The road to democracy was neither straight nor smooth. :: essays research papers

The pathway to achieving a government of social equality in Greece was not without difficulties and deviations. Breaking aristocratic power and influence and giving power to the common people was a process full of many obstructions and difficulties. As J.M Roberts put it  ¡Ã‚ ¥democracy emerged out of Athens unexpectedly and at first almost unobserved ¡Ã‚ ¦ (Roberts, J.M, 2002 p. 196). The changes that took place in their politics were gradual and therefore it was influenced by many rulers, events and mistakes. Although steps were taken backward in the course of democracy, the people of Athens learnt from these mistakes and strived for a better way of ruling their state. The road to democracy was a slow and plodding development. Early signs that a democracy could emerge in Athens came from them adopting egalitarian attitudes and ideas from the other city states, the colonies abroad and the hoplite phalanx. The Athenians embraced values from the city states around them. In Sparta, a citizen was a member of society who was automatically entitled to certain (even if few) rights. This mindset of equality was later adopted by the Athenians. They also took on some Spartan ¡Vtype equality values concerning warfare. Colonisation also had important social and political repercussions on the Greek homeland. Colonisation softened the Greeks and opened their mind to different cultures, ideas and forms of Government. Some men must have returned to Greece after living in colonies, bringing with them new ideas and impressions on how to run a political government (Roberts J.M, 2002). The hoplite phalanx was also a great influence on the values and principles to whi ch democracy came to be based on. Broader participation was introduced and  ¡Ã‚ ¥relying on each ¡Ã‚ ¦,  ¡Ã‚ ¥working together ¡Ã‚ ¦ and  ¡Ã‚ ¥fighting as one ¡Ã‚ ¦ were all concepts that were imperative to the hoplites (Roberts J.M, 2002). It was over about three centuries that these changes of growth and development were made. So although the Athenians were moving forward in establishing an innovative form of government called democracy, it was a slow and protracted process. The road to democracy was not easy and straightforward, for many of the citizens were not accepting of the changes being made. Many good leaders such as Solon had started to weaken aristocratic privilege and give rich traders and manufacturers as much power as the nobles. Solon was the bringer of social justice; he allowed all citizens to prosecute wrongdoers in public lawsuits (JH Routledge, 2000).