Evolution of Democracy The Greeks were the forefathers of democracy. The ideas they came up with of 2000 years ago is the bedrock principle of our country today. How exactly did they end with democracy while the rest of the world bowed to kings and priests?

This process took some time, and eventually it took shape into the purest form of democracy. For many years the nobles of Greek city-states (to further understand what a city-state is, click on the Geography link) were in charge. War is a necessary evil in society. War brings out inventions and advancements that would not have been thought of, or perfected otherwise.

Greek city-states were notorious for battling each other of their land since land was at such a high demand. There was no professional army in Greece. So, if the city-state wanted to wage war, it was up to the nobles to provide the heavy equipment, namely the chariots, horses, transports, and the building of weapons on a mass scale.

It was understood that the nobles would obviously receive a high amount of the spoils of war since they sacrificed the most materials in this venture. What if they lost?? What if the spoils of war were not as much as first estimated?

Spartan government was a bit different. Spartans are most closely related to the socialist/communist governments of today meaning that everything is done for the good of the state. Individualism is not a valued attribute. The Spartans would have two kings rule at the same time. This was to ensure that no one person could hold all of the power.

The two kings would then answer and receive council from a group of 28 men considered the council of elders. 5 men from this group would be the overseers of pretty much everything. They were called ephors. They held the power of life and death for everyone in the city-state. An example would be when a child was born. It was presented to the ephors for examination. If the ephors believed that the child was weak, sickly, or lacking in any way, the child was taken outside the walls to die of exposure. It was their belief to end the life quickly than let this child have a lifetime of suffering.

These are the questions that nobles started to ask when they were solicited for their services. The solution that the high council of the city-state came up with was to give these nobles a decision if war should be raised in the first place. This is very significant because the king is relinquishing a partial amount of his power.

Then the nobles wanted for day to day power. War didn't happen every year, so they struck while the iron was hot. An important weapon of war was developed that changed battle tactics all together. This weapon was able to make the chariot ineffective in battle. The name of this weapon was the phalanx.

A phalanx is a rectangular box of men. Each man has armor, a pike, and a shield. They are taught to work in unison. No man is above another. If the man in front of you dies, step up and take his place. This made the chariot ineffective in battle because now the loses of charging a chariot in battle was too much to attempt. This is a very important power shift in Greece. The common man is more important than the noble or horse on the battlefield.

Once the common people earned some rights, criteria had to be established for voting and participating in government. Only male citizens were permitted to participate. Women, foreigners, and non-citizens were not permitted. Non-citizens were men born of a foreign country, did not own land, and/or did not achieve a specific age. At first that age was 30, but eventually it dropped.

The common man took his cue from the nobles from years gone by. They started to demand more for their services. Money was not what they wanted, it was a ridiculous demand. There were too many of them and too little money to go around after a campaign. Commoners wanted more rights. They wanted a say so in their fate. Now, there is a reason why commoner are common. They lack the ability to lead, to be charismatic, to be movie stars. Commoners placed their trust into their generals. These generals were called tyrants.

A 500 member council was created. It was here that the affairs of state were discussed. A strategos was created in which 10 generals would discuss and evaluate the defense and running of the city. These 10 strategos did not have to answer to the ekklesia, the assembly of people. The important part was that their discussions for the most part were not behind closed doors but open to the people. Any citizen of the age of 18 was permitted to watch the proceedings.

It was good to be called a tyrant in Ancient Greece. The definition of tyrant was "champion." People gravitate to winners, so these tyrants would be the voice of the people. Now here is a dilemma, what if you have two undefeated generals striving for the power of the people? Would it be for the greater good for these two armies to fight it out? What value would it be to divide a city-state when they are in an alert for war.

The answer was simple. The tyrants went to the lowest common denominator, pleasure. Tyrants would throw drunken parties to buy the votes of the people. For the most part, tyrants made themselves the "flavors of the week." It was understood that as long as you please the people, you will lead them. Power is the most addicting drug on earth.

After awhile, beer and all the trappings of a party started to wear on the common man. This did not put food on their table or get them a job outside of war. Tyrants started to become the equivalent of a senator or representative because now he had to provide them with jobs, food, and security. After awhile that was not enough. People started to feel like children because they still could not decide their own fate. They started demanding that they vote for their future.

The powers that be saw that giving the people what they want is a very good career move, so they created an assembly that permitted a small sect of the population to vote. This satisfied them for awhile, but after awhile they wanted more. At the same time a tyrant was appointed that no one liked, but they feared him because he was a great general and his army was loyal. Therefore, killing him was not an option. His name was Dracco. Dracco created many harsh rules to people to follow. Athens had to wait for him to die because there was no other way. After he died, they passed a rule that no one would be able to hold as much power as Dracco again.

Also at this time citizens were given the power to bring charges upon others, and land owning citizens were able to be jurors. In 508 BC the Athenian Assembly was created. This assembly gave citizens the right to participate in government regardless if they owned property.