HSS 800 Lesson 4

• Athens Greece- widely credited with the creating the world’s s Greece- first democracy.
• Democracy according to Plato- Greek word for “people” demos and “rule” kratia.
• Greek Democracy- political power is not concentrated in the hands of one or even a small group of people but fairly and evenly distributed among all the people.
• Assembly- comprised of no less than the first 6,000 citizens to arrive at its meeting.
• *The fall of Athens was followed by the emergence of Rome.
• Legal System- Rome’s biggest contribution to democracy which codified key concepts like equal protection, innocent until guilty, and the right to confront one’s accuser.
• Ideology set of ideas that tries to link through action.
• ideology - a fairly coherent and comprehensive set of ideas that explains and evaluate social conditions help people understand their place in society, and provides a program for social and political action.
• Explanatory- offers an explanation of why social, political, and economic conditions are as they or, particularly in times of crisis.
• Evaluate- to supply standards for evaluating conditions.
• Orientative- an ideology supplies its adherent with an orientation and a sense of identity of who he or she is.
• Programmatic- tells its followers to do and how to do it. It performs a programmatic and prescriptive function by setting out a general program of social and political action.
• Human Nature Some ideologies assume that it is the "nature" of human beings to compete with one another

  in hopes of acquiring the greatest possible share of scarce sources;
• Freedom refers to a relationship involving an agent who is both free from some obstacle and free to

  achieve some goal.
• AN AGENT- is the person or group that is or should be free but an agent is not simply free; to be free, an agent must be free to pursue a goal
• A BARRIER OR OBSTACLE BLOCKING THE AGENT- no one can be free when there are obstacles that prevent him or her from doing what he or she wants to do
• A GOAL AT WHICH THE AGENT AIMS- “freedom” refers to a relationship involving an

  agent who is both free from some obstacle and free to achieve some goal
• Democracy- began in ancient Greece
• • for Greeks demokratia meant specifically "rule or government by the common people
• Demos or Majority (Single class)- uneducated, unsophisticated, and poor- these people made up the majority of the citizenry.
• Aristocracy- rule by the aristoi, the "best" those supposedly most qualified to rule or to govern.
• Athens- the largest polis.
• Athenians called their polis a democracy.
• Pericles- the most famous leader of the Athenian democracy.
• Aristocrats believed that only the well-established citizens, were wise enough to govern.
• Pericles and the Democrats believed that most citizens were capable of governing if only they could afford to take the time away from their farms and work.
• To be a Citizen of Athens

  • Adult
  • Free
  • Male Athenian
• Excluded

  • Women
  • Resident foreigners
  • Slaves
• Liberal Democracy- stresses the rights and liberty of the individual and it is the form of democracy that characterizes most Western democracies.
• Social Democracy- linked to the ideology of Socialism.
• from "social democratic" or "democratic socialist" perspective, the key

  to democracy is equality, especially equal power in society and government.
• People's Democracy- consist of rule by the communist party for the benefit of the

  working majority.
• Majority Rule and Minority Rights- democracies are systems in which citizens freely make olitical decision by majority rule.
• Pluralism- government is only one thread in the social fabric of many varied public and private institutions, legal forums, political parties, organizations, and associations.
• Democratic Society- have the thousands of Private organizations, some local, and some national.
• Speech, Assembly, and Protest- freedom of speech and expression especially about political and social issues, is the lifeblood of many democracy.
• Religious Freedom and Tolerance- all citizens should be free to follow their conscience in matters of religious faith.
• Citizen Responsibilities- for democracy to succeed, citizens must be active, not passive, because they know that the success or failure of the government is their responsibility.
• Elections- serve as the principal mechanism for translating that consent into governmentalauthority.
• Equal Adherence to Law- democratic governments exercise authority by way of the law and are themselves subject to the laws constraints.