Ideas from Greece and

England
Min Thant Tin
B.A. (Hons) (English), M.Hum. (Literature & Culture)
(Airlangga University, Indonesia)
 Ancient Greece and Rome

Greece Rome
• The majority of elected leaders • Direct rule through the popular election
was later adopted in ancient Rome.
and those deemed eligible voted
on their government’s policies. • Rome set up a representative
democracy in which eligible citizens
• Laws could be proposed by were allowed to elect officials to act on
anyone, and trials were held in their behalf.
public. • A senate devised laws, and magistrates
passed sentences at trial.
 The Model for Majority Rule
• These early attempts at democracy ultimately failed but they became the
model for future experiments in majority rule.
• One such place where democratic ideas took root was medieval England.
 The Beginning of English Monarchy
• After the victory of William of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings in
1066, the French-speaking Normans gradually merged with the native
Angles and Saxons of England.
• William established himself as a powerful monarch, and he greatly
expanded the system of taxation and royal courts begun by the Anglo-
Saxon kings.
• The power of the king expanded further under the reign of William’s heirs,
who could, without justification, banish, execute, or imprison their
subjects.
 Magna Carta 1215
• At Runnymede in 1215, a group of English nobles forced King John I to
accept and sign a document of rights called the Magna Carta, or Great
Charter.
• Its principles, or ideas, had a great influence on the development of
constitutional government.
 Due Process of Law
• One of the most important principles established by the Magna Carta was
due process of law.
• The Magna Carta said that “no freeman shall be seized or imprisoned . . .
except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.”
• The Magna Carta made it clear that everyone, including the monarch,
must follow the law.
 Individual Rights
• The Magna Carta defined English nobles’ individual rights that
the monarch could not take away. For example, the monarch
could not levy taxes without consent from the nobles
• guaranteed individuals accused of crimes to a trial by a jury of
their peers
• originally intended to guarantee the rights of English nobles but
these rights would be extended to most English people.
 Petition of Rights
• Later in the 1200s, Parliament was established to give voice to the people in
dealings with the state.
• In 1628, a conflict between Parliament and King Charles I led to another
important document called the Petition of Right.
• The Petition of Right further limited the monarch’s power by requiring the
king to get approval from Parliament before setting new taxes.
• It also outlined rules under which individuals could be punished or when
martial law could be declared.