THE BIRTH OF DEMOCRACY

The island• What are your rights?• What are your top 10

laws?• What is the punishment

for breaking each law?• Who decides these

laws?• Who enforces these

laws?• What are the most

important jobs that must be filled?

• How do you determine which classmate works what job?

Island debriefing • Describe your government.

• Was there a leader?

• Were their people who were more outspoken then others?

• Did you do a formal vote for decisions or were things presented and people would agree or disagree?

• If you did a formal vote, did you do it for every decision?

• Was there conflict? If so how was it resolved?

Is a picture worth 1,000 words?Directions: Examine the image.

What are the first words that pop into your head?What do you think it is saying about the U.S. in comparison to

the rest of the world?Is it accurate?

WHAT IS DEMOCRACY?For many years societies have lived under the command of kings and other rulers who held absolute power. In other words they could make any laws without without the consent of anyone.

The opposite of absolute power is something called democracy, in which the people govern themselves while using councils and agreed upon laws.

WHAT IS DEMOCRACY?The origins of democracy can be traced back to Ancient Greece and Rome. However, the two ancient civilizations differed as to how democracy should be set up.

Ancient GreeceBelieved in a limited form of direct democracy. In a direct democracy, citizens represented themselves in councils. A modern country that most closely uses a direct democracy is Switzerland.

RomePreferred a republic. This was an indirect democracy in which citizens rule through representatives. They representatives are elected by the people. The United States is considered a democratic republic.

Where in the world were the Roman and Greek Empires?

Greco-Roman Views on Democracy

Greco-Roman is simply a way we describe the basic Ancient views of both the Greek and Roman in regards to democracy. This differs but influenced Judeo-Christian views of democracy.Greco-Roman Views –• Citizens participate in the government buy debating in public, voting,

being on juries, holding office, and creating laws.• They use natural laws that were discovered through intellect and

reason, not superstition.• There should be a written law• Democracy is protected with branches of government.

• Legislative: Individuals who make the laws. • Executive: Individuals who approve laws.• Judicial: Individual who resolve legal disputes.

Judeo-Christian Views supporting democracy

Judeo-Christian means a combination of common beliefs held by Jewish and Christian individuals and is similar but has subtle differences.• All people have value and dignity because they were

created by God.• All people have free will. This is the act of being able

to choose right or wrong.• All people have the responsibility to help others in

need.• As Christianity spread through the Roman Empire (400

C.E) it slowly became the dominant religion of Europe.

Researching democracy

For your homework you will be conducting online research on democracy.Find a website/video/article online that discusses the basics of early democracy. Be sure to include the name and URL of the website.

a. Dawn of Democracyb. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtn-BZH_xU0

Take notes while you watch your video.Identify how credible your source is. (Mine is credible)In your own words, summarize your source and name three things you learned.