Political Systems of Athens

When I went to Athens, I found that in terms of government, similar to the USA, Athens had a democracy of their own at one time. Athens is claimed to be the birthplace of democracy. Ancient Athens had a direct democracy which is where people decide policy initiatives directly. The USA has a representative republic where the people elect representatives to vote and decide decisions for them. Present day Athens however does not have any form of democracy; instead it has a parliamentary republic. A parliamentary republic is a type of republic that operates under a parliamentary system of government where the executive branch derives its legitimacy from and is accountable to the legislature.

I did not gain as much information on politics as I did with culture, but I did learn that government has defintiely switched between anicent and present day Athens.