Athenian Democracy

Athenian democracy and American democracy, have some differences and some similarities. From this essay we hope you will be able to tell the difference between a direct democracy and a representative one.

The Athenian political system was and is unique. The Athenian government was the world's first democracy. A direct democracy is a form of government where all citizens, not just elected representatives, were involved in important decisions. A citizen was a person who was born in Athens and wasn't a slave. Women were counted as citizens but didn't have political rights. The branches of Athenian democracy were the assembly, the council, and the jurymen. The assembly was responsible for policy making. It was the legislative branch. It was made of all eligible citizens. The council was for policy enforcing and administrative matters. It was in control of the army, navy and financial matters. It was the closest thing to an executive branch. It was made of 500 members. There were 6,000 jurymen and their job was to resolve disputes in the court. When a man was eighteen he underwent two years of military training. Then he served in the army or navy. After military duty they could vote in the assembly. After 30 they could be chosen to be in the council if their behavior was deemed worthy. They could also become a juryman or one of the ten generals in charge of the army. If a head of state was needed one would be randomly drawn from the members of the council. There was no single head of government. There were no political parties.

The U S government is a representative democracy with three equal branches. The three branches are the legislative, the executive, and the judicial. The legislative branch is responsible for making laws. It is made of the Senate and House of Representatives. The House has representatives from each state, one from each district. The number of districts in a state depends on the population. For example Florida has 23 representatives, while Alaska has 1. There are 435 total members in the House. They serve two-year terms. Each state sends 2 people to the Senate. There are 100 total people in the Senate. They serve six-year terms. The executive branch consists of the President and his Cabinet. The president is both head of state and head of government. He is elected every four years and can only serve for 2 terms. The president appoints the cabinet. They are his top advisors.