Democracy is a rather complex system of government that takes on a lot of issues that other types of government have no tolerance for. Namely mob rule, emotions, feelings of the public, and the wants of citizens. The US founding fathers made sure to attempt to address much of these issues by establishing a system of representation. This method of democracy eliminates mob rule and eliminates the possibility for people, purely based on emotion, to change the way the country is governed. A system of continuous checks and balances along with a system of representatives voting instead of per citizen saves a lot of time, money, and perhaps the very fate of the nation. Unfortunately, a direct democracy isn’t realistic for every piece of legislation that the government would like to pass. Though there is room for a direct democracy in some aspects of our democracy.

In the Athenian form of democracy, every citizen was granted a voice on many of the issues that concerned the democracy.  This form of government seems to better fit our popular saying “a government for the people, by the people”. Though direct democracy isn’t the best for the everyday rule, in larger elections, direct democracy might be the best option. One of the biggest examples of where direct democracy should be applied is in the Presidential Election. The fact that even after individual citizens vote, there still is another leg of voting, the electoral college, which is meant as another filter for the mob rule, negates the purpose of voting in the Presidential election. Huffington Post notes that “The Distribution of Electoral College Votes Per State is Not Equally Dispersed, A Person Can Become President By Winning Only 21.8% of the Popular Vote” (Huffington Post). All of these things are not that efficient and contradict the spirit of a democracy “for the people”. Athenian direct democracy would work perfectly instead of the electoral college. 

 

Sources:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/tyler-lewis/why-we-should-abolish-the_1_b_8961256.html

In 1792 Thomas Paine wrote “What Athens was in miniature, America will be in magnitude.” Only 16 years after the Declaration was signed, the new autonomous America had just survived insurmountable odds against the British. It needed a model for its government, and it chose to look at the past. While Athens was not a perfect society, America used aspects of Athenian democracy to make a better government that continues to improve.

Between 480 and 404 BC, the ancient empire of Athens experienced the Golden Age, which was characterized by military superiority, cultural flourishing, and most importantly a revolutionary political experiment. Their leader, Pericles, was convinced that every Athenian deserved representation. In his funeral oration, he states “Neither is poverty an obstacle, but a man may benefit his country whatever the obscurity of his condition.” In a similar light, the Founding Fathers believed that every man’s voice deserved to be heard, but with one caveat. Instead of direct democracy, the government would be occupied by representatives of the people’s interests- a representative democracy.

Needless to say, there were issues with Athenian democracy that hindered the positive qualities. One example of this was the ostracism of Themistocles by majority vote. Themistocles was a populist who helped Athens win several important wars against Persia, but was later accused of trying to increase the hostility towards Sparta. As a result, he was ostracized and eventually spent the rest of his days living in Asia Minor. The ability to ostracize citizens was a tool used by Athenian nobles who were worried about losing their influence in the democracy. In addition to this, Athenians were also guilty of paying for votes in the democracy. This fundamentally ruins the idea of direct democracy and exposed the corrupt nature of this “revolutionary” political innovation during this time.

America’s track record isn’t perfect either- an example being the emergence of PACs and Super PACs that contribute money to certain candidates in an ever-polarizing political climate. However, the Founding Fathers recognized that factions were inevitable and that is why they opted for a representative democracy instead. In Federalist 10, James Madison says ““In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” In our history, political parties like the Whigs and the Free Soil Party have flourished and dissolved and we have prevented mob rule through a more structured government than what existed under Athens. Although monetary contributions and corruption are inevitable, Congress has taken action to limit the influences of dark money in campaign elections with legislature like the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1974.

Ultimately, American government is superior to the direct democracy that existed in Athens. The strength and stability of our government is rooted in the Constitution, which is more organized and less susceptible to the feared “mob rule” that existed with Athens’ jury and referendum.

 

Sources:

• Pericles’ Funeral Oration
• Aspects of Medizing: Themistocles, Simonides, and Timocreon of Rhodes by Rachel M. McMullin
• Federalist 10, James Madison
• The Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002
• https://www.nationalgeographic.com.au/history/what-modern-democracies-didnt-copy-from-ancient-greece.aspx

Imagine if 300-million Americans gathered on the floor of Congress to cast a vote on whether the next tax bill should be passed or not. Chaos would quickly ensue, and it would be very hard to pass any laws because people would constantly fight opposing opinions. Most Americans would not be able to imagine this scenario. However, this was a reality to the citizens of Ancient Athens. The Athenians established a direct form of democracy upon which every citizen had the right to vote in every political matter in the Assembly. Currently, the United States practices a form of representative democracy upon which citizens directly appoint representatives to create laws in Congress. As one examines the structures of these two empires, they will begin to realize a fundamental difference between the two. One difference in the success of Athenian direct democracy and US representative democracy is the size of the electorate.

In a democracy, the people (aka the electorate) have the right to vote for what they believe in. However, the size of the electorate can determine which form of democracy is more successful.

Direct democracy is most effective in a nation with a smaller electorate, as in Ancient Athens. To make a major decision, the Athenian Assembly needed about 6,000 people to cast a vote. One drawback to direct democracy is it requires a large amount of voters to ensure fairness and, as one could imagine, it was not always easy to gather that many people in one place. During the late 5th century B.C., according to playwright Aristophanes, the Athenian Assembly filled vacancies by employing slaves to go into downtown Athens, wearing a rope dipped in red paint, and search for non-participating citizens (“Ancient Greece, Part 4 – Athenian Democracy” 2017). If an Athenian citizen tried to resist being sent to the Assembly, their clothes would be stained with red paint and they would get fined if they did not go to the Assembly (“Ancient Greece, Part 4 – Athenian Democracy” 2017). This extreme method of ensuring voter turnout worked for the Athenians direct democracy because it only required a small electorate for a relatively small population.

Direct democracy may have success among a small population, but the larger the population becomes the more difficult it is to control. A representative democracy reduces this difficulty because it operates at a much smaller scale. Simply put, the US electorate is too large for direct democracy to work. In order to ensure that their voices are heard, American people directly appoint officials to represent them at a smaller scale in Congress. In the 2016 election, 58% of eligible voters cast a vote (Regan 2016). Since the larger US public electorate only votes for representatives and not on crucial political issues, the consequences of low voter turnout are less severe than in a direct democracy. The larger the electorate, the more people can vote. Even though low voter turnout is still occurring in the US, the electorate is still big enough to require a representative democracy to ensure that every citizen has a voice. 

Although American and Athenian democracy succeed under different size electorates, their mission is still the same. Both of the governments aimed to provide the people with a voice.

Works Cited:

“Ancient Greece, Part 4 – Athenian Democracy.” World History, 21 May 2017, worldhistory.us/ancient-history/ancient-greece-part-4-athenian-democracy.php.

Regan, Michael D. “What Does Voter Turnout Tell Us About the 2016 Election?” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 20 Nov. 2016, http://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/voter-turnout-2016-elections.

Direct vs. Representative Model of Democracy

By Michael Shubert

The Representative model of democracy is the better way to govern. The direct model of democracy is too inefficient and the communication balance of protection vs. freedom is too hard to maintain. While, direct democracy fails to be decisive, Representative democracy tends to be more decisive. There will always be a lot of debate over topics and there will always be a long period of time before conclusions are made, but Representative democracy is the more efficient way of satisfying the needs of the public as a whole.

There are good and bad things about both models. Direct democracy allows every individual a voice in the government. Everyone having a voice is great for equal representation, but it is not efficient for governing. For example, the Athenians were conquered because of the poor management of their funds. The Athenian government started paying individuals money to attend public service events. People became more active in their government and the representation of all individuals increased. However, funds meant for the military were taken to fund the new expenses. The military began to dwindle and as a result the Athenians became a sitting duck for the Macedonians. With representative democracy, the people are represented by elected officials. The officials are entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the welfare and ideals of the people. Having a smaller body as the representative force of the government means that processes such bills and laws can be more detail oriented, while not taking as long of a time. The more focus governing and faster processing is an advantage, but the people as a whole are not necessarily as powerful in a representative democracy as in a direct democracy. For example, Democrats in 1979 succeeded in their goal of legalizing abortion. Women, at the time, could not voice themselves in government, but their representatives fought for their rights.

Overall, the representative model of democracy is more practical than the direct model of democracy. Mob rule is too indecisive and ineffective at maintain a strong government. People tend to be more focus on the present rather than the future. With a direct democracy, the natural selfishness of people will lead to a government that tries to do too much at one time. With a representative democracy, the elected individuals who are meant to serve the people can be more focused on the future and more specific issues. The more practical model of democracy is the representative model, which is why representative democracy is better than direct democracy.

Sources

https://www.britannica.com/event/Roe-v-Wade

https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/the-athenians-another-warning-from-history

As time goes on, society grows and develops to meet standards and events occurring at a certain time. This is especially true in politics. The earliest political systems date back to the B.C. era. Today, modern governments in the world are based off of these systems, but modified to fit the demands of the world and people of the current era. Ancient Athens contained a government built off of a certain hierarchy, but more importantly, the basis of the government was built on opinions of the people. People with the same opinions grouped together and their ideas clashed. This is similar to the current political party system in the United States government. Republicans, whether they are moderate or conservative share similar views. This is also the case with Democrats. The main rivalry in the U.S. government is focused around these two parties. However, the Independent parties and smaller groups like the “Tea Party” also play a role in the current issues of society today. American government and Athenian government are similar in this way, being that both political systems revolve around groups of people with different ideas.

This idea is seen most apparently in the debate series held in class recently. In the debate, the class was assigned with arguing the issues the Athenians debated in the ancient times post war. The basis of the debate was made around the split of the class into the political groups that existed at that time. One of the debate issues was whether or not to pay Assemblymen and jurors. The radical democrats, one of the parties in the debate, supported the argument that they should be paid. (Threshold of democracy gamebook). This is because they view that participation in government is pertinent and no one, no matter their social status, should be denied this opportunity. Other groups in the debate, like the Followers of Socrates for example, viewed that this should not be passed with the interest of the economy in mind. (Threshold of democracy gamebook). They viewed the economy as already in a struggle from the war, and this would further damage it. This argument among the parties illustrates the idea that in Athenian government, similar to that of American government today, is strongly influenced and similar due to the existence of political parties.

In American government today, the Republican and Democratic parties are the center of the race for Presidential, Senate, and House representation, debate and banter on issues within society, as well as how the public people participate in politics. Depending upon the strengths of one’s political views, the clash of Republicans and Democrats has had the potential to be ugly. The two parties have different views on many different issues within the American society. One of the most controversial and heated differences the two share on a certain issue is taxation. Democrats view that lower and middle classes should receive tax cuts, while the upper class receive a tax raise (republicanviews.org). Republicans view that there should be no tax raise on the wealthy nor a tax cut on the lower and middle class (republicanviews.org). This issue also allows for the public to voice their opinion, being that the issue revolves around the plans for their finances. In a way, this argument relates to the debate above from the Athenian government. The Athenian parties were debating issues that not only affected finance, but also how the people interacted in government. The issue today on taxes relates to this in that is also about finances, but the decision on who to tax also has the potential to sway how people participate in the government. Thus, this serves as another example of how the Athenian and American governments are similar.

To sum up, throughout the course of history, politics underwent changes, but served as a basis for how governments are set up and run today. The Athenian and American governments share a few similarities, but perhaps the biggest impact is the political party. Although the Athenians did not refer to them as parties, groups of people with similar views clashed together on differing ideas. American politics have set parties that also debate and differ in opinion on the issues of today. Since the setup of these parties deal with issues of the nation as well as the overall well-being of the people, it is an important similarity for the two governments to share.

 

Sources: Threshold of Democracy gamebook (on Blackboard)

https://www.republicanviews.org/democratic-views-on-taxes/

The biggest difference between Athenian democracy and our American democracy today is that not all people of Athens were granted citizenship or allowed to vote.  These included women, slaves, and lower class farmers.  One must be part of the higher class and own land to be able to vote or speak at assembly.  Compared to the overall population of Athens, this was not a very large number.  Of course, on the contrary, everyone who is a citizen in American has the right to vote.

Another big difference is in Athens, even though it was only the elite who voted and debated, these men also had to go work on their normal jobs or be part of the military.  Today in America, we have politicians who work full time for the democratic government, and then also all the normal citizens who vote.  In Athens, it was just the ones who voted that also would debate.  Additionally, high ranking military members had a significant influence in the Athenian assembly.  Today, although they work together, politicians and members of the military are distinctly part of separate departments.  This meant that the members of the assembly in Athens would have to debate and vote until they came to a solid conclusion.  They could not always be leaving their other jobs.  The Athenians would stay at the assembly until they got a solution.  This is unlike our politicians who take their time and constantly try to block or delay the opposing party’s agenda.  This smaller number of voting citizens also meant that not all sections of the population were represented in an assembly like we have today.  Our congressional districts ensure that citizens from different walks of life all across America each get their voice heard.  In Athens, this was not the case.  If a citizen was part of a social class that was not allowed to speak or vote, they likely did not have their voice heard.  An example of this were metics.

I believe a similarity that both Athens and America possess is a sense of nationality for their country and government.  Although Athen’s democracy was limited, they were proud to have their democracy and be different than other city-states.  They knew they were part of the best of the best city-states.  This nationalism also contributed to their confidence in going to war.  Athens was often engaged in military conflicts and devoted a lot of their money to the military. This is another reason why high ranking military members were also significant parts of their government.  This is very similar to the United States.  Our government strongly supports our military and gives a great deal of money to it.  Nationalism is very strong within the U.S. and just like Athens, our citizens are not afraid to show that we are the best.

Sam Heideman

Prof. Sagstetter

HH215 Section 2002

2 OCT 18

Blog Post 2

I personally believe that the current representative form of democracy is superior to the Athenian’s direct democracy. During our RTTP exercise, the class saw how difficult it was to decide how to define who was allowed to vote and then how to incite those capable of voting to actually turn out for their civic duty. A representative form of democracy serves as a streamline system for a government that is highly efficient when running as it should be. In theory, this form allows those who have been elected to represent their communities and states to make decisions in a manner than is faster than a direct democracy which requires votes from all citizens. Instead of millions of people taking the time out of their days to vote, this allows those who we hire to represent us to make educated decisions. The representative form of democracy is also highly beneficial to those who choose to vote AND those who choose not to. For those who choose to vote, this allows them to vote into office someone who will align with their political and ethical views, ensuring that choices made by the representative are decisions made from the views of the people they represent. For those who choose not to vote, the representative system allows them to be indirectly represented by those from their district or region. Most people in a district tend to have similar political views so their ideas are still supported even though they did not choose those who represent them. Representative democracy also helps ensure that the minority has a voice in decisions made for our country. Instead of having millions of votes outweighing the thousands who have a differing view, representatives in Congress all have an equal say so those who are elected by the minority will have some ground to stand upon. Some problems with the direct democracy is that some people who vote are doing so without any knowledge of the legislation they are deciding upon. They simply show up to the polls and make decisions on the spot without all of the necessary knowledge in front of them. This is almost eliminated by a representative democracy because voters tend to elect competent representatives who understand the process to pass or turn down valuable legislation. This is their job, something that they get paid to do so they are supposed to do it well.

 

Bibliography

“Crystal Lombardo.” Samsung Galaxy Blog, 28 Jan. 2016, thenextgalaxy.com/the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-direct-democracy/.

 

The idea of Democracy in both Athenian government and modern day US government falls upon the similar pillars of the public having a voice and equality among its citizens. However, there are outlying differences between the two. The main difference I would like to focus on is the civility and strength of the structure of government, and the procedures taken to handle adverse situations. Thousands of years have molded and formed the democracy we know today and as we have progressed socially and as we have developed human rights, some of the steps taken in Athenian democracy to handle these potentially world shifting swings in policy are much different than how they are handled today.

Thousands of years ago, the people of the Athens were always concerned as to whether or not an overthrow in authority was coming. In the case of the Mytilenean revolt in 428 BC, there was genuine disagreement over whether or not the Mytileneans should gain control of all of Lesbos or not. Having been prepared for a revolt even before the Peloponnesian War, the Mytileneans were ready to challenge the Athenian democracy head on, with a fleet of their own, as well as an established military. While their revolt ended up failing, the idea that at any point someone could be plotting to take over the government is something we simply do not have in today’s society. The US democracy is one of the strongest in the world and the thought of being challenged by a state or group of people is outrageous and virtually impossible. While this is heavily dependent upon the faith in the structure of our democracy, the sheer size and strength of our military would never allow this to happen. One could compare the Civil War to an Athenian democracy in terms of the fragility of their respected systems but speaking in modern day, something like this could not happen.

Another major difference in the two democracies is handling the critics and wrongdoers involved in government. In Athenian government one could be exiled or even killed for going against the state, whereas in modern day US government, those who commit crimes are handled in a more civil manner. This falls heavily on the progression of human history and how we as a society have developed in handling human rights over time. Looking at something like Watergate, a situation where our own president committed crimes against the US, Nixon was still afforded the opportunity to step down and live out his life in a respectable manner. He wasn’t exiled or killed, he just paid for his crimes in a different way.

While there are certainly similarities between Athenian and US democracy, as a whole, the two have remarkable differences that make them unique to their own time period. The idea of strength of government and civility in process are too large to overlook when comparing the two.

• Oliver Smith
• Word Count (485)