The birth of democracy?

So to truly maintain the historic side of this blog, I have travelled to the birthplace of modern intellectual thought, where advances in science, democracy and philosophy put down markers for the whole of western civilization. Pretty impressive eh? Well I will fail to encapsulate the whole magnitude of Athens' history, partly due to my limited time here - partly due its lengthy importance to Greek, Roman and Byzantine empires that spanned 2,000 years. The Parthenon, built in the 5th century, towers over the city, as a flag bearer for democracy - Athenian democracy. Considering western Europe has had this source of democracy for 2,500 years, we should be hasty when analysing other parts of the world who have experienced it for a mere 25 years. Like modern day democracy, the Greek model was not flawless. Whether this implies that it is a fallible ideology like any other or that it requires maturity is an interesting question. Fukuyama may have it as the final answer, but man's corruption will corrupt any ideology no matter how perfect it is. I will be visiting the Parthenon tomorrow and I will tell you whether democracy is an ideology for all history or one of purely temporary and modern success....well, Athens like democracy is a bit of an evolving building site. Thankfully they completed their 2004 Olympics schedule on queue (London 2012 take note) but sound of construction is quite prevalent. None less than at the top of the Acropolis, although it is only re-construction, the works there show that supposed perfection will be damaged, deliberated over and rebuilt. Democracy needs re-construction they say. So towering over Athens, surrounded by the white roofed pastures, the Parthenon tries to rise above modernity but is also reliant on it for preservation.