Democracy

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the Athenian democracy was one of the models for the American democratic model. It looks at how in ancient Athens, democracy was truly representative, Athenians decisions were made by voting and how the meetings of the Assembly were frequent and accessible giving citizens the power to benefit by their self-rule. The paper contends that while the Athenian democracy might have served as the model for the American democratic model, in practice, America has fallen short of such a true democracy and that in the U.S., the government is considered an outside entity that is expected to pay for programs or to take on an independent existence separate from the
American citizenry itself.

From the Paper:

"In addition, many Americans believe that citizenship is mostly about the rights that are due to the individual. They do not necessarily see that there are any duties they are required to perform as citizens. The ancient democratic citizenship of Athens, on the other hand, did entail very real obligations and requirements. For example, one of the main oaths that citizens had to take on together with their Assembly duties included the promise to pass on to one's descendants a fatherland "increased in size and strength." This obviously meant that they combined social, military, financial and religious issues as citizen rulers of a democracy."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Catt, Helena. Democracy in Practice.London, , GBR: Routledge, 1999.
• Chidambaram, Laku(Editor). Our Virtual World: The Transformation of Work, Play and Life via Technology. Hershey, PA, USA: Idea Group Publishing, 2001.
• Samons, Loren J. What's Wrong with Democracy? : From Athenian Practice to American Worship. Ewing, NJ, USA: University of California Press, 2004

More papers on Democracy:

• Essay # 137931 : "What is a “weak” democracy and what is a “strong” democracy? A Look at Richard Swift’s 2002 text"
• Analytical Essay # 4643 : "Democracy and the Libertarian Ideal of Self-Ownership"
• Essay # 143732 : "Why Social Capital Is Unnecessary For Democracy"
• Analytical Essay # 89232 : "Quality of Democracy in Iraq"

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