The U.S. is a democracy, right? Well, the inventors of Democracy might disagree. Our system of government got its start in ancient Athens, and democracy was a lot different back then. Each Greek citizen (just males) voted not on who would represent them, but on the issues themselves.
Imagine that in the U.S. today: 300 million plus men and women voting on every political issue. Could it work? We might have the technology to do it now, but while America’s founding fathers recognized the potential in this novel system of government, they were also wary of mob rule. Is there a danger in giving too much power to the people or is that just what we need right now? There’s still much to be learned from that first democratic experiment in ancient Greece.
Video courtesy of The National Hellenic Society.