JF

=**Ancient Athenian Democracy vs. Modern United States Democracy**=

**By: Jessica Frankowski**

 * Democracy:** Government where the people or elected leaders make decisions.
 * Direct Democracy:** Government where the people make the decisions.
 * Indirect Democracy:** Government where the people elect a representative to make the decisions.

The system of law was divided into three political parties: Assembly, Council, and Courts. The Assembly had four major functions: executive pronouncements deciding to go to war and granting citizenship to foreigners, electing officials, legislating (making and enabling laws), and order of political crimes. Over time, the courts began to take over the legislated and order of political crimes. The council drafted legislation for "consideration by the assembly" (en.wikipedia) and oversaw the meetings. The Epitastes was an official who lead the meetings and held the keys to the treasury. The Jury Courts were run by male citizens over 30 years of age. Being a direct democracy, male citizens of Athens would vote. If a small number of men were voting, a show of hands would decide what happened. If a larger number appeared the decision would be made by colored balls. A white ball __www.historiasiglo20.org/1ESO/Athens%20democracy2.jpg__ was for yes and a black ball for no.
 * Ancient Athenian Democracy:** Ancient Athenian Democracy was a Direct Democracy. It was one of the first democracies and also one of the most important in Ancient times. In the 4th Century B.C. the total population of Athens was around 250,000 to 300,000 people. Only 30,000 of these people [[image:Athens_democracy2.jpg width="418" height="283" align="left"]]were men. In Ancient times only men over 18 were allowed to vote. Women, children, slaves, foreigners, and disabled were not allowed to vote. Voting was a law.

Six Major Ideas of Democracy are accepting majority rule, minority rights being protected, rule by law, free exchange of ideas, equality before the law, and government is to serve the people. To achieve these ideas four elements occur: "popular sovereignty, meaning that the people are the ultimate source of the government's authority," (encarta...Government.html) representative government, checks and balances, and federalism. All citizens 18 years and older have the right to vote. Inmates are not allowed to vote, throughout the United States, in local, state, or federal elections. In 44 states, mentally ill patients are not allowed to vote. The Voting Rights of 1965 stated citizens who could not speak English still had the right to vote. The total population of the United States is 281,421,906. 72,293,812 citizens are under the age of 18 and 209,128,094 are over the age of 18. In the 2004 Presidential Election between George Bush and John Kerry only 122,267,553 citizens voted. Leaving 86,860,541 citizens who did not vote.
 * United States Democracy:** Modern United States Democracy is an indirect democracy. There are three major features of United States Democracy: " individual freedom, equality before the law, and universal suffrage and education," (encarta...Government.html). Individual Freedom allows citizens to [[image:govchart.gif align="right"]]choose their own careers and live their own lives. Equality before the law means everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. Universal Suffrage is voting done by people. These features were first proclaimed in the United States Declaration of Independence.

There are two sides of this decision, yes or no. If the law was passed the government say would happen more from the people. If the law stayed the same the decisions lies in the hands of the percent of voters. Personally, I think the law should not be passed. The elections would take all voters opinions into consideration, except if a citizen decides against voting that should be their right. If they decide they are going to sit out of an election, they must deal with the results. If the law was passed, government would be a totally different world.
 * Everyone Must Vote:** If a law was passed stating every citizen over the age of 18 MUST vote in all elections, local, state, and federal level, many different results would appear. What if the other 87,000,000 people voted in the 2004 Presidential Election? No one has any idea. These other 87 million voters would have changed the results. Bush may have been president or Kerry may have. Many voters don't have an opinion or have conflicting issues where they can not get to the polls, making this proposed law very difficult. __//usinfo.state.gov/products///____//pubs/outusgov/govchart.gif//__



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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracyNovember 21, 2007 http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761575112/Democracy.html November 21, 2007 http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_1741500781/United_States_Government.html November 21, 2007 [|http://www.census.gov/census2000/states/us.html] November 22, 2007 http://www.thenation.com/doc/20031124/chandleryork November 26, 2007
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