History of democracy
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{{Democracy}}
[[Democracy]] is a political system in which all the members of the society have equal access to power. The '''history of democracy''' traces back from its origins in [[ancient world]] to its re-emergence and rise from the [[17th century]] to the present day.
==Antiquity==
===Pre-historic origins===
Although it is tempting to assume that democracy was created in one particular place and time —identified as [[Ancient Athens]] about the year 508 BC<ref name="BKDunn1992">John Dunn, ''Democracy: the unfinished journey 508 BC - 1993 AD'', Oxford University Press, 1994, ISBN 0198279345</ref><ref name="BKThorley">J. Thorley, "Athenian Democracy", Routledge, 1996, ISBN 0415129672, [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fK1Iz1qqBqUC Google Books link]</ref>— evidence suggests that democratic government, in a broad sense, existed in several areas of the world well before the turn of the 5th century.<ref name="BA0"/>
Within this broad sense it is plausible to assume that democracy in one form or another arises naturally in any well-bounded group, such as a [[tribe]]. The scholars name this as [[tribalism]] or ''primitive democracy''. The ''primitive democracy'' is identified in small communities or villages when the following take place: face-to-face discussion in the village council or a headman whose decisions are supported by village elders or other cooperative modes of government.<ref name="BA1"> [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-36707 Political System] Encyclopædia Britannica Online</ref>
Nevertheless, on larger scale sharper contrasts arise when the village and the city are examined as political communities. In urban governments all other forms of rule namely [[monarchy]], [[tyranny]], [[aristocracy]], and [[oligarchy]] have flourished.<ref name="BA0"> [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-233828 Democracy] Encyclopædia Britannica Online</ref>
===Alternative Origins===
For much of the long history of the ancient Mediterranean world, [[Ancient Greece|Greece]] was a cultural backwater and developed complex social and political institutions long after the appearance of the earliest civilizations in [[Egypt]] and [[Near East]]. In recent decades scholars have explored the possibility that advancements toward democratic government occurred somewhere else first.<ref name="Robinson"/>
====Mesopotamia====
[[Image:GilgameshTablet.jpg|100px|thumb|right|The tablet containing the epic of [[Gilgamesh]].]]
[[Thorkild Jacobsen]] has studied the pre-[[Babylonian]] Mesopotamia and uses [[Sumerian]] epic, myth and historical records to identify what he calls ''primitive democracy.'' By this he means a government in which ultimate power rests with the mass of free male citizens, although "the various functions of government are as yet little specialized, the power structure is loose". In the early period of Sumer, kings such as [[Gilgamesh]] did not hold the [[autocracy|autocratic]] power which later Mesopotamia rulers wielded. Rather, major [[city-state]]s had a council of elders and a council of "young men" (likely to be comprised by free men bearing arms) that possessed the final political authority, and had to be consulted on all major issues such as war.<ref>Jacobsen T., Primitive Democracy in Ancient Mesopotamia, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 2, No. 3 (Jul., 1943), p. 159-172</ref>
This pioneering work, while constantly cited, has invoked little serious discussion and less outright acceptance. The criticism from other scholars focuses on the use of the word "democracy", since the same evidence also can be interpreted convincingly to demonstrate a power struggle between primitive monarchs and the nobility, a struggle in which the common people act more as pawns than the sovereign authority.<ref>N. Bailkey, "Early Mesopotamian Constitutional Development", American History Review, 72, (1967), p/ 1211–1236</ref> Jacobsen concedes that the vagueness of the evidence prohibits the separation between the ''Mesopotamian democracy'' from a ''primitive oligarchy''.<ref name="Robinson">Robinson Eric W., ''The First Democracies: Early Popular Government Outside Athens'', Franz Steiner Verlag, 1997, ISBN 3515069518</ref>
====India====
A serious claim for early democratic institutions comes from the independent "republics" of India, ''[[sangha]]s'' and ''[[gana]]s'', which existed as early as the sixth century BCE and persisted in some areas until the fourth century CE. The evidence is scattered and no pure historical source exists for that period. In addition, [[Diodorus]] (a Greek historian at the time of [[Alexander the Great]]'s invasion of India), without offering any detail, mentions that independent and democratic states existed in India.<ref>Dio. 2.39</ref> However, modern scholars note that the word ''democracy'' at the third century BC had been degraded and could mean any autonomous state no matter how oligarchic it was.<ref>Larsen, J. A. O., Demokratia, Classical Philology, Vol. 68, No. 1 (Jan., 1973), p. 45-46 </ref><ref>de Sainte Croix G. E. M., The Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World, Ithaca, 1981</ref>
The main characteristics of the ''gana'' seem to be a monarch, usually called [[raja]] and a deliberative assembly. The assembly met regularly in which at least in some states attendance was open to all free men, and discussed all major state decisions. It had also full financial, administrative, and judicial authority. Other officers, who are rarely mentioned, obeyed the decisions of the assembly. The monarch was elected by the ''gana'' and apparently he always belonged to a family of the noble ''[[Kshatriya|K'satriya]] [[Varna (Hinduism)|Varna]]''. The monarch coordinated his activities with the assembly and in some states along with a council of other nobles.<ref name="Robinson"/>
Scholars differ over how to describe these governments and the vague, sporadic quality of the evidence allows for wide disagreements. Some emphasize the central role of the assemblies and thus tout them as democracies; other scholars focus of the upper class domination of the leadership and possible control of the assembly and see an [[oligarchy]] or an [[aristocracy]].<ref name="Bongard">Bongard-Levin G. M., A complex study of Ancient India, 1996</ref><ref name="Sharma">Sharma J. P., Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India, 1968</ref> Despite the obvious power of the assembly, it has not yet been established if the composition and participation was truly popular. The first main obstacle is the lack of evidence describing the popular power of the assembly. This is reflected in the ''[[Arthashastra|Arthra' sastra]]'', an ancient handbook for monarchs on how to rule efficiently. It contains a chapter on dealing with the ''sangas'', which includes injunctions on manipulating the noble leaders, yet it does not mention how to influence the mass of the citizens – a surprising omission if democratic bodies, not the aristocratic families, actively controlled the republican governments.<ref>Trautmann T. R., ''Kautilya and the Arthra' sastra'', Leiden 1971</ref> Another issue is the persistence of the four-tiered Varna class system.<ref name="Bongard"/> The duties and privileges on the members of each particular caste – which were rigid enough to prohibit someone sharing a meal with those of another order – must have affected the role members were expected to play in the state, regardless of the formal institutions. Hence, the lack of the concept of citizen equality to counterbalance the strict caste system, questions the true nature of ''ganas'' and ''sanghas'' with seemingly democratic institutions.<ref name="Sharma"/>
===Ancient Sparta===
{{details|Sparta}}
[[Image:Lycurgus bas-relief in the U.S. House of Representatives chamber.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Bas-relief of Lycurgus, one of 23 great lawgivers depicted in the chamber of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]].]]
Ancient Greece in its early period was a loose collection of independent [[city states]], called [[poleis]]. Many of these poleis were oligarchies.<ref name="Ostwald2000a"> Ostwald M. ''Oligarchia: The Development of a Constitutional Form in Ancient Greece'', Stuttgart: Steiner, 2000</ref> The most prominent Greek [[oligarchy]], and the state with which democratic Athens is most often and most fruitfully compared, was Sparta. Yet Sparta, in its rejection of private wealth as a primary social differentiator, was a peculiar kind of oligarchy,<ref name="Cartlege2001">Cartledge P., ''Spartan reflections'', London: Duckworth, 2001, pg. xii, 276</ref> and some scholars note its resemblance with democracy.<ref name="BKDunn1992"/><ref name="ANPlato">Plato, ''Laws'', 712e-d</ref><ref name="ANAristotle1294">Aristotle, ''Politics'', 1294b</ref> In Spartan government, the share of political power was divided between four bodies: two [[Kings of Sparta|Spartan Kings]] (monarchy), [[gerousia]] (''Counsil of Gerontes'' (Elders), including the two kings), the [[ephors]] (representatives to oversee the Kings) and finally the [[apella]] (assembly of Spartans).
The two Kings served as the head of the government and they were ruling simultaneously. They were coming from two separate lines, but the dual kingship was diluting the accessible power of the executive office. The kings shared their judicial functions with other members of gerousia. The members of gerousia, had to be over the age of 60 and were elected for life. In theory any Spartan over that age could stand, however in practice they were selected from wealthy, aristocratic families. The gerousia possessed the crucial of legislating initiative. Apella, the most democratic element, was the assembly, where Spartans, above the age of 30, were electing the members of gerousia, the ephors and accepting or rejecting gerousia's proposals. Finally, the five ephors were Spartans chosen in apella from the poorest social layers for overseeing the actions of the Kings and if necessary disposing them.<ref name="Pomeroy"/><ref name="Buckley"/>
The creator of the Spartan system of rule was the legendary lawgiver, [[Lycurgus (Sparta)|Lycurgus]]. He is associated with the drastic reforms that were instituted in Sparta after the revolt of the [[helots]] in the second half of the 7th century BC. In order to prevent another helot revolt, Lycurgus devised the highly militarized communal system that made Sparta unique among the city-states of Greece. All his reforms were directed towards the three Spartan virtues: equality (among citizens), military fitness and austerity. It is also probable that Lycurgus also delineated the powers of the two traditional organs of the Spartan government, the [[gerousia]] and the [[apella]].<ref name="BALycurgus">[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9049495 Lycurgus] Encyclopædia Britannica Online</ref>
The reforms of Lycurgus, were written as a list of rules/laws, called ''Great Rhetra'', making it the world's first written constitution.<ref name="BKRaaflaud2007">Kurt A. Raaflaub, Josiah Ober, Robert W. Wallace, ''Origin of Democracy in Ancient Greece'', University of California Press, 2007, ISBN 0520245628, [http://books.google.com/books?id=6qaSHHMaGVkC Google Books link]</ref> In the following centuries Sparta became, a military superpower, and its system of rule was admired throughout the Greek world for its political stability.<ref name="Buckley">T. Buckley, ''Aspects of Greek History 750-323 BC: A Source-based Approach'', Routledge 1996,
ISBN 0415099587, [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kmkL54sFzi0C Google Books link]</ref> In particular, the concept of equality played important role in the Spartan society. The Spartan referred to themselves as ''όμοιοι'' (''Homoioi'', ''men of equal status''). This was also reflected on the Spartan public educational system, [[agoge]], where all citizens irrespectively of wealth or status had the same education.<ref name="ANAristotle1294"/> This was admired almost universally by contemporaries, from historians such as [[Herodotus]] and [[Xenophon]] to philosophers such as [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]]. In addition the Spartan women, unlikely elsewhere, enjoyed "every kind of luxury and intemperance" with elementary rights such as the right to inheritance, property ownership and public education.<ref name="Pomeroy">S. B. Pomeroy, S. M. Burstein, W. Donlan, J. T. Roberts, ''Ancient Greece: A Political, Social, and Cultural History'', Oxford University Press, 1999, ISBN 0195097424, [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=INUT5sZku1UC Google Books link]</ref> Overall the Spartans were remarkably free in criticism of their Kings and they were able to depose and exile them. However, despite these ''democratic'' elements in the Spartan constitution there are two main criticisms, and thus classifying Sparta as an oligarchy. First, the individual freedom was restricted, since as [[Plutarch]] writes ''"no man was allowed to live as he wished"'', but as in a ''"military camp"'' all were engaged in the public service of their polis. And second, gerousia effectively maintained the biggest share of power between the different governmental bodies.<ref name="BKRaaflaud2007"/>
The political stability of Sparta also meant that no significant changes in the constitution were made, but the oligarchic elements of Sparta became stronger, especially after the influx of gold and silver from the victories in the [[Persian Wars]].<ref name="BKRaaflaud2007"/> In addition, Athens, after the [[Persian Wars]], was becoming the hegemonic power in the Greek world and disagreements between Sparta and Athens over the supremacy emerged. These lead to a series of armed conflicts, known as the [[Peloponnesian War]] with Sparta prevailing at the end. The war greatly exhausted the two poleis and Sparta was in turn humbled by [[Thebes]] at the [[Battle of Leuctra]] in 371 BC. It was all brought to an end a few years later, when [[Philip II of Macedon]] conquered the rest of Greece.
===Athenian Democracy===
{{details|Athenian democracy}}
Athens, is regarded as the birthplace of democracy and the most important democracy of antiquity.<ref name="BKDunn1992"/><ref name="BKRaaflaud2007"/> Athens emerged in the 7th century BC, like many other [[poleis]], with a dominating powerful aristocracy.<ref name="Pomeroy"/> However, this domination lead to exploitation causing significant economic, political, and social problems. These problems, were enhanced early in the sixth century, and as ''"the many were enslaved to few, the people rose against the notables"''.<ref name="BKRaaflaud2007"/> Many traditional aristocracies, at the same period in the Greek world, were disrupted by popular revolutions, like Sparta in the second half of the 7th century BC. Sparta's constitutional reforms by Lycurgus, introduced a [[hoplite]] state and showed how inherited governments can be changed and lead to military victory.<ref name="BKRaaflaud2007"/> After a period of unrest between the rich and the poor, the Athenians of all classes turned to [[Solon]] for acting as a mediator between rival factions, and reaching to a generally satisfactory solution of their problems.<ref name="Pomeroy"/><ref name=BASolon/>
====Solon and the foundations of democracy====
{{details|Solon}}
[[Image:Solon US House of Representatives.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Bas-relief of Solon, one of 23 great lawgivers depicted in the chamber of the [[U.S. House of Representatives]].]]
Solon, an Athenian (Greek) of noble descent but moderate means, was a Lyric poet and later a lawmaker; Plutarch placed him as one of the [[Seven Sages of Greece|Seven Sages]] of the ancient world.<ref name=BASolon> [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9068622 Solon], Encyclopædia Britannica Online</ref> Solon attempted to satisfy all sides by alleviating the suffering of the poor majority without removing all the privileges of the rich minority.<ref name="Robinson">E. W. Robinson, ''Ancient Greek Democracy: Readings and Sources'', Blackwell Publishing, 2003, ISBN 0631233946, [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=T-34_GGd6ukC Google Books link]</ref>
Solon divided the Athenians, into four property classes, with different rights and duties for each. As the Rhetra did in the Lycurgian Sparta, Solon formalized the composition and functions of the governmental bodies. Now, all citizens were entitled to attend the [[Ecclesia (ancient Athens)|Ecclesia]] (Assembly) and vote. Ecclesia became, in principle, the sovereign body, entitled to pass laws and decrees, elect officials, and hear appeals from the most important decisions of the courts.<ref name=BASolon/> All but those in the poorest group might serve, a year at a time, on a new [[Boule (ancient Greece)|Boule of 400]], which was to prepare business for Ecclesia. The higher governmental posts, [[archons]] (magistrates), were reserved for citizens of the top two income groups. The retired archons were becoming members of [[Areopagus]] (Council of the Hill of Ares), and like Gerousia in Sparta, it was able to check improper actions of the newly powerful Ecclesia. Solon created a mixed [[timocracy|timocratic]] and [[democracy|democratic]] system of institutions.<ref name="Pomeroy"/><ref name="BKRaaflaud2007"/>
Overall, the reforms of the lawgiver Solon in 594 BC, devised to avert the political, economic and moral decline in archaic Athens and gave Athens its first comprehensive code of law. The constitutional reforms eliminated enslavement of Athenians by Athenians, established rules for legal redress against over-reaching aristocratic archons, and assigned political privileges on the basis of productive wealth rather than noble birth. Some of his reforms failed in the short term, yet he is often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy.<ref name="Robinson"/>
====Democracy under Cleisthenes and Pericles====
{{seealso|Cleisthenes|Ephialtes|Pericles}}
[[Image:Pnyx.jpg|thumb|360px|right|The speaker's platform in the [[Pnyx]], in Athens, the meeting place of the People of Athens.]]
Even though the Solonian reorganization of the constitution improved the economic position of the Athenian lower classes, it did not eliminated the bitter aristocratic contentions for control of the archonship, the chief executive post. [[Peisistratus]] became [[tyrant]] of Athens for three times and remained in power until his death in 527 BC. His sons [[Hippias]] and [[Hipparchus]] succeeded him.<ref name="BAPeisitratus"> [http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9058970 Peisistratus] Encyclopædia Britannica Online</ref>
After the fall of tyranny and before the year 508–507 was over, [[Cleisthenes]] proposed a complete reform of the system of government, which later was approved by the popular Ecclesia.<ref name="BACleisthenes"/> Cleisthenes reorganized the population into ten tribes, with the aim to change the basis of political organization from the family loyalties to political ones,<ref name="Pomeroy"/> and improve the army's organization.<ref name="BKRaaflaud2007"/> He also introduced the principle of equality of rights for all, [[isonomia]]<ref name="BACleisthenes">[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9024296 Cleisthenes Of Athens] Encyclopædia Britannica Online</ref>, by expanding the access to power to more citizens.<ref name="BKRaaflaud2007"/> During this period where, the word "democracy" ([[Greek language|Greek]]: δημοκρατία - "rule by the people") was first used by the Athenians to define their new system of government.<ref name="Clarke">P. Clarke, J. Foweraker, ''Encyclopedia of Democratic Thought'', Taylor & Francis, 2001, ISBN 0415193966, [http://books.google.com/books?id=srzDCqnZkfUC Google Books link]</ref>
In the next generation, Athens entered in its [[Age of Pericles|Golden Age]] by becoming a great center of [[Ancient Greek literature|literature]] and [[Ancient Greek art|art]]. The victories in [[Persian Wars]] encouraged the poorest Athenians to demand a greater say in the running of their city. In the late 460s [[Ephialtes of Athens|Ephialtes]] and [[Pericles]] presided over a radicalization of power that shifted the balance decisively to the poorest sections of society, by passing laws, which severely limiting the powers of the Council of the [[Areopagus]] and allow [[thetes]] (Athenians without wealth) to occupy public office. [[Pericles]] was distinguished as its greatest democratic leader, even though he has been accused of running a [[political machine]]. In the following passage, [[Thucydides]] recorded Pericles, in the funeral oration, describing the Athenian system of rule:
{{cquote|Its administration favors the many instead of the few; this is why it is called a ''democracy''. If we look to the laws, they afford equal justice to all in their private differences; if no social standing, advancement in public life falls to reputation for capacity, class considerations not being allowed to interfere with merit; nor again does poverty bar the way, if a man is able to serve the state, he is not hindered by the obscurity of his condition. The freedom which we enjoy in our government extends also to our ordinary life.<ref>Thucydides ''History of the Peloponnesian War'', [http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_the_Peloponnesian_War/Book_2 2.37.2-3]</ref>}}
The Athenian democracy of Cleisthenes and Pericles, was based on freedom, through the reforms of Solon, and isonomia, introduced by Cleisthenes and later expanded by [[Ephialtes of Athens|Ephialtes]] and [[Pericles]]. To preserve these principles the Athenians used [[sortition|lot]] for selecting officials. Lot's rationale was to ensure all citizens were ''"equally"'' qualified for office, and to avoid any corruption allotment machines were used.<ref>M. H. Hansen, J. A. Crook, ''The Athenian democracy in the age of Demosthenes'', University of Oklahoma Press, 1999, ISBN 0806131438, [http://books.google.com/books?id=AgNdHQAACAAJ Google Books link]</ref> Moreover, in most positions chosen by lot, Athenian citizens could not be selected more than once; this rotation in office meant that no-one could built up power base through staying in a particular position.<ref>L. Carson, B. Martin, ''Random Selection in Politics'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999, ISBN 0275967026, [http://books.google.com/books?id=HIieJo1Yo1EC Google Books link]</ref> Another important political institution in Athens was the courts; they were composed with large number of juries, with no judges and they were selected by lot on a daily basis from an annual pool, also chosen by lot. The courts had unlimited power to control the other bodies of the government and its political leaders.<ref name="BA0"/> Participation by the citizens selected was mandatory,<ref>Exception was [[Boule (ancient Greece)|Boule of 500]], where the poor could refuse.</ref> and a modest financial compensation was given to citizens whose livelihood was affected by being "drafted" to office. The only officials chosen by elections, one from each tribe, were the ''strategoi'' (generals), where military knowledge was required, and the ''treasurers'', who had to be wealthy, since any funds revealed to have been embezzled were recovered from a treasurer's private fortune. Debate was open to all present and decisions in all matters of policy were taken by [[majority]] vote in Ecclesia (compare [[direct democracy]]), in which all male citizens could participate (in some cases with a quorum of 6000). The decisions taken in Ecclesia were executed by [[Boule (ancient Greece)|Boule of 500]], which had already approved the agenda for Ecclesia.<ref name=Powell>A. Powell, ''Athens and Sparta: Constructing Greek Political and Social History from 478 BC'', Routledge, 2001, ISBN 0415262801, [http://books.google.com/books?id=75C-b1I0EYkC Google Books link]</ref> The Athenian Boule was elected by lot every year<ref name="BABoule">[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/75519/boule Boule (Ancient Greek Council)] Encyclopædia Britannica Online</ref> and no citizen could serve more than twice.<ref name=Powell/> Overall, the Athenians enjoyed their liberties not in opposition to the government, but by living in a city that was not subject to another power and by not being subjects themselves to the rule of another person.<ref name="Clarke"/>
====The decline and its critics====
The Athenian democracy, in its two centuries of life-time, twice voted against its democratic constitution, both during the crisis at the end of the [[Pelopponesian War]]; [[The Four Hundred (oligarchy)|Four Hundred]] (in 411 BC) and Sparta's installment of the [[Thirty Tyrants]] (in 404 BC). Both votes were [[Demagogy|under manipulation and pressure]], but democracy was recovered in less than a year in both cases. Athens restored again its democratic constitution, after the unification by force of Greece from [[Phillip II of Macedon]] and later [[Alexander the Great]], but it was politically shadowed by the [[Hellenistic era|Hellenistic empires]]. Finally after the [[Roman]] conquest of Greece in 146 BC, Athens was restricted to matters of local administration.
However, the decline of democracy was not only due to external powers, but from its citizens, such as Plato and Aristotle. Through their influential works, Sparta's political stability was praised,<ref name="PlatoRepublic">Plato, ''Republic''</ref><ref>Aristotle, ''Politics''</ref><ref>Seminar Notes by Prof. Paul Cartledge at University of Cambridge, http://www.history.ac.uk/eseminars/sem23.html</ref> while the Periclean democracy was described as a system of rule, where either the less well-born, the mob (as a collective tyrant) or the poorer classes, were holding power.<ref name="Clarke"/> It was only after the publication of "A history of Greece" by [[George Grote]] in 1846, when the Athenian democracy of Pericles started to be viewed positively from the political thinkers.<ref>M. H. Hansen, ''Greece & Rome'', Second Series, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Apr., 1992), pp. 14-30</ref>
===Roman Republic===
:''For more details on this topic, see [[Roman Republic]] and [[Democracy in Ancient Rome]].''
====Birth of the Republic====
In 13th century BC, the [[Etruscans]], early [[Italy|Italian]] [[settlers]] built city-states throughout central Italy and ruled Rome for over a century; and in 510 BC the last king was deposed. The king was expelled by a group of aristocrats led by [[Lucius Junius Brutus]]. The founding of the new Republic did not mark the end for Roman troubles, since the new constitution was not flawless and there remained powerful external enemies. Internally, one serious threat was the feuding of the leading families. Another was the struggle between the ruling families ([[patricians]]) as a whole and the rest of the population, especially the [[plebeians]]. After years of conflicts the plebs forced the senate to pass a written series of laws (the [[Twelve Tables]]) which recognized certain rights and gave the plebs their own representatives, the [[tribunes]]. By the 4th Century BC, the plebs were given the right to stand for consulship and other major offices of the state.
Rome became the ruler of a great [[Mediterranean]] empire. The new provinces brought wealth to Italy, and fortunes were made through mineral concessions and enormous slave run estates. Slaves were imported to Italy and wealthy landowners soon began to buy up and displace the original peasant farmers. By the late 2nd Century this led to renewed conflict between the rich and poor and demands from the latter for reform of constitution. The background of social unease and the inability of the traditional republican constitutions to adapt to the needs of the growing empire led to the rise of a series of over-mighty generals, championing the cause of either the rich or the poor, in the last century BC.
====Fall of the Republic====
Over the next few hundred years, various generals would bypass or overthrow the Senate for various reasons, mostly to address perceived injustices, either against themselves or against poorer citizens or soldiers. After the dictatorship of [[Sulla]], which was overthrown with the help of [[Pompey the Great]] and [[Marcus Licinius Crassus]], the two men joined forces with [[Julius Caesar]] to form what is now known as the [[First Triumvirate]], a then secret pact to rule Rome together. The pact did not last long as distrust between the three led to Caesar being charged with war crimes, and he in turn marched on Rome and took supreme power over the republic. Caesar's career was cut short by his assassination at Rome in 44 BC by a group of Senators including [[Marcus Junius Brutus]], the descendant of the Brutus who expelled the Etruscan King four and half centuries before.
In the power vacuum that followed Caesar's assassination, his friend and chief lieutenant, [[Marcus Antonius]], and Caesar's grand-nephew [[Octavian]] who also was the adopted son of Caesar, rose to prominence. After some initial disagreements, Antony, Octavian, and Antony's ally [[Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (triumvir)|Marcus Aemilius Lepidus]], formed the [[Second Triumvirate]]. Their combined strength gave the triumvirs absolute power.
In [[31 BC]] war between the two finally broke out. Approximately 200 senators, one-third of the Senate, abandoned Octavian to support Antony and Cleopatra. The final confrontation of the Roman Republic occurred on [[2 September]] [[31 BC]], at the naval [[Battle of Actium]] where the fleet of Octavian under the command of [[Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa|Agrippa]] routed the combined fleet of Antony and Cleopatra; the two lovers fled to Egypt. After his victory, Octavian skillfully used propaganda, negotiation, and bribery to bring Antony's legions in Greece, Asia Minor, and Cyrenaica to his side. Anthony and Cleopatra committed suicide to escape capture.
[[Image:Acaugustus.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Bronze statue of [[Augustus|Octavian]], Archaeological Museum, [[Athens]]]]
The period of civil wars were finally over. Thereafter, there was no one left in the Roman Republic who wanted, or could stand against Octavian, as the adopted son of Caesar moved to take absolute control. He designated governors loyal to him to the half dozen "frontier" provinces, where the majority of the legions were situated, thus, at a stroke, giving him command of enough legions to ensure that no single governor could try to overthrow him. He also reorganized the Senate, purging it of unreliable or dangerous members, and "refilled it" with his supporters from the provinces and outside the Roman aristocracy, men who could be counted on to follow his lead. However, he left the majority of Republican institutions apparently intact, albeit feeble. Consuls continued to be elected, tribunes of the plebeians continued to offer legislation, and debate still resounded through the [[Curia|Roman Curia]]. However it was Octavian who influenced everything and ultimately, controlled the final decisions, and had the legions to back it up, if necessary.
The Roman Senate and the Roman citizens, tired of the never-ending civil wars and unrest, were willing to toss aside the incompetent and unstable rule of the Senate and the popular assemblies in exchange for the iron will of one man who might set Rome back in order. By [[27 BC]] the transition, though subtle and disguised, was made complete. In that year, Octavian offered back all his extraordinary powers to the Senate, and in a carefully staged way, the Senate refused and in fact titled Octavian ''[[Augustus (title)|Augustus]]'' — "the revered one". He was always careful to avoid the title of ''rex'' — "king", and instead took on the titles of ''princeps'' — "first citizen" and ''[[imperator]]'', a title given by Roman troops to their victorious commanders. The [[Roman Empire]] had been born.
Once Octavian named [[Tiberius]] as his heir, it was clear to everyone that even the hope of a restored Republic was dead. Most likely, by the time Augustus died, no one was old enough to know a time before an Emperor ruled Rome. The Roman Republic had been changed into a [[despot]]ic régime, which, underneath a competent and strong Emperor, could achieve military supremacy, economic prosperity, and a genuine peace, but under a weak or incompetent one saw its glory tarnished by cruelty, military defeats, revolts, and civil war. The Roman Empire was eventually divided between the [[Western Roman Empire]] which fell in [[476]] AD and the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] (also called the Byzantine Empire) which lasted until the [[fall of Constantinople]] in [[1453]] AD.
==Local popular institutions==
[[Image:Olav den helliges saga CK5.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker]] is teaching the Swedish king [[Olof Skötkonung]] that the power resides with the people, [[1018]], [[Uppsala]], by C. Krogh]]Most of the procedures used by modern democracies are very old. Almost all cultures have at some time had their new leaders approved, or at least accepted, by the people; and have changed the laws only after consultation with the assembly of the people or their leaders. Such institutions existed since before the [[Iliad]] or the [[Odyssey]], and modern democracies are often derived or inspired by them, or what remained of them. Nevertheless, the direct result of these institutions was not always a democracy. It was often a narrow [[oligarchy]], as in [[Republic of Venice|Venice]], or even an absolute [[monarchy]], as in [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany|Florence]].
These early institutions include:
*The [[collegium (ancient Rome)|collegia]] of the Roman period: associations of various social, economic, religious, funerary and even sportive natures elected officers yearly, often directly modeled on the [[Senate of Rome]].
*The [[Christian Church]] well into the 6th Century had its [[bishops]] elected by popular acclaim.
*The [[Rashidun]] [[caliph]]s were elected by a council (see [[Islamic democracy]]).
*Medieval [[guilds]] of economic, social and religious natures elected officers for yearly terms.
*The [[Germanic tribe|German]] [[tribe|tribal]] system described by [[Tacitus]] in his [[Germania]].
*The [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] [[Witan]] councils of advisors to the Saxon kings.
*The [[Franks|Frankish]] custom of the [[Marzfeld]] or "March field".<ref>Gibbon ''[[The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]], chapters XLIX, LII; pp. 1685,1857 Heritage Club edition (1946). For a recent view, see [[David Nicolle]]; ''Carolingian cavalryman, AD 768-987,'' p.45 ff. Intermediate sources tend to be colored by the "Free institutions of our Germanic ancestors" [[meme]]. </ref>
*The [[Althing]], the parliament of the [[Icelandic Commonwealth]], was founded in [[930]]. It consisted of the 39, later 55, ''goðar''; each owner of a ''goðarð''; and membership, which could in principle be lent or sold, was kept tight hold of by each hereditary ''goði''. Thus, for example, when [[Njál's saga|Burnt Njal]]'s stepson wanted to enter it, Njal had to persuade the Althing to enlarge itself so a seat would be available. But as each independent farmer in the country could choose what goði represented him the system could be claimed as an early form of democracy. The Alþing has run nearly continuously to the present day. The Althing was preceded by less elaborate "[[Thing (assembly)|things]]" (assemblies) all over Northern Europe.<ref>''Burnt [[Njal's Saga]]'', tr. Magnus Magnusson, introduction.</ref>
*The ''[[Thing of all Swedes]]'', which was held annually at [[Uppsala]] in the end of February or early March. Like in Iceland, the assemblies were presided by the [[lawspeaker]], but the Swedish king functioned as a judge. A famous incident took place circa 1018, when King [[Olof Skötkonung]] wanted to pursue the war against Norway against the will of the people. [[Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker]] reminded the king in a long speech that the power resided with the Swedish people and not with the king. When the king heard the din of swords beating the shields in support of Þorgnýr's speech, he gave in. [[Adam of Bremen]] wrote that the people used to obey the king only when they thought his suggestions seemed better, although in war his power was absolute.
*The ''[[túath]]a'' system in [[History of Ireland#Early medieval era (circa 800 to 1100)|early medieval Ireland]]. Landowners and the masters of a profession or craft were members of a local assembly, known as a ''túath''. Each ''túath'' met in annual assembly which approved all common policies, declared war or peace on other ''tuatha'', and accepted the election of a new "king"; normally during the old king's lifetime, as a [[tanist]]. The new king had to be descended within four generations from a previous king, so this usually became, in practice, a hereditary kingship; although some kingships alternated between lines of cousins. About 80 to 100 ''túatha'' coexisted at any time throughout Ireland. Each ''túath'' controlled a more or less compact area of land which it could pretty much defend from cattle-raids, and this was divided among its members.
*The [[city-state]]s of [[medieval Italy]], of which [[Republic of Venice|Venice]] and [[Florence]] were the most successful, and similar city-states in [[Switzerland]], [[Flanders]] and the [[Hanseatic league]]. These were often closer to an oligarchy than a democracy in practice, and were, in any case, not nearly as democratic as the Athenian-influenced city-states of Ancient Greece (discussed in the above section), but they served as focal points for early modern democracy.
*[[Veche]], [[Wiec]] - popular assemblies in Slavic countries. In [[Poland]] [[wiece]] have developed in 1182 into [[Sejm]] - Polish parliament. The veche was the highest [[legislative|legislature]] and [[judicial authority]] in the republics of [[Novgorod Republic|Novgorod]] until 1478 and [[Pskov Republic|Pskov]] until 1510.
*The ''[[elizate]]'' system of the [[Basque Country (historical territory)|Basque Country]] in which farmholders of a rural area connected to a particular church would meet to reach decisions on issues affecting the community and to elect representatives to the provincial ''Batzar Nagusiak/Juntos Generales''.<ref>Kasper, M. Baskische Geschichte Primus: 1997</ref>
*Rise of parliamentary bodies in other European countries.
==Indigenous peoples of the Americas==
Historian [[Jack Weatherford]] argues that Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and others, got their ideas on democracy not from any Greek or Roman influence, but from the [[Iroquois]] and other [[indigenous peoples of the Americas]], who practiced the type of democracy found in the [[United States Constitution]], through self-governing territories that were part of a larger whole. This democracy was founded between the years 1000-1450, and lasted several hundred years. He also states that American democracy was continually changed and improved by the influence of Native Americans throughout North America. For example, the right of women to vote started on the [[American frontier]], and moved eastward. In other words, Americans learned democracy from the indigenous peoples of the North America.
The [[Aztecs]] also practiced elections, and the elected officials elected a supreme speaker, but not a ruler.<ref name="isbn0-449-90496-2">{{cite book |author=Weatherford, J. McIver |title=Indian givers: how the Indians of the Americas transformed the world |publisher=Fawcett Columbine |location=New York |year=1988 |pages=133 |isbn=0-449-90496-2 |oclc= |doi=}}</ref>
==Rise of democracy in modern national governments==
===Pre-Eighteenth century milestones===
*Rise of democratic [[parliament]]s in [[Parliament of England|England]] and [[Parliament of Scotland|Scotland]]: [[Magna Carta]] (1215) limiting the authority of powerholders, [[De Montfort's Parliament|First elected parliament]] (1265), The [[Levellers]] political movement, [[English Civil War]] (1642-1651), [[Habeas Corpus Act 1679|Habeas Corpus Act]] (1679), [[Bill of Rights 1689|English Bill of Rights]] and [[Claim of Right Act 1689|Scottish Claim of Right]] (1689). See also: other documents listed at the [[Constitution of the United Kingdom]], [[Parliament of the United Kingdom#History|History of the parliament of the United Kingdom]].
*[[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]] in 1265 introduced the idea that powerholders are responsible to an [[electorate]] — (although only landowners were allowed to vote in the [[De Montfort's Parliament|1265 English election]])
*[[Renaissance humanism]] was a cultural movement in Europe beginning in central Italy (particularly Florence) in the last decades of the 14th century. It revived and refined the study of language (First Latin, and then the Greek language by mid-century), science, philosophy, art and poetry of classical antiquity. The "revival" was based on interpretations of Roman and Greek texts. Their emphasis on art and the senses marked a great change from the medieval values of humility, introspection, and passivity.
:The humanist philosophers looked for secular principles on which society could be organized, as opposed to the concentration of political power in the hands of the [[Church]]. Prior to the Renaissance, religion had been the dominant force in politics for a thousand years.
:Humanists looked at ancient Greece and found the concept of democracy. In some cases they began to implement it (to a limited extent) in practice.
[[Image:Elekcja Wola.jpg|thumb|400px|right|The [[free election]] of [[Augustus II]] at [[Wola]], outside [[Warsaw]], [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]], in 1697. Painted by [[Bernardo Bellotto]]]]
*Rise of [[Golden Liberty]] (Nobles' Democracy, [[Rzeczpospolita]] Szlachecka) in the [[Kingdom of Poland (1385–1569)|Kingdom of Poland]] and [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]]: [[Nihil novi]] of 1505, [[Pacta conventa (Poland)|Pacta conventa]] and [[King Henry's Articles]] (1573). See also: [[Szlachta#Szlachta history and political privileges|Szlachta history and political privileges]], [[Sejm#Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth|Sejm of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]], [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth#State organisation and politics|Organisation and politics of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]].<ref>See for example Chapters 1-2 in Maciej Janowski, ''Polish Liberal Thought Before 1918: Before 1918'', Central European University Press, 2004, ISBN 9639241180</ref>
*The [[Mayflower Compact]], signed in 1620, an agreement between the [[Pilgrims]], on forming a government between themselves, based on majority rule.
*[[William Penn]] wrote his [[Frame of Government of Pennsylvania]] in 1682. The document gave the colony a representative legislature and granted liberal freedoms to the colony's citizens.
===Eighteenth and nineteenth century milestones===
*[[1755]]: The [[Corsican Republic]] led by [[Pasquale Paoli]] with the [[Corsican Constitution]]
*1760s-1790s Americans develop and apply concept of [[Republicanism]]; basis of [[American Revolution]]
**[[Virginia Declaration of Rights]] of 1776 (based on the English [[Bill of Rights 1689|Bill of Rights]])
**[[United States Constitution]] ratified in 1789 and the new [[United States Bill of Rights]]
*1780s: development of [[social movement]]s identifying themselves with the term 'democracy': Political clashes between 'aristocrats' and 'democrats' in [[Benelux]] countries changed the semi-negative meaning of the word 'democracy' in Europe, which was until then regarded as synonymous with [[Anarchism|anarchy]], into a much more positive opposite of 'aristocracy'.
*From late 1770s: new [[Constitution]]s and Bills explicitly describing and limiting the authority of powerholders, many based on the British [[Bill of Rights 1689|Bill of Rights]] (1689). The [[Polish Constitution of May 3, 1791]] is widely recognized as the second oldest constitution in the world.<ref name="Markoff">[[John Markoff (professor)|John Markoff]] describes the advent of modern codified national constitutions as one of the milestones of democracy, and states that "The first European country to follow the U.S. example was Poland in 1791." John Markoff, ''Waves of Democracy'', 1996, ISBN 0-8039-9019-7, p.121.</ref>
*1791: The [[Haitian Revolution]], the first, and only, successful slave revolution, established a free republic.
*1789-1799: the [[French Revolution]]
*1790s [[First Party System]] in U.S. involves invention of locally-rooted political parties in the United States; networks of party newspapers; new canvassing techniques; use of caucus to select candidates; fixed party names; party loyalty; party platform (Jefferson 1799); peaceful transition between parties (1800)
**Early [[19th century]]: in Europe rise of [[political party|political parties]] competing for [[vote]]s.
*Extension of political rights to various [[social class]]es: elimination of wealth, property, sex, race and similar requirements for voting (''See also [[universal suffrage]]'').
*1850s: introduction of the [[secret ballot]] in Australia; 1872 in UK; 1892 in USA
===The secret ballot===
{{main|Secret ballot}}
The notion of a secret ballot, where one is entitled to the privacy of their votes, is taken for granted by most today by virtue of the fact that it is simply considered the norm. However, this practice was highly controversial in the [[19th century]]; it was widely argued that no man would want to keep his vote secret unless he was ashamed of it.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
The two earliest systems used were the Victorian method and the South Australian method. Both were introduced in 1856 to voters in [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]] and [[South Australia]]. The Victorian method involved voters crossing out all the candidates whom he did not approve of. The South Australian method, which is more similar to what most democracies use today, had voters put a mark in the preferred candidate's corresponding box. The Victorian voting system also was not completely secret, as it was traceable by a special number.
===20th century waves of democracy===
The end of the [[First World War]] was a temporary victory for democracy in Europe, as it was preserved in France and temporarily extended to Germany. Already in 1906 full modern democratic rights, [[universal suffrage]] for all citizens was implemented constitutionally in [[Finland]] as well as an [[proportional representation]], [[open list]] system. Likewise, the [[February Revolution]] in Russia in 1917 inaugurated a few months of liberal democracy under [[Alexander Kerensky]] until [[Lenin]] took over in October. The terrific economic impact of the [[Great Depression]] hurt democratic forces in many countries. The 1930s became a decade of dictators in Europe and Latin America.
World War II was ultimately a victory for democracy in [[Western Europe]], where representative governments were established that reflected the general will of their citizens. However, many countries of [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]] became undemocratic Soviet [[satellite state]]s. In [[Southern Europe]], a number of [[right-wing]] [[authoritarianism|authoritarian]] dictatorships (most notably in [[Spain]] and [[Portugal]]) continued to exist.
[[Japan]] had moved towards democracy during the [[Taishō period]] during the 1920s, but it was under effective military rule in the years before and during World War II. The country adopted a new constitution during the postwar [[Occupied Japan|Allied occupation]], with initial elections in 1946.
World War II also planted seeds of freedom outside Europe and Japan, as it weakened all the colonial powers while strengthening anticolonial sentiment worldwide. Many restive colonies/possessions were promised subsequent independence in exchange for their support for embattled colonial powers during the war. The United States, itself a former colony, flexed its new influence in support of the decolonization process, for example supporting prominent Arab nationalist Nasser during the Suez Crisis in 1956, often cited as the last gasp of European colonialism{{Fact|date=November 2007}}.
[[India]] became a democratic republic in 1950 upon achieving independence from Great Britain. Most of the former colonies were independent by 1965. The process of [[decolonization]] created much political upheaval in Africa and parts of Asia, with some countries experiencing often rapid changes to and from democratic and other forms of government.
The [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]] in the [[United States]] helped to protect the black vote, especially in the southern states.
[[Image:Freedom House electoral democracies 2006.png|thumb|350px|Countries highlighted in <font color="#0f7198">'''blue'''</font> are designated "[[representative democracy|Electoral Democracies]]" in [[Freedom House]]'s 2006 survey [http://65.110.85.181/uploads/pdf/essay2006.pdf Freedom in the World]{{Dead link|date=June 2008}}.]]
New waves of democracy swept across Southern Europe in the 1970s and Central Europe in the late 1980s.
Much of [[Eastern Europe]], Latin America, East and Southeast Asia, and several Arab, central Asian and African states, and the not-yet-state that is the Palestinian Authority moved towards greater liberal democracy in the 1990s and 2000s.
An analysis by [[Freedom House]] argues that there was not a single liberal democracy with [[universal suffrage]] in the world in 1900, but that in 2000 120 of the world's 192 nations, or 62% were such democracies. They count 25 nations, or 19% of the world's nations with "restricted democratic practices" in 1900 and 16, or 8% of the world's nations today. They counted 19 constitutional monarchies in 1900, forming 14% of the world's nations, where a constitution limited the powers of the monarch, and with some power devolved to elected legislatures, and none in the present. Other nations had, and have, various forms of non-democratic rule. <ref>Freedom House. 1999. [http://www.freedomhouse.org/reports/century.html "Democracy’s Century: A Survey of Global Political Change in the 20th Century."]</ref> While the specifics may be open to debate (for example, [[New Zealand]] actually enacted [[universal suffrage]] in 1893, but is discounted due to a lack of complete sovereignty and certain restrictions on the [[Māori]] vote), the numbers are indicative of the expansion of democracy during the twentieth century.
==Contemporary trends==
*[[E-democracy]]
{{Expand-section|date=June 2008}}
==See also==
===Ideas===
*[[Direct democracy]]
*[[Indirect democracy]]
*[[Direct democracy (history in the United States)]]
*[[Liberal democracy]]
*[[List of types of democracy]]
*[[Political philosophy]]
*[[Political system]]
*[[Representative democracy]]
*[[Soviet democracy]]
*[[Suffrage]]
*[[Anarchy]]
===Documents===
*[[Magna Carta]] of 1215
*[[Corsican Constitution]] of 1755 (see [[Pasquale Paoli]])
*[[Constitution of 1772|Swedish Constitution of 1772]]
===People===
*[[Edmund Burke]]
*[[Cornelius Castoriadis]]
*[[Anders Chydenius]]
*[[Francis Fukuyama]]
*[[Samuel P. Huntington]]
*[[Thomas Jefferson]]
*[[John Locke]]
*[[Niccolò Machiavelli]]
*[[James Madison]]
*[[John Stuart Mill]]
*[[John "Walking" Stewart|John Stewart]]
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester|Simon de Montfort]]
*[[Thomas Paine]]
*[[Pasquale Paoli]]
*[[Cola di Rienzi]]
*[[Jean-Jacques Rousseau]]
*[[Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu]]
*[[Amartya Sen]]
*[[Alexis de Tocqueville]]
*[[John Wilkes]]
===Events===
*[[De Montfort's Parliament]] (1265) - first elected parliament in [[England]]
==Notes==
{{reflist|2}}
==References==
* Becker, Peter, Juergen Heideking and James A. Henretta, eds. ''Republicanism and Liberalism in America and the German States, 1750-1850.'' Cambridge University Press. (2002).
* Robert Dahl, Ian Shapiro, and Jose Antonio Cheibub, eds, ''The Democracy Sourcebook'' MIT Press (2003)
* Diamond, Larry and Marc Plattner, ''The Global Resurgence of Democracy'', 2nd edition Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996
* Himes, Kenneth R. ''Catholic Intellectuals and the Challenge of Democracy'' (2002), about 19th and 20th century European Catholic thinkers, including anti-democrats like [[Hillaire Belloc]]
* Keane, John. ''Violence and Democracy'' (2004)
* Keyssar, Alexander. ''The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States'' (2001)
* Lijphart, Arend. ''Patterns of Democracy. Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries'' Yale University Press (1999)
* Lipset, Seymour Martin. “Some Social Prerrequisites of Democracy: Economic Development and Political Legitimacy”, American Political Science Review, (1959) 53 (1): 69-105. online at JSTOR
* Macpherson, C. B. ''The Life and Times of Liberal Democracy.'' Oxford University Press (1977)
*[[John Markoff (professor)|Markoff, John]], ''Waves of Democracy'', 1996, ISBN 0-8039-9019-7
*[[Steve Muhlberger|Muhlberger, Steve]], [[Phil Paine]], ''Democracy's Place in World History'', [[Journal of World History]], 4: 23-45; 1993
* Putnam, Robert. ''Making Democracy Work'' Princeton University Press. (1993)
*[[Murray N. Rothbard|Rothbard, Murray N.]], ''For a New Liberty'', 1973, [http://www.mises.org/rothbard/newliberty.asp#preface online], last accessed on 24 May, 2005
*[[Tatu Vanhanen|Vanhanen, Tatu]], ''The Emergence of Democracy: A comparative study of 119 states, 1850-1979'' Helsinki, 1984
* Weingast, Barry. “The Political Foundations of the Rule of Law and Democracy”, ''American Political Science Review,'' (1997) 91 (2): 245-263. online at JSTOR
* Wood, Gordon S. '' The Radicalism of the American Revolution'' (1993), examines democratic dimensions of republicanism
* Manglapus, Raul S. "Will of the People: Original Democracy in Non-Western Societies" (1987), democracy in Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere dates to at least 2500 B.C, predating western democractic traditions.
==Further reading==
*Martin III, Matthew & Daniel C. Snell, "Democracy and Freedom", [[A Companion to the Ancient Near East]], Blackwell Publishing, 2005, ISBN 9-780-63123-2933, [http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/book.asp?ref=9780631232933]
*[[Charles Tilly]], ''Contention and Democracy in Europe, 1650-2000'', Cambridge University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-521-53713-4, [http://books.google.com/books?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&vid=ISBN0521537134&id=kZeYDc8hHa8C&num=10&dq=inauthor:Tilly+1768&prev=http://books.google.com/books%3Flr%3D%26num%3D10%26q%3Dinauthor:Tilly%2B1768 Google Print]
==External links==
*[http://www.election.demon.co.uk/prereform.html English elections 1265-1832] (only landowners were allowed to vote during this period)
*[http://www.parliament.uk/works/parliament.cfm History of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, 1216-2005]
*[http://www.nipissingu.ca/department/history/muhlberger/histdem/ World History of Democracy]
*[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20centry.htm Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century] <!--Awesome for materials about democracy development in the 20th century!-->
*[http://www.stanford.edu/dept/news/pr/93/930811Arc3170.html Waves of democracy often get reversed, Lipset reminds social scientists]
*[http://www.socresonline.org.uk/1/4/unwin.html Review of 'Waves of democracy' and 'Development and Social Change']
*[http://www.opendemocracy.net/ Democracy online] - Records of democracy evolving in global politics
*[http://www.delusionaldemocracy.com The site for the book Delusional Democracy - Fixing the Republic Without Overthrowing the Government and related articles by Joel S. Hirschhorn.]
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