Premium Essay

S.O.K. Essey

In: Business and Management

Submitted By Molla
Words 583
Pages 3
In a democracy all people should be able to have their say in one way or another in everything that affects their lives .
A) What was the role of Cleisthenes in the founding of democracy ?
B) Describe the similarities and differences between a democratic citizen in Ancient Athens and a democratic citizen in the present day’s Malta .
C) Which democracy would you rather live in ? Why ?
Cleisthenes was responsible for introducing the system of democracy in Athens, thus, earning him the name, “the father of Athenian democracy. Cleisthenes believed that all citizens should have equal rights he made all the citizens of Athens his companions, in order for them to participate in governmental affairs.

Cleisthenes felt it was unfair that only a small group of aristocrats were allowed to participate in the government and since all of the citizens were now his companions; this broke the regional power of the aristocracy. However, this move of making all the Athenians his companion did not sit well with everyone, particularly the archon Isagoras, who decided to start the process to have Cleisthenes exiled. Isagoras’ plan to have Cleisthenes exiled worked for a while, as he was exiled, which was attributed to a “curse”, but many of the citizens who believed in what Cleisthenes was doing, rebelled against his being exiled and he was returned. Upon Cleisthenes' return, he was even more determined to reform Athens and his next move was to break up the power of nobility i.e. the four traditional tribes by organizing citizens into ten groups based on where they lived rather than wealth. He increased the power of assembly by allowing all citizens to submit laws for debt and passage. And at this time, legislative bodies were established that were to be run by citizens chosen by lottery instead of by kinship .Although Cleisthenes made many reforms to the Athenian government, this

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