L5: Democracy and Political Participation

Democracy flourished in Athens 2,500 years ago. At the time, Athens was a small city state. In this system, all citizens who were entitled to vote would gather in the town and vote on the issues of the day (Of course, not all citizens were allowed the vote; slaves and women were not entitled to take part! ). At that time, people who were entitled to take part in the democracy, would vote on the issues to be decided directly for themselves. The ordinary men allowed to decide for themselves how things would be decided. This was a brand new idea.

“Our constitution is called a democracy because power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people” – Pericles of Athens, 431 BC

Do you think this was true?

Was power in the hands of the “whole people” in Athens?