provides the most sense of fairness among citizens;
There are four main elements of the Rule of Law that reflect the understanding that has to exist between government and the people;

10. RULE OF LAW
Individuals have to recognize and accept that laws are necessary and that they represent certain societal values and must be enforced;
People are governed by law, not arbitrary power; (Due process of law – cannot force someone to wait an inordinate amount of time before charging them);

11. RULE OF LAW
III. The law applies equally to all people and the government; No one is above the law.
IV. There has to be a manner to change the laws in a peaceful and orderly fashion; as society’s values change, so should their laws;

12. ASSIGNMENT and SUBMISSION
Submit at the end of the class
In your textbooks, answer the following on a separate sheet of paper, using proper sentence format;
Identify your responses with the date, page number and question number;
Pg #1 -3
Pg #1, 2 (Canadian Symbols)
Pg #3
Pg. 12 #1, 2