DEMOCRACY’S BIRTHPLACE

From the ancient Greeks, Western Civilization got many new ideas, including a very important idea from the city of Athens; one was called democracy.

For hundreds of years, the Athenians had tried different ways of governing their city. They argued a lot about the best way. Some Athenians got tired of being ruled by a small group of powerful and strict leaders. They spoke up and said, “Why should just a few people make laws for everyone else, especially when they make bad laws?”

Leaders who make bad laws and are cruel to the people are called “tyrants.” Many Athenians got tired of being ruled by a few tyrants. “Let’s get rid of the tyrants and rule ourselves!” they said. And that is what the Athenians did. They invented a new king of government, in which the people chose their leaders. And if those leaders began to act like tyrants, then the people had the power to choose new leaders. This new kind of government, born in Athens and still with us today, is called “democracy.” Democracy means “rule by the people” or “people power.”

In Athens, democracy was not perfect. Not all the people had power. Not all the people were allowed to take part in the government. Only citizens were allowed to vote, and not every adult was a citizen. Woman and slaves were not citizens, so they could not vote. It would take many more years for human beings to figure out that all people are created equal and should have equal rights, not just grown men who own property.

Still, even though democracy in Athens left out women and slaves, it was the beginning of an idea that is very important today in our own country—the idea that ordinary people can help make the laws and choose their own leaders. This idea of democracy made ancient Athens different from most other places on earth at that time, where the laws were made by a king, or a small group of warriors or priests. Where would you rather live? In a place where you helped make the laws and pick the leaders, or where you never had any say?