Ancient Greek Influence on Modern-Day American Politics

To this day there is one civilization in world history that has been more influential to American politics than all of the rest. The Direct Democratic system developed by the Ancient Greeks had a huge influence on the government style that America uses today. I thought it was very interesting to learn about the type of politics that Ancient Greece practiced and how some aspects are still practiced today. Unlike the centralized rule that the Persian Empire used, the Ancient Greek Empire was made up of city states that relied heavily on citizen participation in politics.

The idea of citizenship was an entirely new way of governing an empire at the time. Many non-Greeks during this period could not understand why there was a need for the common people to have a say in how government issues were handled. Ancient Greece paved the way for the representative democratic style of government that is practiced by many countries today, including America. Much like how voting rights started out in America, originally only the wealthy land owners were allowed to vote and call themselves citizens, but soon all men were allowed to have a vote and a voice in their city-state's politics.

In the Greek city-state of Athens they employed the use of an Assembly where all citizens could freely participate in the political proceedings of the city-state. Eventually all members of the Greek Assembly were elected to their positions by the citizens that they represented and were paid for their work in the public office, the same way that we elect public officials today.

The Greek system of direct democracy was an entirely new concept when it was created, and a brilliant one as indicated by its continued presence in politics today. I cannot imagine what America's government would be like without the influence of the Ancient Greek's Direct Democracy.