Democracy in Ancient Athens and Democracy Today

Democracy in Ancient Athens and Democracy Today While wars today are fought in the name of democracy as if democracy were a moral ideal as well as an easily identifiable government style, it is not really that black and white. The inventors of democracy were the Greeks who lived in small city-states called poleis. Contact with the wide world was slower. Life lacked modern conveniences. Voting machines were primitive, at best. The people the ones who put the demo- in democracy were intimately involved in decisions that affected them and would be appalled that bills to be voted on now require reading through thousand-page tomes. They might be even more aghast that people actually vote on those bills without doing the reading. What Do We Call Democracy? The world was stunned when Bush was first named the winner of the U.S. presidential race, even after more U.S. voters had cast ballots for Gore. How could the U.S. call itself a democracy, yet not select its officials on the basis of majority rule? Well, part of the answer is that the U.S. was not established as a pure democracy, but as a republic where voters elect representatives and electors. Whether there has ever been anything close to a pure and total democracy is debatable. There has never been universal suffrage and Im not talking about voters disenfranchised by corruption or improper balloting and tallying. In ancient Athens, you had to be a citizen to vote. That left out more than half the population. Introduction Democracy [demos ~ the people; cracy kratos strength/rule, so democracy rule by the people] is considered an invention of the ancient Athenian Greeks. This page on Greek democracy brings together articles on the stages democracy went through in Greece, as well as the controversy Greek democracy caused, with passages from period thinkers on the institution of democracy and its alternatives.​ Democracy Helped Solve Ancient Greek Problems The ancient Athenian Greeks are credited with inventing the institution of democracy. Their governmental system wasnt designed for the enormous, spread-out, and diverse populations of modern industrialized countries, but even in their small communities [see Social Order of Athens], there were problems, and the problems led to inventive solutions. The following are roughly chronological problems and solutions leading to what we think of as Greek democracy: The Four Tribes of Athens: The ancient tribal kings were too weak financially and the uniform material simplicity of life enforced the idea that all tribesmen had rights. Society was divided into two social classes, the upper of which sat with the king in council for major problems.Conflict Between Farmers and Aristocrats: With the rise of the hoplite, non-equestrian, non-aristocratic army, ordinary citizens of Athens could become valued members of society if they had enough wealth to provide themselves the body armor needed to fight in the phalanx.Draco, the Draconian Law-Giver: The privileged few in Athens had been making all the decisions for long enough. By 621 B.C. the rest of the Athenians were no longer willing to accept arbitrary, oral rules of those who lay down the law and judges. Draco was appointed to write down the laws.Solons Constitution: Solon redefined citizenship so as to create the foundations of democracy. Before Solon, the aristocrats had a monopoly on the govern ment by virtue of their birth. Solon replaced the hereditary aristocracy with one based on wealth.city,coast, andinland. Cleisthenes and the 10 Tribes of Athens: When Cleisthenes became a chief magistrate, he had to face the problems Solon had created 50 years earlier through his compromising democratic reforms foremost among which was the allegiance of citizens to their clans. In order to break such loyalties, Cleisthenes divided the 140-200 demes (natural divisions of Attica and the basis of the word democracy) into 3 regions: Cleisthenes is credited with instituting moderate democracy. The Challenge - Is Democracy an Efficient System of Government? In ancient Athens, the birthplace of democracy, not only were children denied the vote (an exception we still consider acceptable), but so were women, foreigners, and slaves. People of power or influence werent concerned with the rights of such non-citizens. What mattered was whether or not the unusual system was any good. Was it working for itself or for the community? Would it be better to have an intelligent, virtuous, benevolent ruling class or a society dominated by a mob seeking material comfort for itself? In contrast with the law-based democracy of the Athenians, monarchy/tyranny (rule by one) and aristocracy/oligarchy (rule by the few) were practiced by neighboring Hellenes and Persians. All eyes turned to the Athenian experiment, and few liked what they saw. Beneficiaries of Democracy Endorse It On the following pages, youll find passages on democracy from some of the philosophers, orators, and historians of the time, many neutral to unfavorable. Then as now, whoever benefits from a given system tends to support it. One of the most positive positions Thucydides puts into the mouth of a leading beneficiary of the Athenian democratic system, Pericles.

International Corporate Reporting Issues Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

International Corporate Reporting Issues - Essay Example As the financial statements contain information about different aspects of the business that include revenue, assets, liabilities, equity, expenses, along with details and in a complete standardize format, further these statements are also audited which further add reliability to these financial statements, but the basis upon which these financial statement s are prepared involve some factors that may hinder the effective decision making process these factors include, Accounting estimates that are uses by preparers of financial statements while preparing these financial statements are subjective decisions, which is one of the big limitation of the financial statement as due to this factor the users of financial statements may be misled. Professional judgment uses by preparer of financial statement is also one of the reason which undermine theuses of financial statements, as it involve judgment in preparation of financial statements that may be wrong and can ultimately hit financial decision taken by users of financial statements on the basis of these financial statements. Verifiability of these financial statements through audit is not an absolute verifiable factor so one cannot take decisions like take over just on the basis of these financial statements while assuming that these are audited accounts, Historical costing is also one of the reason that may cause users of financial statements to be misled as in historical costing asset are carried in the books as cost of asset less accumulated depreciation that may not be the market value hence it may miss lead the users. Measurability is also one of the reason that undermine the uses of financial statements because it involve only those areas that can financially be measured and areas that cannot be valued or out of financial statements hence like good will and employees performance cannot be seen while reviewing financial

Impact of HR outsourcing and offshoring on attitudes and behaviour of Essay

Impact of HR outsourcing and offshoring on attitudes and behaviour of remaining employees - Essay Example he evidence from the present study on two groups of HR employees and on HR managers, it was clear that adverse impacts were caused by outsourcing, on employees’ emotions, job roles and the psychological contract. Further, there were detrimental outcomes in employees’ job satisfaction, motivation, and related factors. These adverse impacts were higher among the payroll employees, as compared to the project group employees who were generally confident of their present and future work roles in the company. This study is based on the theory of violation of psychological contract, and its link with the negative outcomes of outsourcing on HR in-house employees. Significantly, the HR managers expressed satisfaction in their transition to outsourcing, and believed that their employees also had a positive approach to the change. The significance of change management is recognized. Optimization of the change management process in INT Corporation using the ten principles of Corbett (2004), would facilitate a smooth transition to outsourcing, and positive impacts on in-house HR employees. Human Resource (HR) departments of companies expect to continue implementing their current strategies of outsourcing HR services. One of the main reasons is to reduce costs due to the weakened economy. Moreover, outsourcing helps to solve a number of operational problems and improves the efficiency of HR functions in an organization. By gaining access to outside expertise, service quality is improved greatly. Thus, â€Å"with the need to reduce costs, improve efficiency and maintain high levels of employee service† (Hewitt Associates 2009: 3), it is becoming increasingly important for HR to outsource some of their functions in order to deliver higher value to the business. Due to the significant benefits in HR outsourcing, it is vital to ensure that the transition to outsourcing is carried out in the best possible manner. â€Å"The foundation for a successful launch is built in throughout

Government Aid in Africa’s Education Essay Example for Free

Government Aid in Africa’s Education Essay America has had a great influence on Africa’s developing education system. The reason I have chosen this article is because it gives a brief look into how American organizations have played a big role in the advancement of Africa’s education. The article informs me that some of the same educational programs African-Americans are provided with in the U. S. were exported to Africa. The cities that already had a decent economy received them first. In the 1970’s Europe and America promoted education to Africa but many rejected the programs. They supported missionary and independent African schools because they provided higher training and education. Within the book, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, it states how the books that William borrowed from the library were donated by an American organization. Without those key books on physics and engineering William probably would not be where he is today. This article proves how much of an influence America has had on the rise of Africa’s education. I wanted to know how much assistance did Africa’s education development received from America. The article shows how American organizations have made a great impact in Africa’s education. Unfortunately the article didn’t give me all of the exact information that is needed. Indeed, it states the programs that have basically helped Africa stats its educational foundation. It lacks information on America’s current government help. It also does not tell the current state of Africa’s educational system. Information on more organizations and grants that have helped is also need. Research Improvement Completing this assignment has improved my research strategies exponentially. The school advance search has helped me out a lot with this assignment. At first my research strategies were poor and not at the collegiate level but now they are improved. I believe they will enhance throughout my years in college now. I am extremely proud of myself and thankful for the librarian showing us this great way to do research.

Does Dickens create a rrealistic figure in the character of Scrooge? :: English Literature

Does Dickens create a rrealistic figure in the character of Scrooge? A Christmas Carol When people read or watch a ghost story, they have certain expectations of it. People would usually expect the story to be scary, have an eerie feel, and have appropriate, creepy settings such as a graveyard or derelict house. Most ghost stories use darkness to create the right atmosphere. There is usually a wide range of characters such as a hero/heroin, a damsel in distress or someone in danger, a victim, horrible and creepy characters that maybe outcasts and most obviously a ghost. People expect the story to have a scary opening, that draws them in into the story making them want to read on, but that doesn't give anything away. The opening often gives some background information on the characters. There is quite often a murder or disappearance to be investigated. Most ghost stories have a closed ending where the mystery is solved or the ghost is disposed of. Fear, suspense and foreshadowing are important features in the plot of a ghost story. All of these factors usually crop up in a typical ghost story. Older ghost stories tend to be text based where as newer ones can be found in other media, such as films. Many films and television series of ghost stories have been produced. The more recent ones tend to drift away from the criteria of a typical ghost story by combining with other genres; where as the older stories seem to follow the expected features of a ghost story much more closely. The more modern ghost story films have mixed with the horror genre because it adds to the atmosphere of the story and makes it scarier. Ghost story films and TV programmers usually drift away from the typical ghost story line because they don't stick just to the ghost story genre; they tend to mix in other genre such as romance, murder mystery and especially horror! This is because the aspect of horror in the ghost story creates a scarier atmosphere that keeps the viewer interested. Films and TV mix other genres such as romance and mystery to keep the viewer interested and to make the storyline different, unique, so it's not similar to other films and programmers. It also enables the ghost story to have a twist in the storyline making it much less predictable there for drawing the viewer into the story and making them want to keep watching. Some examples of these are 'What lies beneath' and 'The Sixth Sense'. Both these ghost stories have a major twist in the plot very near the end and both keep the viewer in

Implication of resource and technical developments Essay

Introduction Technological development in football the last 30 years, football has developed dramatically. Improvements have been made not only in terms of footwear, footballs, goal keeping gloves and other general equipment, but also in terms of training methods and the attitude towards the professional game (i.e. drugs in sport and dieting in particular). Training and attitude over the last 30 years, most training methods have become much more specific to the sport, so sports players can become specialized at one particular activity. Describing the benefits of technological developments in football and the design of football equipment such as advanced features and benefits of football boots which are, light weight and are made of such materials as kangaroo leather. Most top level players have sock-liners which fit with the contours of foot to provide extra comfort and strategically placed traction blades provide maximum grip. Football boots help with a players grip, acceleration and turning ability. Footballs have had technological advancements such as having air retention system, being high density and having a high abrasion surface which provides extra durability. The match balls played with in the premiership is precision engineered to exact standards to ensure that it is produced to within 3g of its ideal weight and to an exact circumference of 68.5cm. The benefits of the newer footballs are the increased swerve that the ball offers and a better accuracy of passing. The football boots worn by British teams’ right up to the fifties weighed around 550 grams, and the heaviest part was the steel toe cap. Today, football boots weigh a mere 150 to 175 grams and fit snugly around the foot like a second skin. With just 100 grams less on each foot, a player taking around 10,000 steps during a 90 minute match needs to move approximately two tons less weight during the game. But having these technological developments in football equipment really affect the level of standard we compete at in today’s sporting environment or have branding companies such as Addidas, Nike and Reebok just used this so called advance to get us buying their new equipment. Testing What I’m hoping to find out is what, if any, has the development of footballing equipment such as football boots and footballs played in refining and advancing a performance or weather the equipment used 10 years ago was adequate enough to play with in today’s game with affecting performance. To carry this research out I have devised an experiment using the most up-to-date sporting equipment and the equivalent from 10 years ago, to find out weather the advance of technological development can really improve a performance. I will analyze a competitive situation in a 5-a-side match where agility, accuracy, power and balance are needed; one team will have the developed equipment and the other the standard equipment. I will statistically record the whole game when it comes to shots on and off target, possession of the ball, first players to the ball and overall performance. To make the test valid the teams will swap equipment at half time. Evaluation From analyzing my research I found startling evidence, I found that there was hardly any difference, if any between the two types of equipment. Looking at my finding the developed equipment had marginal advantages on its predecessors. What is did find was that the team with the advanced equipment didn’t seem to work as hard to keep up with the pace of the game the competing team had to work much harder to compete at the same level as their competition. This may be a huge factor as the level of football progresses when it comes to marginal factor that make a team successful advances in technology make the difference. From analyzing the game is the amount of injury the team with the new developed boots suffered. One individual who wore the equipment could feel the brunt of the challenge much more than the thicker material from the older boots, also one of the players suffered knee injury in the advanced boots. This issue caused me consider whether this new technological advanced in equipment can really refining a players performance or damage it. The function of the football boot is basic it provides some means of attachment to the playing surface whilst encasing the foot for protection, however this causes the player to go in one direction and to leave his foot behind and now with the development of football boots grip has become even more robust with grip causing serious injury if fixed to the surface. No shoe can ever guarantee full protection against injuries, because there exists a conflict between the function of the shoe and the interests of the human body. But with the continuous development of boots this issue may be discarded in the favour of the best boots on the market rather than enhancing an individual performance. Statistically speaking when comparing the two type of equipment the developed boots were more consistent so when discussing on refining a performance the technological development of football equipment can help to make progression at your level by offering you an easy way of improving, by that I mean you can still improve and refine your performance without buying the latest equipment but from analyzing new and old technologies the transition will be much harder. How I feel about the development of football equipment with refining a performance with regards to the lack of protection given by modern football boots, and the repercussion in terms of player injuries, there seems little to suggest that the major manufacturers are going to give up their quest for the lightest football boot for a more protective one. The proliferation of big money sponsorship deals, namely Nike Ronaldinho, Adidas with David Beckham and Reebok with Thierry Henry, has become a huge factor that drives the success and sales of a football boot maker, but is viewed as at a cost of injury and stagnation in football boot research and development. All we can predict for the future is integration with sensor technology, lighter and more powerful football boots and more outlandish designs and styles rather than the simple quest on improving an individual.

Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter - 2037 Words

Scarlet Letter Final Essay In The Scarlet Letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne examines the moral consequences of sin, or an offense against religious or moral law, and poses the question to his readers; can individuals be redeemed for their sins? The two central characters in the novel, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, both commit the sin of adultery. However, each character deals with their wrongdoing in opposite ways. Initially it seems that Hester Prynne’s sin is worse than that of Reverend Dimmesdale due to her sin being visible to all of society. Even though Hester’s sin causes her alienation from society, she is able to find independence while living on her own that gives her strength. On the other hand, town reverend Arthur†¦show more content†¦The agony he suffers is apparent in chapter 17 wThe agony he endures is seen in chapter 17, â€Å"Had I one friend, or were it my worst enemy! To whom, when sickened with the praises of all other men, I could daily betake myself and be known as the vilest of all sinners, methinks my soul might keep itself alive thereby. Even thus much of truth would save me! But now, it is all falsehood! All emptiness! All death! (Hawthorne 235). He is overcome with guilt, but knows his secular position as town reverend justifies his suffering because his admittance of sin would result in the degradation of the church. The emotionally dilapidated Dimmesdale achieves redemption by selflessly sacrificing his well being in the name of the church, despite the wilting guilt he is overcome with. However some view the concealment of his sin from the rest of society as a sin within itself. In his analysis of the Scarlet Letter, Richard Brodhead opposes the notion that Dimmesdale is able to redeem himself for his sins on the grounds that his guilt only â€Å"renews his sin of concealment.† Brodhead states, â€Å"by concealing going through the forms of penitence without actually revealing his guilt Dimmes dale only succeeds in renewing his sin of concealment† (Brodhead 167). However, this is untrue because his concealment is endured for the reputation of the church as well as the greater good of society. According to puritan code, church is the head of