Of all the great city-states (poleis) of Ancient Greece, the two most popular are Sparta and Athens. While there were advantages to be had with their respective styles of government, economics, military, and society, there were distinct disadvantages to be had as well. The Spartan form of government was that of an oligarchy; a state in which power is held by a small group. There would be five elected officials and two “kings” who inherited their positions, who made all of the decisions regarding the welfare of the state. The land-owning citizens were permitted to attend these government sessions but were not were allowed to voice their opinions.
Asses the importance of the ethnic minority vote in the US political system The political system within the US consists of two parties; Democrats and Republicans. Whilst the Democrats conventionally gain the vote of the worse off citizens, the Republicans achieve the vote of the better off citizens; nevertheless, neither party are oblivious of the importance of the ethnic minorities. In 2008 Blacks voted at higher levels than they ever had in any other Presidential Election. Black voter turnout averages between 5% and 10% below that of the White voter turnout. Many Blacks doubt the political system has any value for them.
The Greeks were a collection of around 1,500 city states as the Persians were under the rule of one king. These city states were always ruled by richest citizens or monarchies, henceforth called tyrants for the way of coming to power. The only thing these cities had in common was that they followed the same religion and spoke the same language. The Persians were ruled under one king but the satraps ruled the empire’s 23 provinces. And to prevent treason, the King created a system of imperial spies which were his “eyes and ears”.
Although Spartan women were not active in the military, they were educated and enjoyed more status and freedom than other Greek women. Because Spartan men were professional soldiers, all manual labor was done by a slave class, the Helots. Despite their military prowess, the Spartans’ dominance was short-lived: In 371 B.C., they were defeated by Thebes at the Battle of Leuctra, and their empire went into a long period of decline. The Spartan Military Unlike such Greek city-states as Athens, a center for the arts, learning and philosophy, Sparta was centered on a warrior culture. Male Spartan citizens were allowed only one occupation: solider.
Occupied with other matters, the British Empire wasn’t able to completely control the colonies and as a result they developed independent governments. While still only the wealthy could hold positions, the government was fairly democratic. In addition to the large voting percentage, many states formed assemblies that were similar to the House of Commons in England. These were effective because they better represented the people and put a check on the power of the Governor. Further advances in free speech rights also made their way into the colonies.
This defeat was not a normal defeat as it is known as the “stolen election”. It is referred as this because Jackson won a huge amount of votes but unfortunately he did not have the electoral votes he needed to gain presidency. This meant that now the House of Representatives would be deciding the faith of the election. The outcome of this election was defeat for Jackson however as previously mentioned Jackson was victorious in the 1828 elections winning the majority of the votes and beating Adams. Jackson was quite unlike any other president of the United States.
The fact that these large vital conurbations were now embodied in parliament gave the middle classes present to be able to make choices without the aristocracy dictating the results. These areas, typically housing hundreds of thousands of people, would now be immune from intimidation and bribery from the upper classes so this was particularly successful in giving power to the middle classes. Correspondingly, several rotten boroughs were removed during this redistribution from parliament for not having a significant number of voters in comparison with the larger towns and cities. However, it is important to note that although numerous rotten boroughs were removed from parliament, the Reform Act of 1832 still gave 64 seats to the southern counties, which were already over-represented at this point in time. Furthermore, the government only removed the very worst boroughs and so as a result, about 120 rotten or pocket boroughs still continued post-1832.
The privileged and well organized wealthy upper class of this country dominate the polls, the majority of the U.S. is not represented in election, further slowing the progress of political reform. Voting is the most obvious way for the average American citizen to exercise their rights, though only one-third of eligible voters take part in mid-term congressional elections and there was only a 57.6 percent voter turnout in this last presidential election. Public officials can only respond to the information they are given, which is more often than not from the most advantaged Americans. Those who have higher incomes and have received the highest levels of formal education are more likely to be politically active, making their needs and values taken into account by government officials first and foremost. The influence of the minority proves to in turn promote the government unresponsive to the needs of the vast majority of the population, prompting middle and lower class Americans to believe that their vote does not matter and cannot make a difference.
Shantae Edwards Ms. Royal Global Studies 8th Period Sparta Political Structure Sparta had a highly unusual system of government. Two Kings ruled the city, but a 28-member ‘council of elders’ limited their powers. These men were recruited from the highest social class, the aristocratic Spartiates. Rather like medieval knights, the Spartiates were a class of military professionals who lived most of their lives in communal barracks. Rarely seeing their wives and children, their lands were farmed by slaves, leaving them free to pursue to the arts of war.
This is why they called it the council of elders: 28 of them had to be over sixty years old. Also, to be elected, you had to be a man and come from a noble family. The Gerousia's responsibilities included acting as the judicial power in criminal cases, and preparing measures written by the Assembly, but they could overturn any of these measures if they thought that they were not good. The Ephorate was the biggest constitutional change which occured after the first Messenian war. The Ephorate was five men.