1. Athens, in the 5th century, had a direct democracy. Which is different from the representative democracies of the modern world. However, there were much less people voting because only men who were of Athenian ancestry and they had to be 18 or older. Also, in this time those men had slaves who would do labor for them which allowed for them to go to debates and be involved in politics.
2. There were two types of legislative assemblies in the Roman Republic. There were "comitia" or committees that were assemblies of all citizens and there were "concilia" or councils that were assemblies of specific groups of citizens. Citizens were organized into tribes and centuries and each would gather into their respective assemblies. The "Comitia Centuriata" or Century Committee was the assembly of the centuries. A consul was usually the president of committee. The centuries would vote one at a time until the measures that they were voting on won the majority. They elected magistrates and censors and they were the only ones who could declare war and ratify the results of a census. The century assembly also serves as the highest court of appeal in certain judicial cases. The "Comitia Tributa" or the Tribune Committee was an assembly of Tribes. The Committee was comprised of 35 tribes and a consul presided over them. The tribes were originally created through geographical regions, but that practice ended with sons taking over their father's tribe spot and living in a different region. The tribes also voted one by one. However, the order that they voted in was determined through a lot. After one person voted they would pick the next name out of the lot. They believed that the gods chose the order through the lot, therefore the first person selected was the most important. The Tribes elected three different magistrates: Quaestors, Curule Aediles, and Military Tribunes. They also had the power to try judicial cases. The Plebian Council or "consilium plebis" was the principal popular assembly of the common citizens of the Roman Empire. Plebians were commoners. The Plebian council could pass laws, elect magistrates, and try judicial cases. Plebians could elect two Plebian Magistrates, the Plebian Tribune, and the Plebian Aediles. Usually the Plebian Tribune presided over the assembly, but sometimes the Plebian Aediles did also. The Council eventually gained control over almost all domestic legislation.
3. During the Roman Empire the practice of voting was lost in a sense. The Emperor now controlled everything and had absolute power. Emperors kept the Senate around though because they had experience with governing the empire and experience with war. The Emperor also sent out men who were in government to govern certain regions of the empire as it continued to grow.
4. The U.S. voting practices are mostly closely related to the voting practices of the Roman Republic. The different councils and committees are similar to our electoral college. However, there are some traces of the Ancient Greek's true democracy in that every citizen has one vote.
5. I think that the Ancient Greek way of voting was the best, even though it was only men of a certain age with an Athenian ancestry that could vote. I feel like those men who did vote were truly educated on the issues. They attended the assemblies during which any one could speak and voice their opinions. I think that those assemblies are still present today in America and there are many outlets to which any citizen could receive information about their candidate and outlets to which citizens can voice their opinions. I think it's great that every citizen over the age of 18 can vote in our country and I wish that we didn't need an electoral college. However, many people choose to not educate themselves, therefore their vote may be misguided. I think that the popular vote normally determines who the electoral college votes for, and there have been mistakes, but until the American people educate themselves on the issues, an electoral college is necessary.
http://www.cedarville.edu/academics/education/resource/schools/chca/othergrades/greecetd/greece1.htm#democracy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_Assemblies_of_the_Roman_Republic#Voting_procedure_2
http://www.unrv.com/government.php
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/faq.html#whyelectoralcollege
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