Democracy: Democracy and Ancient Greek Democracy Essay

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Democracy has universal appeal. The principle that people should have a say about how they are being governed is one of the few stable features in a rapidly changing world.‟ Do you think this statement is accurate? Your answer must be supported by a clear and well researched justification.

As a governing principle democracy encompasses the right to vote with that of an elective government, a vote by the people for the people. This thinking that a society can determine the way in which its governed was first developed in ancient Greece, more appropriately ancient Athens. The introduction then paved way for democratic developments in India, New Zealand, America and Australia that still retain its principles to this day. The advantages of democracy speak for themselves, firstly it’s a governing system not reinforced by violence that allows for peaceful resolutions, its core principles don’t oppose change but better yet encourage it and last off it allows for appropriate decision making in reference to the people of that society. These features all contribute to a well rounded means of direction, a system universally recognized as a successful way to govern.

Commonly a political stronghold is reinforced by violence, look at totalitarianism or communist examples, these governing systems are riddled with threats and often resort to violence. Everyday life under a communist banner in China or Russia saw death, starvation and social turmoil. Initiatives such as the Great Leap Forward in China or The Cultural Revolution in Russia, when detested by public opinion were met with political forces The Red Army and Bolsheviks designed to repress any resistance. Communist rule was maintained via violence, just as American President John .F. Kennedy states here "Communism has never come to power in a country that was not ruled by war, corruption, or both." (Quotations book, John F. Kennedy. 2013). This emphasises desire for democratic rule, as a non violent system of control objection is considered and supported. That’s how we come to have a Labour party, a Liberal party, a Greens party, a Family first party and all other political groups, people are free to side with any political opinion with no threat of violence or negative repercussions. Further illustrating democracy’s diplomatic nature is that of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the first ever peaceful revolution and a democratic ambassador. Gandhi orchestrated independence for India implementing self governing into the nation that remains the biggest democracy to date, this all achieved without a civil war, without imposing violence and without a military force. He brought democracy to power preaching peace, unity and love “all through history the way of truth and love has always won”, (Mahatma Gandhi quotations. 2013.) His work established a precedent, a precedent that political peace is achievable, for nations marked by violence democracy’s non violent nature carries a lot of appeal. Since we first saw democracy in Athenian life, the way in which people live has changed dramatically, we’ve seen developments in agriculture, the establishment of feminism and the industrialization of the modern world. These changes have had a submerse effect politically, democracy’s ability to adapt to change is a highly regarded feature. American democracy is a great endorsement of political change, originally the right to vote was only for landowners of British decent, as the values of the community changed so did the voting rights. As America assumed independence, voting decisions directly affected the American people and as such the net of voters was expanded . It began by including workers “the earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.” (Chief Joseph, 1849). Then the African American equal rights movement saw the introduction of interracial voting. “We have talked long enough about Black rights in this country. It is now time to write the next
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