Democracy: Ancient to Modern

Catalog description

(EU) Offered Intermittently. During the 6th century BCE, the Greeks developed a new form of government that they called demokratia (literally, rule by the people), whose defining characteristics were equality among and meaningful political participation by all citizens, regardless of their socio-economic status. In this course, we will conduct an in-depth exploration of this historically distinctive form of government. We will also compare Greek democracies to subsequent institutions that have been described as democratic; examine the impact of Greek democracy on the development of modern political thought; and use our knowledge of Greek political history to reflect on issues of contemporary importance, such as the relationship between democracy per se and other normative goals that we often conflate with democracy (e.g., liberty, equality, and toleration).