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Yoav P

Ancient Greek Government - Ancient Greece for Kids! - 5 views

  • there were many different city-states in ancient Greece,
  • Aristotle divided Greek governments into monarchies, oligarchies, tyrannies and democracies, and most historians still use these same divisions.
  • In 510 BC, the city-state of Athens created the first democratic government,
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  • Then in the 600s and 500s BC a lot of city-states were taken over by tyrants. Tyrants were usually one of the aristocrats who got power over the others by getting the support of the poor people. They ruled kind of like kings, but without any legal right to rule.
    • Lily S
       
      The government in Ancient Greece depended on the period of time
  • Archaic period
  • Late Bronze Age
  • at each period there were plenty of city-states using a different system, and there were many which never did become democracies or tyrannies at all.
  • Athenian democracy did not really give power to everyone
  • Athens at this time had an empire
  • many Greek city-states kept oligarchic government, or tyrannies, or monarchies, through this whole time
  • and they each had their own government. In addition, people's ideas about what made a good government changed over time.
    • jwoomer j
       
      They progressed in their government styles which helped them improve.
  • The Greeks had a lot of different kinds of governments
    • Eric G
       
      The Greeks had many different kinds of governments because each individual city-state had its own government
  • After the Dark Age, though, only a few Greek city-states still had kings.
    • Eric G
       
      There were not many kings in the city-states after the dark age.
  • The Greeks had a lot of different kinds of governments, because there were many different city-states in ancient Greece, and they each had their own government.
    • Arielle K
       
      Most people did not have voting rights in Athenian democracy. 
  • between about 2000 and 1200 BC, all Greek city-states seem to have been monarchies,
  • Most of the people in Athens couldn't vote - no women, no slaves, no foreigners (even Greeks from other city-states), no children.
  • The Greeks had a lot of different kinds of governments, because there were many different city-states in ancient Greece
  • Sparta is the most famous of these, though actually Sparta had two kings, usually brothers or cousins, at the same time.
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    this is a good description of ancient Greek government 
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    Good facts about Greek government. Easy to read.
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    This website talks about the government of ancient Greece.
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    This website explains about Ancient Greece's government
Marjorie Rotman

Ancient Greek History for Kids: Government - 3 views

  • The Greek City-State Ancient Greece was made up of city-states. A city-state was a major city and the surrounding areas. Each city-state had its own rule and government. Sometimes the city-states fought each other. Athens and Sparta were the two largest city-states and they had many wars and battles. Types of Government There were three main types of government: Democracy - A government ruled by the people, or assembly. Officials and leaders were elected and all citizens had a say. Monarchy - A single ruler like a king. In Athens this ruler was called a Tyrant. Oligarchy - When the government is ruled by a small group. Over time some city-states, like Athens would change governments. Sometimes they were ruled by Tyrants and, at other times, they were a democracy.
  • Ancient Greece Government History >> Ancient Greece The Ancient Greeks may be most famous for their ideas and philosophies on government and politics. It was in Greece, and particularly Athens, that democracy was first conceived and used as a primary form of government. The Greek City-State
  • Ancient Greece was made up of city-states
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  • Each city-state had its own rule and government.
  • There were three main types of government:
  • Democracy
  • Monarch
  • Oligarchy
  • What this means is that all the citizens voted on all the
  • Democracy in Ancient Greece was very direct
  • aws. Rather than vote for representatives, like we do, each citizen was expected to vote for every law.
  • In order to vote, you had to be a citizen. However, not everyone who lived in Athens was a citizen. Only men who had completed their military training were counted as citize
  • here were three main bodies of the government: the Assembly, the Council of 500, and the Courts
  • The Assembly
  • The Council
  • The Courts h
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    greek goverment 
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    ancient Greece government for kids--a great short summary of Greek government including a 10 question quiz
msanders m

Government - Ancient Greece for Kids - 0 views

  • or so they believed. But they were not the only city-states. Ther
  • or so they believed. But they were not the only city-states. The
  • Each city-state (polis) had its own personality, goals, laws and customs
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  • There were three main forms of government in ancient Greece:
  • Monarchy: Rule by a king. One city-state whose government was a monarchy was the city-state of Corinth.
  • Oligarchy: Rule by a small group. One city-state whose government was an oligarchy was the city-state of Sparta.
  • Democracy: Rule by the citizens, voting in an assembly. One city-state whose government experimented for about a hundred years with democracy was the ancient city-state of Athens. 
  • Athens and Sparta were the two most important city-states in ancient Greece
  • The ancient Greeks spoke the same language. They believed in the same gods. They shared a common heritage. They perceived themselves as Greeks.
  • The Greeks who lived in each city-state were proud of their hometown.
  • The ancient Greeks referred to themselves, however, as citizens of their hometown - their city-state.
    • zchylla z
       
      A lot of highlighting lol!
    • glever g
       
      yep
    • msanders m
       
      yep
  • . Ancient Greeks were very loyal to their city-state. 
  • The Greeks who lived in each city-state were proud of their hometown.
  • All Greeks, wherever they made their home, had things in common. 
    • kmiao k
       
      Ancient Greece government, city, states and citizen
  • Rule by a small group. One city-state whose government was an oligarchy was the city-state of Sparta.
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    greek goverment 
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    A simple and informative website about greece
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    greek website
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    Ancient Greece Government
Garth Holman

SDTV: American Gov't Transcript - 1 views

  • Types of Government After the Revolutionary War, the founding fathers got together to discuss what type of government they wanted to establish. They considered four types: monarchy, oligarchy, aristocracy, democracy. Well, you probably already know which one they picked, but, for the sake of argument, pretend you don't. We know they didn't choose a monarchy, but what is a monarchy anyway? A monarchy is a form of government in which hereditary rulers (people who share the same bloodline) better known as kings and queens, wield absolute power over everybody. Absolute power? That means that the kings and queens can pretty much do whatever they want. Well, since the founders knew the monarchy thing didn't really fly in the original American colonies, they decided against a monarchy. They also considered oligarchy. An oligarchy consists of a body of individuals possessing high levels of wealth, social or military status, or achievement. These elite guys and gals pretty much rule everything and everyone. There was also aristocracy to consider. Aristocracy is rule by a privileged few. As nice as monarchies, oligarchies, and aristocracies may sound (at least to those lucky enough to be in power!), one of the reasons the colonists fought for independence in the first place was to free themselves from government structures that left little or no popular consent to the people. So, the founding fathers set up a democracy. A democracy is a form of government in which the people hold the power to rule themselves. But it's not quite as simple as that. In fact, there are two main types of democracy: direct democracy and indirect democracy. In a direct democracy, all the people get together and have an equal say in the laws they create. In an indirect democracy (also known as a representative democracy), people vote for representatives who work on their behalf to create laws. Once chosen, these representatives then vote within a government structure, making and passing laws. This is a two-step version of democracy. The founding fathers chose… an indirect democracy! After all, they figured that at some point in time, America would become a really, really big nation. And if that happened, there'd be no way they could possibly get everyone together to vote on every single thing.
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    "Types of Government
mrs. b.

Greek Government - 7 Points to Know About Ancient Greek Government - 2 views

  • You may have heard that ancient Greece invented democracy, but democracy was only one type of government employed by the Greeks, and when it first evolved, many Greeks thought it a bad idea. In the pre-Classical period, ancient Greece was composed of small geographic units ruled by a local king. Over time, groups of the leading aristocrats replaced the kings. Greek aristocrats were powerful, hereditary noblemen and wealthy landowners whose interests were at odds with the majority of the populace.
  • 1. Ancient Greece Had Many Governments
  • Sparta was less interested than Athens in following the will of the people. The people were supposed to be working for the good of the state. However, just as Athens experimented with a novel form of government, so also was Sparta's system unusual. Originally, monarchs ruled Sparta, but over time, Sparta hybridized its government: The kings remained, but there were 2 of them at a time so one could go to war, there were also 5 annually-elected ephors, a council of 28 elders [technical term to learn: Gerousia], and an assembly of the people
    • mrs. b.
       
      Sparta's government was different from Athens
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  • Probably one of the first things learned from history books or classes on ancient Greece is that the Greeks invented democrac
  • Probably one of the first things learned from history books or classes on ancient Greece is that the Greeks invented democracy
  • Athens originally had kings, but gradually, by the 5th century B.C., it developed a system that required active, ongoing participation of the citizens.
  • While virtually all citizens were allowed to participate in the democracy, citizens did not include: women,children,slaves, orresident aliens, including those from other Greek poleis
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    Wow i never knew that before!!
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    A couple of Greek government facts
mrs. b.

Government in Ancient Greece - 2 views

  • Policy | Terms of Use
  • Government in Athens         Pericles was the leader of Athens for thirty years.  He was not a monarch or despot. The people of Athens elected him year after year.  He declared that Athens was a democracy.  In Athens, power was “in the hands of many rather than the few.”  Pericles was correct about saying that Athens was a democracy at that time.  Compared to other ancient governments, Athens was democratic, but it does not seem that way today.  When he spoke of government by the people, he should have said government by the citizens.       Citizens had more rights in Greeks cities than any of the others.  They could do almost anything they wanted to do.  They could own property, take part in politics and the law.  Most of the men in Greece were citizens, but women, slaves, and foreigners could not be.
  • n Sparta only rich men were citizens. Citizenship was like a family.  It depended on birth.  Only children of citizens could be citizens themselves.  Children that lived in Athens all of their lives were not citizens if their parents came from other places.  Athens seems undemocratic to us because women had no voice in government.       Slaves were normally captured prisoners of wars.  They were sold to people and whoever bought them owned them.  Some slaves lived good lives with their owners.  Others lived in terrible conditions or toiled in mines until death.  Unlike slaves in America, slaves in Greece got paid and if they saved their money they might be able to buy their own freedom. 
jeitman j

Greece Government type - Government - 0 views

  • Government type: parliamentary republic
    • jeitman j
       
      type of government
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    government type
Ivy V

Athenian democracy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - 9 views

  • Athens is one of the first known democracies.
  • It remains a unique and intriguing experiment in direct democracy where the people do not elect representatives to vote on their behalf but vote on legislation and executive bills in their own right. Participation was by no means open
  • of Athenian freedom. The greatest and longest lasting democratic leader
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  • Estimates of the population of ancient Athens vary. During the 4th century BC, there may well have been some 250,000–300,000 people in Attica. Citizen families may have amounted to 100,000 people and out of these some 30,000 will have been the adult male citizens entitled to vote in the assembly. In the mid-5th century the number of adult male citizens was perhaps as high as 60,000, but this number fell precipitously during the Peloponnesian War.
    • ed h
       
      Population matters to direct democracy
    • arman b
       
      what if the greek didn't have many people?
    • erick j
       
      If Greeks didn't have as many people, they would get more work done.
  • There were three political bodies where citizens gathered in numbers running into the hundreds or thousands. These are the assembly (in some cases with a quorum of 6000), the council of 500 (boule) and the courts (a minimum of 200 people, but running at least on some occasions up to 6000). Of these three bodies it is the assembly and the courts that were the true sites of power — although courts, unlike the assembly, were never simply called the demos (the People) as they were manned by a subset of the citizen body, those over thirty.
    • erick j
       
      Did wealth matter to your position in government?
    • Mike Pennington
       
      Yes, wealth played a direct role in just how much power you had in ancient Greece. The Patricians, or wealthy, had slightly more power in making decisions and passing laws.
    • glever g
       
      Why did wealth affect anything?
  • Only adult male Athenian citizens who had completed their military training as ephebes had the right to vote in Athens. The percentage of the population (of males) that actually participated in the government was about 20%. This excluded a majority of the population, namely slaves, freed slaves, children, women and metics. The women had limited rights and privileges and were not really considered citizens. The restricted movement in public and were very segregated from the men. Also disallowed were citizens whose rights were under suspension (typically for failure to pay a debt to the city: see atimia); for some Athenians this amounted to permanent (and in fact inheritable) disqualification. Still, in contrast with oligarchical societies, there were no real property requirements limiting access
    • molly c
       
      It is interesting to learn that Athenian men had to serve in the military.
    • glever g
       
      Not really if you were in that position then you would think that that would be sensible.
  • The central events of the Athenian democracy were the meetings of the assembly (ἐκκλησία ekklêsia). Unlike a parliament, the assembly's members were not elected, but attended by right when they chose. Greek democracy created at Athens was a direct, not a representative democracy: any adult male citizen of age could take part, and it was a duty to do so. The officials of the democracy were in part elected by the Assembly and in large part chosen by lot. The assembly had four main functions; it made executive pronouncements (decrees, such as deciding to go to war or granting citizenship to a foreigner); it elected some officials; it legislated; and it tried political crimes. As the system evolved these last two functions were shifted to the law courts. The standard format was that of speakers making speeches for and against a position followed by a general vote (usually by show of hands) of yes or no. Though there might be blocs of opinion, sometimes enduring, on crucial issues, there were no political parties and likewise no government or opposition (as in the Westminster system). Voting was by simple majority. In the 5th century at least there were scarcely any limits on the power exercised by the assembly. If the assembly broke the law, the only thing that might happen is that it would punish those who had made the proposal that it had agreed to
    • Garth Holman
       
      Here is some great information about the Assembly of ancient Athens
    • Mike Pennington
       
      Yes Matt, the Athenian government eventually fell during the Peloponnesian Wars. It was weakened by the Persian Wars, but as soon as Sparta truly set it's sights on defeating the every-expanding Athenians they were in danger. The war itself indirectly led to the fall of Athens, during the second and third years of fighting, disease broke out in Athens and devastated the population. It took Sparta and its allies nearly 30 years to destroy the city of Athens. The Spartans also used the help of the Persians.
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    Did the government ever fall or come close to falling?
nshore n

Greek Government -- Ancient History Encyclopedia - 1 views

  • The Constitution of the Athenians, one written by Aristotle or one of his pupils and the other attributed (by some) to Xenophon. Other sources which discuss politics and government include Aristotle’s Politics and the historical works of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon.
    • mrs. b.
       
      Primary sources for what the government in ancient Greece was like!
  • Athens’ constitution is called a democracy because it respects the interests not of the minority but of the whole people.
  • Any male citizen 18 years or over could speak (at least in theory) and vote in the assembly, usually with a simple show of hands.
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  • estimated that only 3,000 or so people actively participated in politics. Of this group, perhaps as few as 100 citizens - the wealthiest, most influential, and the best speakers - dominated the political arena both in front of the assembly and behind the scenes in private conspiratorial political meetings (xynomosiai) and groups (hetaireiai).
  • the dēmos could be too easily swayed by a good orator or popular leaders (the demagogues) and get carried away with their emotions.
    • mrs. b.
       
      demos- the common people of ancient Greece
  • Issues discussed in the assembly ranged from deciding magistracies to organising and maintaining food supplies to debating military matters
  • There was also a boulē or council of 500 citizens chosen by lot and with a limited term of office, which acted as a kind of executive committee of the assembly. The decrees of the Assembly could also be challenged by the law courts.
  • An oligarchy is a system of political power controlled by a select group of individuals
  • For the Greeks (or more particularly the Athenians) any system which excluded power from the whole citizen-body and was not a tyranny or monarchy was described as an oligarchy. Oligarchies were perhaps the most common form of city-state government and they often occurred when democracy went wrong.
  • An oligarchy is a system of political power controlled by a select group of individuals, sometimes small in number but it could also include large groups. For the Greeks (or more particularly the Athenians) any system which excluded power from the whole citizen-body and was not a tyranny or monarchy was described as an oligarchy. Oligarchies were perhaps the most common form of city-state government and they often occurred when democracy went wrong.
Ethan H

Legacy of Ancient Greece: Art, Government, Science & Sports - Video & Lesson Transcript... - 0 views

    • Ethan H
       
      The thing that I thought was the biggest discovery / finding was that they created a democracy.  They decided to revolt against a king. 
  • Ancient Greece was one of the first major civilizations of Europe. Ancient Greek culture officially lasted from the 8th century BC to the 7th century AD, but their height was in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, a period that was so influential on Western culture that we call it the Classical era.
  • The Greeks cities were some of the first major civilizations to question the rule of a king, and in the 6th Century BC, the people of Athens developed a new government system called democracy
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  • But Greece has done so much more for humanity than just great marinated vegetables. Greece set foundations for modern civilization that include art, government, science, and even sports.
  • Athens instituted a system where every citizen - then defined as free males - had the right to both vote and speak in the legislative assembly where new laws were made.
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    This sight talks about Greece's legacy.  It talks about art and Greek governments.
Garth Holman

The Roman Republic [ushistory.org] - 3 views

    • Garth Holman
       
      Cincinnatus, Ohio city named after this man? Enduring Impact? 
  • innovations of the Roman Republic was the notion of equality under the law. In 449 B.C.E., government leaders carved some of Rome's most important laws into 12 great tablets. The Twelve Tables, as they came to be known, were the first Roman laws put in writing. Although the laws were rather harsh by today's standards, they did guarantee every citizen equal treatment under the law.
  • Quickly kill ... a dreadfully deformed child.
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  • The Romans established a form of government — a republic — that was copied by countries for centuries In fact, the government of the United States is based partly on Rome's model.
  • republic, a government in which citizens elected representatives to rule on their behalf. A republic is quite different from a democracy, in which every citizen is expected to play an active role in governing the state.
  • and all males over 15 who were descended from the original tribes of Rome became citizens. Citizens of Rome distinguished themselves from slaves and other noncitizens by wearing a toga; most wore a white toga. During the Empire, each emperor wore a purple toga to distinguish himself as the princeps, or "first citizen."
  • The full citizen could vote, marry freeborn persons, and practice commerce. Some citizens were not allowed to vote or hold public office, but maintained the other rights. A third type of citizen could vote and practive commerce, but could not hold office or marry freeborn women.
  • male slaves who were granted their freedom could become full citizens.
  • 212 C.E, under the Edict of Caracalla, all free people of the Roman Empire could become citizens.
  • The aristocracy (wealthy class) dominated the early Roman Republic.
  • the aristocrats were known as patricians.
  • consuls, or leaders, who ruled the Roman Republic.
  • A senate composed of patricians elected these consuls.
  • lower-class citizens, or plebeians, had virtually no say in the government. Both men and women were citizens in the Roman Republic, but only men could vote.
  • patricians and plebeians should be strictly separated; marriage between the two classes was even prohibited. Over time, the plebeians elected their own representatives, called tribunes, who gained the power to veto measures passed by the senate.
  • . The Senate convened and passed laws in the curia, a large building on the grounds of the Roman Forum. Much later, Julius Caesar built a larger curia for an expanded Senate.
  • Rome had conquered vast territories, and the powerful senators sent armies, negotiated terms of treaties, and had total control over the financial matters of the Republic.
  • Cincinnatus.
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    Roman Republic
Arthur H

Ancient Greek Government - 0 views

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      Greek government page.
jeitman j

Government in Greece - 0 views

  • The government of Greece is a parliamentary democracy. The people elect 300 parliamentary deputies who form the parliament which conducts the legislative duties of the government.
  • The party president automaticaly becomes Prime Minister and he then appoints people to become cabinet ministers.
    • schakrabarti s
       
      The president of Greece is not elected by the people.
  • There is a President but he is not elected by the people. Instead, he is elected by the parliamentary deputies for 5 year terms at a time.
    • jeitman j
       
      president and how he is elected.
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    Facts of greece government
dschnee d

Government and Politics - About Greece - 0 views

  • Greece (Ελλάδα, Hellada or Hellas), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Elliniki Dimokratia) is a Parliamentary Republic
  • The President, elected by Parliament every five years, is Head of State. The Prime Minister is Head of Government
  • General elections are normally held every four years unless the Parliament is dissolved earlier. The electorate consists of all Greek citizens who are 18 years of age. Each new Government, after a general election or after the previous government’s resignation, has to appear before Parliament and request a vote of confidence.
Daria N

Ancient Rome Government - 0 views

shared by Daria N on 01 Nov 11 - Cached
    • Livi E
       
      The people of Rome came up with the three branches of government.
    • Livi E
       
      The ruler would get credit for what he was doing but it didn't last long.
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    This is a really good resource for Roman Government.
dcs-armstrong

3 Branches of Government for Kids and Teachers - FREE Lesson Plans & Games for Kids - 0 views

    • dcs-armstrong
       
      When they say the Legislative branch "makes new laws" what they really mean is that the Legislative branch makes suggestions on what new laws should be. These suggestions are called "bills" it doesn't officially become a law until it goes through the entire process.
    • dcs-armstrong
       
      When they say the Legislative branch "makes new laws" what they really mean is that the Legislative branch makes suggestions on what new laws should be. These suggestions are called "bills" it doesn't officially become a law until it goes through the entire process.
  • he men who wrote the Constitution wanted to make sure that no one branch became too powerful
  • checks and balances
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  • president is the commander in chief
    • dcs-armstrong
       
      (He commands the army)
    • dcs-armstrong
       
      (He commands the army)
  • BUT - the president cannot get
  • money to pay anyone
  • without the approval of Congress.
  • nearly everyone appointed by the president
  • pproved by Congress before they can take office.
    • dcs-armstrong
       
      Think what vocabulary word describes the first line "The government of the United States is composed of three branches".
    • dcs-armstrong
       
      Think what vocabulary word describes the first line "The government of the United States is composed of three branches".
  • judicial branch
  • three branches
  • egislative branch
  • executive branch
  • executive branch sees that laws are carried out
  • legislative branch makes new laws
  • judicial branch makes sure that the laws
  • agree with the Constitution
Jacob L

History: Ancient Rome for Kids - 3 views

  • As a result, Rome's culture still has an impact in the Western world today. The basis for much of Western culture comes from Ancient Rome, especially in areas such as government, engineering, architecture, language, and literature.
    • Garth Holman
       
      Does this sound like something we have said before?  Who do you think influenced Rome? 
    • Jack R
       
      I think greece influnced rome
    • Ariel L
       
      The reading says that Rome was the basis of Western society, but I thought Greece was the basis of Wester society?
    • Yanai HS
       
      Greece
    • aleskov
       
      Greece began it, but Rome developed it.
    • Mallory C
       
      Greece
    • Jacob L
       
      Rome got their ideas from Greece
  • This meant that Rome's leaders, such as senators, were elected officials that served for a limited amount of time, not kings who were born into leadership and ruled for life. They had a complex government with written laws, a constitution, and a balance of powers. These concepts became very important in forming future democratic governments, like the United States.
    • Garth Holman
       
      What does this sound like?  Is it a radical Departure from Monarchy? 
    • aleskov
       
      Very much like our government.
  • The Roman Forum was the center of government
    • Garth Holman
       
      Where is our Forum today?  What takes place at our forum? 
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  • split Rome into two empires. One was the Western Roman Empire and was ruled out of the city of Rome. The other was the Eastern Roman Empire and was ruled out of Constantinople (today's Istanbul in Turkey). The Eastern Roman Empire would become known as Byzantium or the Byzantine Empire.
  • The fall of Rome generally refers to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It fell in 476 AD
  • Colosseum and the Roman Forum.
  • Circus Maximus, a huge stadium built for chariot races, could seat around 150,000 people.
    • Garth Holman
       
      This you can no longer see
  • fall of Western Rome is considered the start of the "Dark Ages" in Europe.
  • The highest position in the Roman Republic was the consul. There were two consuls at the same time to make sure that one didn't become too powerful.
  • was Latin, but they often spoke Greek as well.
    • Garth Holman
       
      If they spoke Greek, what does that tell us?  
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    Rome Overview!
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    Rome Overview!
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    Rome Overview!
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    Rome Overview!
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    Rome Overview!
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    Rome Overview!
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    Rome Overview!
missherlihy

Ancient Athens Democracy for Kids and Teachers - Ancient Greece for Kids - 2 views

  • A Representative Democracy: A government in which people vote for representatives. The representatives make rules and laws that govern themselves and the people. 
  • A Direct Democracy: A government in which people vote to make their own rules and laws
  • Only in Athens, and only for a short time, "rule by many"
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  • All citizens of Athens were required to vote on any new law that this body of 500 citizens created. One man, one vote, majority ruled. Women, children, and slaves were not citizens, and thus could not vote.
    • missherlihy
       
      Voting on new laws and changing old laws during this assembly happened at a location called a Pnyx.
    • shfowler
       
      Pnyx
    • akaw18
       
      Pnyx
    • bw_rharlan
       
      pnyx
    • bw_mrindsberg
       
      PnYx
    • samahkhan
       
      Pynx
    • dsteckner
       
      Pnyx
    • bzawatsky
       
      pnyx
    • bw_aabhriguvansh
       
      Pnyx
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    "A Direct Democracy: A government in which people vote to make their own rules and laws"
Lily S

Roman Government: Class Project - YouTube - 0 views

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    A video on Roman government
Kalina P

Barbara Ehrenreich: Nickel and Dimed (2011 Version) - 2 views

  • , “Make love not war,” and then -- down at the bottom -- “Screw it, just make money.”
  • A Florida woman wrote to tell me that, before reading it, she’d always been annoyed at the poor for what she saw as their self-inflicted obesity.
  • . I started with my own extended family, which includes plenty of people without jobs or health insurance, and moved on to trying to track down a couple of the people I had met while working on Nickel and Dimed
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  • widely read among low-wage workers. In the last few years, hundreds of people have written to tell me their stories: the mother of a newborn infant whose electricity had just been turned off, the woman who had just been given a diagnosis of cancer and has no health insurance, the newly homeless man who writes from a library computer.
  • t things have gotten much worse, especially since the economic downturn that began in 2008.
  • earned less than a barebones budget covering housing, child care, health care, food, transportation, and taxes -- though not, it should be noted, any entertainment, meals out, cable TV, Internet service, vacations, or holiday gifts. Twenty-nine percent is a minority, but not a reassuringly small one, and other studies in the early 2000s came up with similar figures.
  • -- the skipped meals, the lack of medical care, the occasional need to sleep in cars or vans -
  • The economy was growing, and jobs, if poorly paid, were at least plentiful.
  • many of these jobs had disappeared and there was stiff competition for those that remained
  • a healthy diet wasn’t always an option.  And if I had a quarter for every person who’s told me he or she now tipped more generously, I would be able to start my own foundation.
  • and and was subsisting on occasional cleaning and catering jobs. Neither seemed unduly afflicted by the recessi
  • suicide a “coping strategy,” but it is one way some people have responded to job los
  • Media attention has focused, understandably enough, on the “nouveau poor” -- formerly middle and even upper-middle class people who lost their jobs, their homes, and/or their investments in the financial crisis of 2008 and the economic downturn that followed it, but the brunt of the recession has been borne by the blue-collar working class, which had already been sliding downwards since de-industrialization began in the 1980s.
  • were especially hard hit for the simple reason that they had so few assets and savings to fall back on as jobs disappea
  • cut back on health care.
  • e to moves and suspensions of telephone service
  • Food i
  • “food auctions,” which offer items that may be past their sell-by dates.
  • urban hunting. In Racine, Wisconsin, a 51-year-old laid-off mechanic told me he was supplementing his diet by “shooting squirrels and rabbits and eating them stewed, baked, and grilled.” In Detroit, where the wildlife population has mounted as the human population ebbs, a retired truck driver was doing a brisk business in raccoon carcasses, which he recommends marinating with vinegar and spices.
  • ncrease the number of paying people per square foot of dwelling space -- by doubling up or renting to couch-surfer
  • “people who’ve lost their jobs, or at least their second jobs, cope by doubling or tripling up in overcrowded apartments, or by paying 50 or 60 or even 70 percent of their incomes in rent.”
  • g members of my extended family, have given up their health insurance.
  • - a government safety net that is meant to save the poor from spiraling down all the way to destitutio
  • The food stamp program has responded to the crisis fairly well, to the point where it now reaches about 37 million people, up about 30% from pre-recession levels.
  • ? There is a right to food stamps. You go to the office and, if you meet the statutory definition of need, they h
  • elp you. For welfare, the street-level bureaucrats can, pretty much at their own discretion, just say no.
  • Delaware residents who had always imagined that people turned to the government for help only if “they didn’t want to work.
  • ace a state-sponsored retraining course in computer repairs -- only to find that those skills are no longer in demand.
  • 44% of laid-off people at the time, she failed to meet the fiendishly complex and sometimes arbitrary eligibility requirements for unemployment benefits. Their car started falling apart.
  • Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.
  • TANF does not offer straightforward cash support like Aid to Families with Dependent Children, which it replaced in 1996. It’s an income supplementation program for working parents, and it was based on the sunny assumption that there would always be plenty of jobs for those enterprising enough to get them.
  • When the Parentes finally got into “the system” and began receiving food stamps and some cash assistance, they discovered why some recipients have taken to calling TANF “Torture and Abuse of Needy Families.” From the start, the TANF experience was “humiliating,” Kristen says. The caseworkers “treat you like a bum. They act like every dollar you get is coming out of their own paychecks.”
  • 40 jobs a week
  • miles a day to attend “job readiness” classes offered by a private company called Arbor, wh
  • were “frankly a joke.”
  • , “applying for welfare is a lot like being booked by the police.”  There may be a mug shot, fingerprinting, and lengthy interrogations as to one’s children’s true paternity. The ostensible goal is to prevent welf
  • fraud, but the psychological impact is to turn poverty itself into a kind of crime.
  • The most shocking thing I learned from my research on the fate of the working poor in the recession was the extent to which poverty has indeed been criminalized in America.
  • Perhaps the constant suspicions of drug use and theft that I encountered in low-wage workplaces should have alerted me to the fact that, when you leave the relative safety of the middle class, you might as well have given up your citizenship and taken residence in a hostile nation.
  • Most cities, for example, have ordinances designed to drive the destitute off the streets by outlawing such necessary activities of daily life as sitting, loitering, sleeping, or lying down. Urban officials boast that there is nothing discriminatory about such laws: “If you’re lying on a sidewalk, whether you’re homeless or a millionaire, you’re in violation of the ordinance,” a St. Petersburg, Florida, city attorney stated in June 2009, echoing Anatole France’s immortal observation that “the law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges...”
  • the criminalization of poverty has actually intensified as the weakened economy generates ever more poverty.
  • ordinances against the publicly poor has been rising since 2006, along with the harassment of the poor for more “neutral” infractions like jaywalking, littering, or carrying an open container.
  • ban on begging
  • grizzled 62-year-old, he inhabits a wheelchair and is often found on G Street in Washington, D.C. -- the city that is ultimately responsible for the bullet he took in the spine in Phu Bai, Vietnam, in 1972.
  • “They arrested a homeless man in a shelter for being homeless?”
  • , led by Las Vegas, passed ordinances forbidding the sharing of food with the indigent in public places, leadi
  • way to be criminalized by poverty is to have the wrong color skin. Indignation runs high when a celebrity professor succumbs to racial profiling, but whole communities are effectively “profiled” for the suspicious combination of being both dark-skinned and poor. Flick a cigarette and you’re “littering”; wear the wrong color T-shirt and you’re displaying gang allegiance. Just strolling around in a dodgy neighborhood can mark you as a potential suspect. And don’t get grumpy about it or you could be “resisting arrest.”
  • e government defunds services that might help the poor while ramping up law enforcement.
  •  Shut down public housing, then make it a crime to be homeless. Generate no public-sector jobs, then penalize people for falling into debt.
  • The experience of the poor, and especially poor people of color, comes to resemble that of a rat in a cage scrambling to avoid erratically administered electric shocks. And if you should try to escape this nightmare reality into a brief, drug-induced high, it’s “gotcha” all over again, because that of course is illegal too.
  • r staggering level of incarceration,
  • g. And what public housing remains has become ever more prison-like, with random police sweeps and, in a growing number of cities, proposed drug tests for residents.
  • The safety net, or what remains of it, has been transformed into a dragnet.
  • official level of poverty increasing -- to over 14% in 2010 -- some states are beginning to ease up on the criminalization of poverty, using alternative sentencing methods, shortening probation, and reducing the number of people locked up for technical violations like missing court appointments. But others, diabolically enough, are tightening the screws: not only increasing the number of “crimes,” but charging prisoners for their room and board, guaranteeing they’ll be released with potentially criminalizing levels of debt.
  • a higher minimum wage, universal health care, affordable housing, good schools, reliable public transportation, and all the other things we, uniquely among the developed nations, have neglected to do.
  • : if we want to reduce poverty, we have to stop doing the things that make people poor and keep them that way. Stop underpaying people for the jobs they do. Stop treating working people as potential criminals and let them have the right to organize for better wages and working conditions.
  • : if we want to reduce poverty, we have to stop doing the things that make people poor and keep them that way. Stop underpaying people for the jobs they do. Stop treating working people as potential criminals and let them have the right to organize for better wages and working conditions.
  • : if we want to reduce poverty, we have to stop doing the things that make people poor and keep them that way. Stop underpaying people for the jobs they do. Stop treating working people as potential criminals and let them have the right to organize for better wages and working conditions.
  • : if we want to reduce poverty, we have to stop doing the things that make people poor and keep them that way. Stop underpaying people for the jobs they do. Stop treating working people as potential criminals and let them have the right to organize for better wages and working conditions.
  • Stop the institutional harassment of those who turn to the government for help or find themselves destitute in the streets
  • But at least we should decide, as a bare minimum principle, to stop kicking people when they’re down.
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