Features of Direct Democracy
What is a direct democracy?
A government where people vote on the rules and laws directly, instead of picking leaders to make the decisions for them.
Which branch of government wrote the laws to be voted on?
The Boule
This group made up the top social class in ancient Athens and was the only group with full political rights, including the right to vote.
Citizens
What continent is Athens located?
Europe
What is a Secret Ballot?
Voting method that protected voters' privacy and prevented peer pressure when deciding sensitive legal or political issues.
Which branch of government voted to approve or reject proposed laws?
The Ecclesia or Assembly
Free foreign residents who moved to Athens to work as merchants or craftspeople, paid taxes, but could not own land or vote.
Metics
The busy central marketplace in Athens where citizens and metics gathered to buy goods, trade, and discuss politics and public news.
Agora
What is a lottery?
System used to select government officials randomly, ensuring every citizen had an equal chance to serve regardless of wealth.
Which branch of government led trials and determined punishments in Athens?
The Dikasteria or courts
This social class made up a large portion of the Athenian population, had no legal rights or freedom, and were owned by individuals or the state.
Slaves
The open-air, rocky hill in Athens where the Ecclesia gathered every few weeks to debate and vote on proposed laws.
Pnyx Hill
What is equality under law?
The democratic principle that all citizens are subject to the same laws and receive equal protection and legal rights, regardless of wealth or status.
Which social class required a man to speak for them in the Law Courts?
Women
To qualify as a citizen in ancient Athens, a person had to meet three requirements regarding gender, age, and parentage. Name two of those requirements.
being male, being an adult (usually 18–20 years old), and having Athenian parents?
The 500 citizens chosen by lottery for the Boule met daily inside this building located in the Agora to prepare the agenda for assembly meetings.
Bouleterion
What is a Draconian Constitution?
An early Athenian legal code known for being extremely harsh, where nearly all crimes were punished by death.
Who could vote and be part of the Ecclesia?
any MALE citizen
Even though Athens is known as the birth of democracy, this major group of residents—making up roughly half the total population—was excluded from citizenship?
Women
This major physical feature of Greece's geography separated communities and forced them to develop as independent city-states rather than one single kingdom.
Mountains