The reason Sparta had so many levels of government was because they had to control and limit the kings in case they got too much power. In contrast, Athens was a democracy, which meant that it was ruled by the people. However democracy in ancient Athens was quite different from the way it is practised today. Athens was a direct democracy were every decision was made by a big group of eligible citizens in some cases there were more than 6000 citizens involved. The Athenians also had a council of 500 men called the boule.
Athens is known for their art, intellect and political influence in the western world. Spartans only valuable contribution was their military strategies. Athens and Sparta both had social classes but Sparta had a simpler social structure. The social structure of Athens consisted of numerous social classes. All free Athenian born males were citizens.
All of the citizens could belong to the Assembly, and they voted by lottery because they thought election favored the rich, and they wanted it to be equal. They also had a system called the ostracism, in which the citizens would write the name of an undesirable politician and if they person's name appeared more than 6,000 times, he could be removed. The conflicts Athens and Sparta caused many important events in World History. Their lack of unity as a region hurt, but also at the same time helped both city-states and the region. Even though the city-states had many differences eventually they united as and are still united
In the Ancient Greek, citizenship and their rights system were developed so strong than the other empires on kingdoms of the period. Citizens born with full legal and political rights, free adult men born legitimately of citizen parents. They had the right to vote, can be elected into office, to be a soldier, and the service obligation when at war. Citizens did not have exact formal political rights, but they had full legal rights. The citizens' female relatives and underage children, whose political rights and interests were represented, by their adult male relatives.
Although these two important cities located in Greek were very important in history they had differences but they also had many similarities whether it be cultural or political. There were many differences and similarities between Athens and Sparta both culturally politically. One major difference between the two major cities was the way in which their leaders or kings were elected. The process in which Athens elected their leader was called direct democracy. It was called direct democracy for the simple fact that the citizens got to choose who their leader would be.
Best government provides for a properly educated middle class – they are free of excesses found in upper and middle class. 3. Democracy is the least dangerous form of government, but can lead people to believe they are equal in every way—which they are not! 4. Majority is supreme and whatever they approve must be just.
Athenian Democracy | | |Democracy in Athens was not perfect but it was better than other government systems around in the 5th century. Much of this| |is owed to a few key figures in Athenian history including Solon, Cleisthenes, and Pericles. Initially, Athenian democracy | |was triggered by the economic upheavals that led to Solon’s rise in the 4th century. And later by political upheaval that | |led to first, the overthrow of Pisistratus’ son, Hippias, and second, the rise of Cleisthenes based on his seeking the | |direct support of the people through demokratia. In this way, Cleisthenes moved Athens from an oligarchy to a democracy.
The Spartans' extreme denial of individuality fostered a powerful sense of belonging that other Greeks envied, and Sparta continues to cast an eerie spell over historians, philosophers, and political scientists even in an age that tends to recoil from totalitarianism. Despite the interest the Spartans sparked in their contemporaries, it is surprisingly difficult to write the history of Sparta And of its surrounding territory, Laconia. The problem is not lack of sources. Though unfortunately all the sources concentrate on upper-class and royal Spartiates and provide little information about the majority of the population of the territory of Laconia--the servile masses known as helots and the large disfranchised free class known as perioikoi --still the volume of ancient writing on Sparta is large. In the course of their narratives on Greek history, the two greatest Greek historians, Herodotus and Thucydides, reveal a
Still, Aristotle's conception of citizenship was that it was a legally guaranteed role in creating and running government. It reflected the division of labor which he believed was a good thing; citizenship, in his view, was a commanding role in society with citizens ruling over non-citizens. At the same time, there could not be a permanent barrier between the rulers and the ruled, according to Aristotle's conception, and if there was such a barrier, citizenship could not exist. Aristotle's sense of citizenship depended on a "rigorous separation of public from private, of polis from oikos, of persons and actions from things" which allowed people to interact politically with equals. To be truly human, one had to be an active citizen to the community: To take no part in the running of the community's affairs is to be either a beast or a god!
A Spartan's life was centered on the state, because they lived and died to serve the state. Although the competing city-states of Sparta and Athens were individually different as well as governmentally diverse, they both managed to become dominating powers in Ancient Greece. The political power of Athens is based on economic power. Democracy is based on middle class economic power. In slow evolution towards democracy, as their trade increased, Athenian craftsmen and merchants had enough money to purchase their own weapons.