Many historians locate the roots and origins of America’s Democratic-Republic in the political philosophy and form of government that emerged in 5th Century BC Athens. Describe or explain the relative similarities and differences between early Athenian democracy and the form of government adopted by America’s Founding Fathers. What ideals were common to both? Do you think the ideals that theoretically provided the foundation for Athenian democracy were fully embraced by the 5th Century Athenian government? Explain your answer.
Your paper should be 5-7 pages in length, typed, double-space, 12-pt font. Please format your paper according to Chicago Style. Provide a title-page, 5-7 pages of text with footnotes, and a bibliography. Be sure to support your main points with properly referenced citations to external sources. Your paper should draw from at least five (5) legitimate, peer-reviewed, scholarly sources. You may use our textbook as one source, but Wikipedia, history.com, Brittanica, and other popular sources drawn from the web are not acceptable. This point is absolutely critical. I want you to use scholarly, peer-reviewed articles and books drawn from databases such as JSTOR and the McKillop Library. Even web-pages on democracy or Ancient Greece associated with other universities are not appropriate. We shall discuss this point at length in class and I will show you how to find legitimate sources.
The writing prompt above include several distinct questions. Your task is to create a cohesive paper that addresses all of these questions in narrative form. Do not approach this assignment as though you are taking a short-answer exam. Instead, you should develop a well-organized, sufficiently researched, well-written paper, consisting of an introduction, approximately 10-15 paragraphs, and a substantive conclusion.
Again, we will devote some of our class time to this assignment during our first several weeks of class. As always, please keep your eyes on this space (Canvas) for more information.
