What contributions did the roman republic make to the formation of american political thought?
The Roman Republic offered up the primary model for the American government after the American Revolution. The Founding Fathers feared pure democracy, with some just cause. So they ignored Athenian Greece to look instead at the Republic for a way to model the new government. The Roman Republic was set up on the basis of Tribes, who voted for particular candidates of certain offices. In turn these representatives would form the voting base for higher offices, or stand as candidates for those offices. Powers were carefully spelled out for each office, and the highest offices of all, the Consuls, were elected two at a time. The idea was that the two would balance each other, and restrict frivolous spending. They also set term limits, most often a term of a single year. While this would erode and certain officials would hold the same office for years at a time, this did discourage individuals from gaining to much power by staying in office too long. All these ideas appealed to the Founding
