1. What is Democracy? How Ancient Greece helped shape the U.S.

2.  Ancient Greece was made up of different city-states, which had their own rulers. (Hey, that’s sort of like our cities and mayors!) But, in some cases, each city-state had different forms of government! Talk about chaos! There had to be a better way!

3.  Around 500 B.C., the city-state of Athens developed a form of DEMOCRACY!  “DEMOCRACY” comes from 2 Greek Words: People + Rule

4.  Athens had a direct democracy, which meant every citizen could vote on every decision made.  (However, only FREE MEN FROM ATHENS COULD VOTE!!!)

5.  You can imagine what women said… Oh no they didn’t!!!

6.  Lucky for us, the United States government today is a REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY. Citizens --- including WOMEN--- elect leaders to represent them in government, just like our school student council! Our Government Today

7.  Democracy in Action: The Power to Vote!  In our democracy we have political parties that represent different ideals. Republican: Mitt Romney Democrat: Barack Obama

8.  Power to Speak Out: Freedom to Speak and Write what you believe in! That’s called Democracy in Action!

9.  We liked the Ancient Greek idea of Democracy so much, we modeled other things after them too! Our Buildings with grand columns… Our Jury System…

10.  … And now, Yummy Yogurt too!!! : )