Democracy 101What is it good for?

Overview

• Athenian Democracy• The Virtues of Ruling• Republic or Democracy?

Overview

• Basic Definition• Key Features/Questions• Critiques

Ancient Greece

• Greece is a loose collection of individual city/states

• That is, the primary political affiliation for people is to the city in which they live

• The main political rivalry driving politics within the city was that rivalry between the rich and poor

Ancient Greece

• The main political rivalry within the Greek cities was that between Athens and Sparta

• The other political threat they faced was that between the Greeks and the “barbarians” (anyone not Greek, particularly the Persians to the north)

Definition

• Democracy derives from the ancient Greek, “demokratia”:• demos

= the people• kratien

= to rule

Definition

• Meant to distinguish the idea that it is the people collectively, not any class, family, or group that rules

Definition

Other types of government derived from Greek base:

Aristocracy: Rule by the best Monarchy: Rule by one personOligarchy: Rule by the wealthyTimocracy: Rule by the honorableTyranny: Rule by the rulers, for

the rulers

Democratic Rule

• For “The People” to rule we need:• Equality• how dow we define that?• Freedom• how dow we define that?• Engagement• what type? and how?

Questions of Democracy

Who are “The People?”

Questions of Democracy

How do “the people” rule?

Questions of Democracy

How do we know what the people want?

Questions Democracy

• What areas should we allow the people to rule?

Questions of Democracy

Why do we think “the People” will make good political decisions?

Athenian Democracy

Euripidesc. 485-407 BCE

The last of the 3 great Athenian tragedians

Athenian Democracy

Aeschylus Sophocles

Athenian Democracy• The “Suppliants” the play from which

we have the extract in our book, deals with a war resolution issue set near the very beginning of Athens’ founding

• Thebes was invaded by the Argives, but the invasion was repulsed

• In the wake of the invasion Creon seizes power as dictator and decrees that the dead invaders were not to be buried

Athenian Democracy• The mothers of the fallen then implore

Theseus, the Athenian King, to aid in the recovery of the fallen

• When Creon refuses to release the fallen, Theseus asks for the Athenian people to approve the use of the army, and with the consent of the people Athens invades to retrieve the bodies

• This rescue effort was successful and the fallen were laid to rest

Pericles• Pericles (c. 485-429 BCE)

• Legendary Athenian leader

• Champion of the arts and sciences, and renowned military/political leader

• Led Athens into the Peloponnesian War

Pericles• Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE)

pits Sparta and its allies against Athens

Peloponnesian War

Peloponnesian War•In 415, Athens attacks Syracuse in Sicily, in move to gain control over the whole island•Resounding defeat, democracy collapses in Athens (411)•Sparta, with aid from Persia, builds its navy•405 surprise attack from Sparta on docked Athenian navy; all but 9 ships destroyed, thousands killed

Peloponnesian War•Spring 404, Athens surrenders•Sparta forces it to tear down walls•Remove fortress around Pireaus (its main port)•Navy reduced to 12 ships

The Funeral Oration