Voting Matters - Athens

Asher Forman
Mr. Roddy
IHSS
22 October 2018

 Voting Matters - Athens
  One of the oldest democracies was in Athens, Greece. The classical civilization of Athens began in 508 BC and fell in 322 BC. Athens became a democracy because of the ideas of a man named Cleisthenes of Athens. "The father of the Athenian democracy," was what Cleisthenes of Athens was known as. He was born in 570 BC and died in 508 BC. His entire idea was to make it so that individuals that were not of any power in the already implemented government, to be able to have a say in their government from now on. Many people were a fan of this because people weren't making decisions for them, but rather these Athenians would be able to have a say in what happened in their government.
  Athens has had a big influence on the democracy that America has today. As you already know that the United States is a democracy and that the classical civilization of Athens was a democracy before it's fall in 322 BC. Although, Athens had a slightly different democracy that the modern democracy today. The biggest difference is that the democracy in Athens many years ago was a direct democracy. A direct democracy is one where people vote on issues directly. Another reason for why these democracies are different, was because men were allowed to vote, while children, slaves, and women weren't. Also, if a man was living in Athens without a citizenship, then he wasn't allowed to vote, even though he is a male. The majority of people seem to prefer a democracy over any other type of Government due to the freedom one has with this type of Government. For example, if the U.S. was a dictatorship or a monarchy, then people would not be able to vote someone into power like they would in a democracy. Thus making it so that people would feel helpless in their government. They would also feel as if their voice wasn't being heard.
   Democracies have been working really well for the countries that are using them. Voting has been a big part in democracies. Anyone that is 18 years or older can vote in the U.S. elections. Voting allows someone to find a candidate that one thinks shares the same political views as them. This puts responsibility into people to help make a decision for their government.





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