The Greeks' Contribution to Western Civilization The Greeks have contributed to Western civilization with advancements in government and philosophy. One of the most commonly used governments in the world was from Athens. The Athenians ruled themselves with a type of government called a democracy. Right now the United States is governed by a democracy but there are a few differences. In Athens they were controlled by a direct democracy, which means all the free males voted on laws. In America we have a representative democracy, which means that the people vote for a representative they believe will do a good job voting on laws in the legislature. Anoth