history of democratic ideals
DESCRIPTION
A history of major events leading to the current democratic state of the worldTRANSCRIPT
BELL WORK
Take out a piece of paper.
Write a few sentences about where you think the idea of Democracy came from
The Rise of DemocraticIdeas
600 B.C.E – 1945 C.E
Create a Timeline
• What is a TIMELINE?• Why are Timelines useful to social
scientists and historic scholars?• You will fill in a box with the date and
basic information for every major event that contributed to the evolution of Democratic ideas.
Roots of the word IDIOT
• Declining to take part in public life, such as democratic government of the polis (city state), was considered dishonorable. "Idiots" were seen as having bad judgment in public and political matters.
• Therefore, an idiot is someone who does not involve themselves with knowledge of politics
Timeline #1
• Add “Greeks Invent Democracy – 600 BCE” in 1st box on timeline.
• Leave room to write any important notes
• Write in your words any important points from the following slides.
GREEK INFLUENCE
594 B.C.E.Solon begins reform of Greek laws by allowing all free male to attend
the assembly.
508 B.C.E.Cleisthenes begins
reorganizing the assembly to limit
power to the nobles.
461 B.C.E.The Golden Age-
Pericles begins the introduction of direct
democracy in Athenes.
SOLON’ REFORMS
• Solon is known as one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece.
• He created a series of political reforms that increased the participation of the greeks in the government. • Even though his intentions were just, his reforms did not please either the wealthy nor the poor.
CLEISTHENES• He helped the rise of democracy by reorganizing the assembly, wanting to break the power of nobility.• Increased power of the assembly by allowing all citizens to submit laws and debate for passage.
COMPARISONS BETWEEN ATHENES AND SPARTA
GOVERNMENT
ATHENES- The political system was a
democracyAthenes was the intellectual
center of GreeceThe ecclesia ws the principal assembly of the democracy of
Ancient Athenes
SAME- No political right to
women, slaves and foreigners
Only male citizens over the age of 18 could vote
SPARTA-Treated from young age to
be a soldierNot a full democracy:
O. Two kings O. 5 Ephos O. Council (28
elders) O. Assembly (all
males)
Military Center Women were regarded as
objects
SEARCHING THE TRUTH- GREEK PHILOSEPHERS
• Philospheres mean “lovers of wisdom.”• Based their philosophy on:the universe (land, sky, sea) is put together in an
orderly way and is subject to absolute and unchanging laws
people can understand the laws of logic and reason
I think that the Greeks’ respect for human reason is one of the key points that helped the ideas of democracy to rise.
GREECE CONTRIBUTION
S TO DEMOCRACY
NATURAL LAWS-
Predictable patterns
discovered with the use
of reason and
intelligence=logicReform of
law that allows all free adult
male citizens to attend the assembly and be part of a democracy
DIRECT DEMOCRACY-
form of government
in which citizens rule directly and not through
representatives
Timeline #2
• Add “Roman Influence – 500 BCE” in next box to right.
• Leave room to write any important notes
• Write in your words any important points from the following slides.
ROMAN INFLUENCE
509 B.C.E.
Romans establis
h the first
republic (representa-tive government)
451 B.C.E.The
Roman Law is
collected and
written on the Twelve Tables
27 B.C.E.The
Roman Republi
c is replaced by the Roman Empire
528 C.E.Empero
r Justinia
n authoriz
es a panel to collect all legal codes. It
is complet
ed533 C.E.
ROME BECOMES A REPUBLIC
• In 509 B.C.E. a new governmnet was set up, called a rupublic. A republic is a form of government in which power rests with citizens who have the righ to elect the leaders that will make up the government.
• In contrast to the direct democracy in Greece, this was indirect
ROMAN LAW• The romans tried to create a set of laws that
would be applied universally throughout the Roman Empire.
• The most important were:All citizens have the right to equal treatment
under the lawA person was considered innocent until
proven guilty
WHICH CHARACTERISTIC OF THE GOVERNMENT UNDER THE ROMAN REPUBLIC HAD THE GREATES IMPACT ON
THE DEMOCRATIC TRADITION?
• One of the characteristics of the government under the Roman Republic that had a great impact on the democratic tradition is the idea that an individual is a citizen in a state rather than a subject of a ruler and so that he /she has the right to vote and be part of the democratic say. Another great characteristic that helped the rise of democratic ideas and gave the world the idea of a republic is the written legal code and the idea that this code should be applied equally and impartially to all citizerns.
Timeline #4
• Add “Printing Press Invented – 1455 CE” in 4th square (skip a square!!!)
• Leave room to write any important notes
• Write in your words why it is important from the following slides.
RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION
1300Renaissance
thinkers begin to
teach the importance
of the individual and the value of worldy
pursuits. Called
“Humanism”
1455Johannes
Guttenberg invents the
priniting press, which
helps the spreading of new ideas.
1521Martin Luther
starts the Reformation
, which challenges authority
and emphasizes individual
responsibility for making
choices.
THE PRINTING PRESS
• The first European printing press with movable type was invented in 1455 by Johannes Gutenberg in Germany. This new invention
made it possible to print books quicky and cheaply. This helped the growth of the Renaissance and the Reformation because people could read each other’s works soon after it was written.
DEMOCRATIC DEVELOPMENTS IN ENGLAND
1215King John signs the
Magna Carta
to guarant
ee certain basic
political rights.
1295The
Model Parliament, a more
represent-ative legislat
ure, begins
to meet.
1628King
Charles I signs
the Petition
Of Right, which states that the
monarch must obey the law.
1679Parliam
ent passes “habea
s corpus”
, a protecti
on against unjust
imprison-
ment.
1689Parliam
ent enacts the Bill
of Rights, which
further limits royal
power.
Timeline #3
• Add “Magna Carta – 1215 CE” in 3rd square you skipped.
• Leave room to write any important notes
• Write in your words any important points from the following slides.
MAGNA CARTA • The Magna Carta is a list of demends presented to King John by angry nobles that rebelled in 1215, presenting certain traditional political rights.• It is celebrated as the source of traditional English respect for individual rights and liberites and was basically a contract between king and the nobles of England. • The Magna carta had 63 clauses. Two clauses established legal rights for individuals. One was Clause 12, declaring that the king could not demand taxes but rather
has to ask for popular consent. Clause 39 instead delcelared that a person had the right to a jury trail and to the protection of the law.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES TO THE AGREEING OF THE MAGNA CARTA
ADVANTAGES
No civil war/revolt
More money for the king on a long term
Commoners and nobles will pay taxes
The people are happier
Makes the king look reasonable
DISADVANTAGES
Less power to the king
Lower money income at the start
No persecution of people arbitrarily
Makes him look weak
King John
Timeline #5
• Add “THE PETITION OF RIGHTS – 1628 CE” to your timeline in next open box.
• Leave room to write any important notes
• Write in your words any important points from the following slides.
THE PETITION OF RIGHTS
• Parliament tried to limit royal power in 1628 and since King Charles I needed funds from the Parliament, he was forced to accept the Petition of Rights, which went against absolute monarchy. It demanded and end to:
taxing without the Parliament’s consentimprosoning citizens without a resonable reasonhaving a military government during peacetime
HABEAS CORPUS
• Parliament continued to restrict monarch’s power. In 1679 the Habeas Corpus Amendment Act was passed, which is a Latin term that refers to the right of a citizen to be seen by a judge as a protection against illegal imprisonment. It is used in the Parliament to prevent authorities from detaining a person unjustly or unfairly.
Timeline #6
• Add “ENGLISH BILL OF RIGHTS – 1689 CE” to your timeline in next open box.
• Leave room to write any important notes
• Write in your words any important points from the following slides.
GLORIOUS REVOLUTION AND BILL OF RIGHTS
• King James II became king but the english Parliament withdrew their support from James and offered the throne to his protestant daughter and his husbad, Mary and William. James fled to France and Mary and William became co-rulers. This is now known as the Glorious Revolution and from then on, England became a constitutional monarchy, where the powers of the ruler are restriced by laws and the constitution of the country. That same year, William and Mary accepted the Bills of Rights, a formal summary of the right and liberties considered essential to the people. It limited the power of the monarchs and protected the free speech of the people.
IDEAS OF THE ENLIGHTMENT
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
•ROUSSEAU
SEPARATION OF
POWERS
•BARON DE MONTESQUIEU
SOCIAL CONTA
CT
•HOBBES
RIGHT TO LIFE,
LIBERTY AND
PROPERTY
•LOCKE
“TWO TREATISES ON GOVERNMENT”- JOHN LOCKE
• In 1690, an English philosepher called John Locke published “Two Treatises on Government.” He stated that all human being had, by right of nature, the right to life, libery and property which the Greeks had also based their democracy on, calling them natural rights. He also stated that the power of the government didnt come from the government itself but from its people. “Locke’s ideas about self-government inspired people and became cornerstones of modern democratic thought.”
“THE SPIRIT OF LAWS”- BARON DE MONTESQUIEU
Montesquieu, a French philosopher, recognized liberty as a natural right. In his book “The Spirit of laws”, he pointed out that any group of people in charge will always try to gain more power and so he searched, like the Greek philosephers, for a way to keep the government under control. He arrived to the conclusion that separation of powers was
the best way to safeguard liberty, so he divided the government into three seperate branches: legisalture (make laws) executive (to enforce the laws) judicial (courts to interpret the laws)
DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTIONS
1776The
American
colonies declare independen-ce from
Britain – The
Declaration of
Independence
1787The U.S. Constitut
ion creates a democra
tic, republic
an goverment based on the
ideas of Locke and
Montesquieuis
written.
1789The
French National Assembly issues
the Declarati
on of the
Rights of Man,
stating that all persons
are equal.
1945After
WWII, the
United Nations
is establish
ed.
Timeline #7
• Add “Declaration of Independence – 1776 CE” to your timeline in next open box.
• Leave room to write any important notes
• Write in your words any important points from the following slides.
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION• After winning the French and Indian War, the British placed a higher number of soldiers on the newly acquired territories and to pay the soldiers, they increased the colonists’ taxes. The colonists protested on the fact that they viewed that as a violation of their British citizenship. Because of the protestes, the British Parliament issued the Stamp Act in 1765. The colonists opposed this measure and all the other acts that came afterword by boycotting. “To protect their economic and political rights they united and began to arm themselves against what they called British oppression.” This opposition became know as the American revolution, while was the fighting of the american colonsits to gain independence. It began with the battle of Lexington and Concord, the night of April 18 and morning of April 19, 1775.
• On July 4, 1776 during the Second Continental Congress held in Philadelphia, the Comittee of Five decided that Thomas Jefferson had to write the Decleration of Independence, signed that same day. In it, they wrote a series of set rules based on the enlightment ideas, espescially the ones of Locke and Montesquieu.
The Declaration of Independence
Timeline #8
• Add “The US Constitution - 1787 CE” to your timeline in next open box.
• Leave room to write any important notes
• Write in your words any important points from the following slides.
The Constitution• In the summer of 1787, a group of American leaders met in
Philadelphia and they worked to find out a way to better the government that they had created at the end of the revolution. There was a great debate over a very basic question: Was it possible to establish a governmetn that is strong and stable but not tyrannical? The answer was yes- if they creayed a system in which power and responsability were shared in a balanced way.
• They decided to set up a representative government in which citizens elected representatives to make laws and polices for them. Then, they created a federal system where the power was divided between the federal government and the states’ government. They also created, based on Montesquieus ideas, three braches: legislative, executive and judicial.
Timeline #9
• Add “The United Nations – 1945 CE” to your timeline in next open box.
• Leave room to write any important notes
• Write in your words any important points from the following slides.
THE UNITED NATIONS• Ater the end of WWII in 1945, an international organization
denominated the United Nations (UN) was established. The organization’s goal was to work for world peace and the betterment of humanity. The General Assembly, one of the UN’s branches, is shaped like a democracy. In it, nations describe and discuss their problems with the hope of resolving them peacefully. One of the UN’s most important contributions to the worls is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which draws a democratic standard for basic social, political and economic rights. In many places throughout the world now, the document’s ideals still have yet to be fully achieved. “There is no guarantee that democracy can be achieved in any particular time and place. There is also no guarantee that once achieved, democracy will not be lost if the people are not constently watchful.”
What Are The Benefits & Drawbacks To A Direct
Democracy During A Crisis?
DIRECT DEMOCRACY DURING A CRISIS
BENEFITS DRAWBACKS
Ideas are well though and so actions are pundered and reviwed
Not everyone is admited into voting in the council
A large section of citizens have the opportunity to share their knowledge and opinion
Decisions take more time becasue of opinions and arguments
A larger number of people are satisfied with the decision taken
Voting takes time
You have more time to make the correct choice
People in a democracy may revolt if not satisfied with the government’s idealsI experiences may lead to bad choices