Originator unknown.
It would have been more accurate to write that the ancient Greeks birthed an ancient form of democracy. For during the course of time the concept of democracy has changed considerably, depending on which country believes it’s self to be a democratic country.
HISTORICALLY :
The term originates from the Greek δημοκρατία (dēmokratía) "rule of the people", which was found from δῆμος (dêmos) "people" and κράτος (krátos) "power" or "rule" in the 5th century BC to denote the political systems then existing in Greek city-states, notably Athens; the term is an antonym to ἀριστοκρατία (aristokratía) "rule of an elite". While theoretically these definitions are in opposition, in practice the distinction has been blurred historically.[3] The political system of Classical Athens, for example, granted democratic citizenship to an elite class of free men and excluded slaves and women from political participation.
In virtually all democratic governments throughout ancient and modern history, democratic citizenship consisted of an elite class until full enfranchisement was won for all adult citizens in most modern democracies through the suffrage movements of the 19th and 20th centuries.
TODAY.
The citizens choose and replace the government through free and fair elections;
There is active participation of the citizens in politics and civic life;
There is protection of the human rights of all citizens.
There is rule of law, in which the laws and procedures apply equally to all citizens.
Eligible citizens are able to: 1) vote for the passing/rejecting of laws or run for office during elections, 2) join political parties, sit on boards or committees, and criticise or protest, 3) feel that some of their rights are protected, and 4) receive a fair trial if accused of breaking the country's laws. Politicians represent their constituents in the proposal, development and establishment of the laws by which their society is run.
It remains to be seen whether Tsipras will be able to carry out his election promises!
Great post Mel, It will be interesting to see how this works out in Greece, at least the first step is taken. I am of the view that, although a lot of countries consider themselves to be democratic are in fact not so. I really do wish we could have fair democratic societies. :)
ReplyDeleteMe too Margaret.
DeleteThe world is certainly watching the Greek election alright with bated breath. Elections always make me think. In Ireland, our voting rights are very precious and even still there are always such low turn outs at the polls. Where as here in Australia voting is compulsory and you get fined if you do not attend and vote accordingly. I'm not sure which way is better but wish that people valued their votes more and educated themselves rather than going with the flow. However, even as an Irish citizen I have not been able to vote for the last 6.5 years that I have lived overseas as Ireland is one of 100 countries in the world that do not allow citizens outside of the country to vote. I hope all of the Greek citizens all around the world come out and vote.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jul/21/voting-abroad-citizen-right
Thank you for your very informative comment Grace.
DeleteJustice isn't equal to all, just look at how the bankers were treated.! Now that Greece has opened the door it will be interesting to see what way the upcoming elections of Spain, Portugal & the U.K. will go & will a vote be forced in Ireland? We live in interesting times. ;)
ReplyDeleteAye' a choke hold certainly needs to be put on merkel's troika and the imf too.
DeleteMerkel's Germany seem not want to remember the ‘London Agreement’ after the Second World War, which wrote off around 60% of Germany’s debts and extended the timeline for repayment by decades.
ReplyDeleteThe same could be done for Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain.
Interesting Mel. It would be lovely to think that we live in a true democratic society but I think that the millionaire career politicians have a taken over and have a firm grip on who we can vote for x
ReplyDeleteI know about the career politicians Fran. At the end of the day we the people have to rid our selves of complacency and use the ballot box.
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