Democracy is an important component of government policy in the modern world we live in; some argue that it is the only true form of “practiced politics” because democracy takes into account the interests of other individuals. The realm of democracy is where ideas are shared because no being can ever possess the notion of an absolute truth. Democracy sanctioned the presentation of multiple ideas that diversified perspectives on a single problem. Since the origins of democracy are documented in ancient Greece, this form of “government” by “the people” as the corresponding roots of “kratos” and “demos” would define it. The Athenians practiced the form of democracy known as developmental democracy. In this form, democracy exists as a system for promoting the efforts of individual citizens within a progressive society while taking into account the good of society. Participants are chosen by lot and divided by tribal territory to join the ecclesia where policies are created. Laws are made with the intention of embracing every single citizen without giving any artificial advantage to one citizen over another. Power in Athens was divided among the people, otherwise known as the polis. The Greeks participated in direct democracy which allowed participating citizens to lead the flow of decision-making efforts. The capacity for self-government granted the Greek citizen the sense of freedom, or eleutheria, which is due to the ability and responsibility to make decisions. grant grants through participatory governance for a self-governing city-state. The right to take part in social affairs over the state also added to the freedom enjoyed by property-owning citizens. Personal contribution, even if... middle of paper... due to the division of powers between those who have neither property nor consolidated social ties. This balkanized a potentially abuseable luxury normally present only among the rich and few, to the point that a police state was not easily mobilized to control the private lives of the Roman people. The separation of tasks into different branches not only increased efficiency due to the concentration of tasks between specialized parts, but also helped to protect the overall interests of the whole. Works Cited Crick, B. (2002). Democracy: a brief introduction. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.Held, D. (1996). Models of democracy. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. Lakoff, S. (1996). Democracy: history, theory, practice. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Machiavelli, N. (1970). The speeches. London, England: Penguin.