Greeks went through a long and enduring process in their political journey to achieve civilization. The era of the kings and emperor where the command was not supposed to be questioned marked the beginning of their civilization journey. During this era, only a few selected elites were involved in the decision making for the thousands of people who were not allowed to question any process that was ongoing. However, the Hellenic innovation of the true politics widened the idea of democracy and decision making (Pavlac, p. 52). In the ancient Greek, people had the opportunity to participate in decision making and could take part in questioning who pays tax and how much is to be paid by every individual. This was after the abandonment of the absolute monarchies, where the kings wholly took part in making decisions on behalf of the many individuals. Certain ideas of the Greek government are similar to and are being applied and used in the modern governments. Modern governments exhibit democracy in decision making, acceptance of political ideologies, use of wealth to ascend to power and the exclusion of children in political decisions, the same elements that were witnessed in the ancient Greek government and politics.
The ancient Greek government had politics of democracy where people were involved in decision making. After the Hellenic innovation of the true politics and democracy, the politics moved away from the old dictatorial rule where decisions were only made by a few individuals who were in power (Pavlac, p. 53). In democratic rule witnessed in the ancient Greek, people could make important decisions for themselves. For example, people taxed themselves and decided in common whether to go to war or not. The leadership no longer had control of all important decisions as the people were granted power to make their own decisions. This was after the rejection of the old system of the kingship rule where the king and a few people were responsible for making decisions, and no one was allowed to question such decisions (Pavlac, p. 53). The democratic idea of government applied in the ancient Greek is still applied in most modern governments today. Modern governments give the people power to make important decisions concerning their lives (Plato, p. 68). It is not the responsibility of the leader to make all significant decision. Mainly in modern government, the leader is just a representative of the people, and he has to rule with the decisions of the people. This is thus a major similarity between the ancient Greek idea of government and the modern idea of government.
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Different political ideologies were accepted during the ancient Greek politics. Although the two opposing sides could hardly agree to lose to each other, each group had their political ideologies which were accepted by the other opponent (Pavlac, p. 56). While people could disagree politically and even create war and almost anarchy in the nation, the opposing sides could finally agree and move the nation together. A truly functional democracy requires the rule of law and at least two ideologies that are opposing each other (Pavlac, p. 56). Rules have meant that a change should be guided by process and not violent power. In ancient Greek, the existence of opposing ideologies further helped structured the ground for debate. People were allowed to hold a divergent opinion. Hellenes developed two basic political directions that are still in existence to date. The modern governments and modern politics have also embraced the idea of having and accepting opposing ideas and opinions. In modern politics, one is allowed to criticize an opponent by holding an opposing opinion. Also, one can differ with the government in opinion when it comes to various decisions and ideologies. Having opposing ideologies is, therefore, a similarity to both the ancient Greek political ideas and the modern governments.
In the ancient Greek, the rich and the wealthy class majorly dominated the politics. Despite the struggle to eliminate the political roles from the royal dynasties and the wealthy class, the war seemed difficult to win. A few wealthy families still dominated the politic and used their wealth to ascend to power (Pavlac, p. 53). The well-connected families run many things in a nation, and they supported their power through their wealth which included control of land, businesses, and monopoly of leadership in war. Such magnitude of wealth enhanced their chances of rising to power than the low-income families (Pavlac, p. 54). Similarly, most modern governments and politics are dominated by the wealthy class. The rich use their wealth and resources to manipulate voters who intern vote in their favor. While the low-income individuals have limited resources to manipulate voters effectively and ascend to power, ruling class has been mainly taken up by the rich, high-class business individuals. Thus, in both ancient Greek and modern governments, politics is majorly dominated by the wealthy class.
In conclusion, ancient Greek politics and government had the idea of democracy and collective decision making where individuals were given a chance to take part in making certain significant decisions. Similarly, political ideologies were accepted despite the sharp differences that were witnessed d by the opposing sides (Pavlac, p. 55). One could give a divergent opinion, and this was an accepted right in the ancient Greek. Also, politics was significantly dominated by the wealthy and high-class business people who would use their wealth to gain influence and ascend to power. These three ideas are still very evident in the modern governments and politics. Opposing political ideologies, democracy and participative decision making and political domination by the wealthy are all practiced in modern governments and politics.
Reference
Pavlac, B. A. (2015). A concise survey of Western Civilization: Supremacies and diversities throughout history . Rowman & Littlefield: 52-57
