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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.
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The Sumerian city states of Mesopotamia (Iraq) are believed to have had some form of democratic setup initially.Sumer and Akkad. The Sumerian City-States. They became monarchies over time, although some limits on the king\'s power were often retained.
Like ancient Greece 2,000 years later, Sumer (Kengir in Sumerian) in southern Mesopotamia was a culture that arose among many independent city-states which only much later were briefly unified, and then dominated by outside empires. In a pattern repeated in some Greek city-states and in Rome, many Sumerian city-states are believed to have started with a form of democracy, but elected dictators in times of war that later kept power to become permanent monarchies.Jacob Klein. The Birth of Kingship: from Democracy to Monarchy in Sumer.
Sumerian records are much older than Greek and Roman ones and thus not as clear.
Some scholars believe that the Sumerian cities were at first a kind of rudimentary "democracy" with all of the citizenry able to vote... There is numerous anecdotal evidence for this hypothesis, but no clear cut evidence.
Raul Manglapus, author of Will of the People: Original Democracy in Non-Western Societies, states:
Gilgamesh, lord of Uruk, is remembered as consulting first the senate, "the elders of Uruk", and then the assembly, "the men of the town", before he decides to arm for a fight with King Agga of Kish. His consultation is not only for advice but for consent, and, Jacobsen correctly concludes, the assembly is recognised as "the ultimate political authority"
This pattern is repeated to varying degrees in later Mesopotamian states, including Ebla, which elected a "king" (roughly what would now be called a president) every seven years. Retired kings received a pension from the state.
One of the earliest instances of civilizations with democracy was found in ancient India, even during the times of the Rigveda, probably the earliest Indo-European literature and one of the most sacred books of the Hindus. The states mentioned are mostly monarchies, but with two democratic institutions called the Sabha and the Samiti. The Sabha (lit., Assembly in Sanskrit) is widely interpreted to be the assembly of the elect or the important chieftains of the tribe, while the Samiti seems to be the gathering of all the men of the tribe, convened only for very special occasions. The Sabha and the Samiti kept check on the powers of the king, and were given a semi-divine status in the Rigveda as the "daughters of the Hindu deity Prajapati"[1]. The later epic Ramayana seems to mention a Samiti summoned by King Dasharatha of Ayodhya for ratification of his son Prince Ramachandra as the successor (Book II, Canto II:80).
Later, there were even many republics in ancient India, which were established sometime before the 6th century BC, and prior to the birth of Gautama Buddha. These republics were known as Maha Janapadas, and among these states, Vaishali (in what is now Bihar, India) is considered the first republic.Vaisali, Encyclopedia Britannica. The democratic Sangha, Gana and Panchayat systems were used in some of these republics; the Panchayat system is still used today in Indian villages. Later during the time of Alexander the Great in the 4th century BC, the Greeks wrote about the Sabarcae and Sambastai states in what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan, whose "form of government was democratic and not regal" according to Greek scholars at the time.Democracy in Ancient India. Steve Muhlberger, Associate Professor of History, Nipissing University.
Another example of democracy in ancient India was Gopala\'s rise to power by democratic election in Bengal, which was documented by the Tibetan historian Taranatha.History of Buddhism in India, Translation: A. Shiefner.Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar (1964). The Age of Imperial Kanauj, History and Culture of Indian People, p 45. Among the most notable of the ancient Indian republics is Kalinga in modern day Orissa which was invaded by the forces of Ashoka The Great.
For more details on this topic, see Athenian democracy.
The speaker\'s platform in the Pnyx, in Athens, the meeting place of the People of Athens.
Athens is among the first recorded and one of the most important Western democracies in ancient times; the word "democracy" (Greek: δημοκρατία - "rule by the people") was coined by Athenians in order to define their system of government, around 508 BC, after the proposals of Cleisthenes. In the next generation, Ephialtes of Athens had a law passed severely limiting the powers of the Council of the Areopagus, which deprived the Athenian nobility of their special powers; Pericles was the greatest democratic leader, although he has been accused of running a political machine.
Athenian democracy, was based on selection of officials by lot, based on the assumption that all citizens were equally qualified for office. Election was not practised because it was thought to favor the wealthy and powerful. The only state officials who were elected were those of whom expert knowledge and skills were required, such as the ten generals, and the treasurers, who had to be wealthy as any funds revealed to have been embezzled were recovered from a treasurer\'s private fortune. The courts operated with large juries also selected by lot on a daily basis from an annual pool also selected by lot; there were no judges. Assumption of such offices by the citizens selected was mandatory, and a very modest financial compensation was given to those citizens whose livelihood was compromised by their being thus "drafted" to office.
Decisions in all matters of policy were taken by a plain majority vote in the Assembly, in which all male citizens in Athens took part that wished to. The agenda of the Assembly was set by the Boule of 500, also selected by lot on a rotating basis. Debate on the agenda was open to all present. After the debate, the assembly voted on decisions directly (compare direct democracy). Elected officials did not determine decisions — giving decision-making power to elected officials was considered by the ancient Athenians to take away the power of the people and effectively making the state an oligarchy.
The Assembly twice voted the democratic constitution out of existence during the crisis at the end of the Pelopponesian War; both votes were under manipulation and pressure (in 404 BC, the presence of an army of occupation); and democracy was recovered in less than a year in both cases.
When the Macedonians conquered the Greek city-states, they installed Demetrius of Phalerum as ruler of Athens for a longer period. Athens restored the forms of its ancient constitution in later antiquity; but the extent to which it was a democracy, and the extent to which it was a tourist exhibit, are debatable[citation needed]. At any rate, Athens was politically unimportant during the Hellenistic era, and in the Roman era its remit was obviously restricted to matters of local administration.
In 13th century BC, the Etruscans, early 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.
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, 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 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.
Bronze statue of 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 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 — "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 despotic 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.
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 Venice, or even an absolute monarchy, as in Florence.These early institutions include:
Historian Jack Weatherford asserts 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.Weatherford, J. McIver (1988). Indian givers: how the Indians of the Americas transformed the world. New York: Fawcett Columbine, 133. ISBN 0-449-90496-2.
The free election of Augustus II at Wola, outside Warsaw, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in 1697. Painted by Bernardo Bellotto
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.[citation needed]
The two earliest systems used were the Victorian method and the South Australian method. Both were introduced in 1856 to voters in 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.
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 and Eastern Europe became undemocratic Soviet satellite states. In Southern Europe, a number of right-wing 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 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[citation needed].
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.
Countries highlighted in blue are designated "Electoral Democracies" in Freedom House\'s 2006 survey Freedom in the World.
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. Freedom House. 1999. "Democracy’s Century: A Survey of Global Political Change in the 20th Century." 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.
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