Monday, November 30, 2009

Would an Athenian agree or disagree with modern day democracy?

I think that an Athenian would agree with the principles, that everyone gets a vote, but not with many of the other details. For instance, i don't think they would like how we give one person so much power, and let him hold that job for 4 years. There is the possibility of that person being impeached, but that very rarely happens. On the Athenian side, they have many people in power, but each one holds that position for a very short time. They would also not like how, even though everyone gets a vote, not everyone's vote counts the same; the president has much more authority than the Average Joe. Also, things like the electoral college really stints how much power the voter actually has. While our democracy is much like that of Athens, it is also very different, and in ways i don't think an Athenian would like.

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