Problem
"Our government does not copy our neighbors', but is an example to them."
"Our constitution is called a democracy because the power is in the hands not of a minority but of the whole people. When it is a question of settling private disputes, everyone is equal before the law; when it is a question of putting one person before another in position of public responsibility, what counts is not membership of a particular class, but the actual ability which the man possesses. No one, so long as he has it in him to be of service to the state, is kept in political obscurity because of poverty..."
"We give our obedience to those whom we put in positions of authority, and we obey the laws themselves, especially those which are for the protection of the oppressed..."
"...the worst thing is to rush into action before the consequences have been properly debated..."
- from Pericles, The Funeral Oration of Pericles (431 BCE)
Who can participate in a democracy?
Do you think Pericles (the speaker) likes democracy? Why do you think so?
Can someone who is in poverty participate in Athen's democracy?
Why do you think Pericles wants Athenians to debate each other before laws are passed?
Athenian democracy has similarities with our government in the United States.
i. How are they similar?
ii. How are they different?