"the vote would people ensure that the state would be run in the general interest. Later, to the end of World War Il, democracy became dissociated from its ancient frame of reference. It was not anymore only one of the many possible ways in which political rule could be organised in a polity: it became the only possible political system in an egalitarian society. Athenian democracy Athenian democracy developed around the fifth century BC in the Greek city-state (known as a polis) of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, and is often described as"
"by the general elections to its first ""Câmara"" (City Council) on August 22, 1532, is symbolically considered the birthplace of democracy in the Americas. From 1534 to 1536, 15 Captaincy colonies were created in Portuguese America. The captaincies were autonomous, and mostly private, colonies of the Portuguese Empire, each owned and run by a Captain-major. In 1549, due to their failure and limited success, the Captaincy Colonies of Brazil were united into the Governorate General of Brazil. The captaincy colonies were reorganized as provincial districts to the Governorate. The captaincies continued to be ruled by their hereditary captain-majors but they"
"460 BC an individual is known with the name of Democrates, a name possibly coined as a gesture of democratic loyalty; the name can also be found in Aeolian Temnus. Athens was not the only polis in Ancient Greece that instituted a democratic regime. Aristotle points to other cities that adopted governments in the democratic style. However, accounts of the rise of democratic institutions are in reference to Athens, since only this city-state had sufficient historical records to speculate on the rise and nature of Greek democracy. Before the first attempt at democratic government, Athens was ruled by a series"
"of democracy over the centuries. The Romans invented the concept of classics and many works from Ancient Greece were preserved. Additionally, the Roman model of governance inspired many political thinkers over the centuries, and today's modern (representative) democracies imitate more the Roman than the Greek models. Rome was a city-state in Italy next to powerful neighbors; Etruscans had built city-states throughout central Italy since the 13th century BCE and in the south were Greek colonies. Similar to other city-states, Rome was ruled by a king. However, social unrest and the pressure of external threats led in 510 BCE the last"
"democracy as well in 322 BCE. In the subsequent Hellenistic period (334–30 BCE) numerous diadochs (successors of Alexander the Great) fought one another for the kingship of Macedon, definitively obtained by the Antigonids in 277 BCE. Meanwhile, the Phoenician city-state of Carthage, located in present-day Tunisia, aside from settling large swaths of North Africa's coast, also set up several colonies on Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, the Baleares and in southern Iberia. The Carthaginian empire, according to tradition founded in 814 BCE, started out as a monarchy, but in the 4th century transformed into a republic where suffets (""judges"") ruled. Finally, Rome"
"government originated in ancient Athens circa 508 B.C. In ancient Greece, where there were many city-states with different forms of government, democracy was contrasted with governance by elites (aristocracy), by one person (monarchy), by tyrants (tyranny), etc. In recent decades scholars have explored the possibility that advancements toward democratic government occurred somewhere else (i.e. other than Greece) first, as Greece developed its complex social and political institutions long after the appearance of the earliest civilizations in Egypt and the Near East. Studying pre-Babylonian Mesopotamia, Thorkild Jacobsen used Sumerian epic, myth, and historical records to identify what he has called ""primitive"
"using the Internet and other communications technologies are dealt with in e-democracy and below under the term ""electronic direct democracy"". More concisely, the concept of open source governance applies principles of the free software movement to the governance of people, allowing the entire populace to participate in government directly, as much or as little as they please. Athenian democracy developed in the Greek city-state of Athens, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica, around 600 BC. Athens was one of the very first known democracies. Other Greek cities set up democracies, and even though most followed"
"boulê, and law courts controlled the entire political process, and a large proportion of citizens were involved constantly in the public business. Modern democracies, being representative, not direct, do not resemble the Athenian system. Also relevant to the history of direct democracy is the history of Ancient Rome, specifically the Roman Republic, beginning around 509 BC. Rome displayed many aspects of democracy, both direct and indirect, from the era of Roman monarchy all the way to the collapse of the Roman Empire. Indeed, the Senate, formed in the first days of the city, lasted through the Kingdom, Republic, and Empire,"
"most significant and well-understood example is Athenian democracy in Athens. However, at least fifty-two classical Greek city-states including Corinth, Megara, and Syracuse also had democratic regimes during part of their history. During the 3rd century BC, the political center of gravity in Greece shifted from individual city-states to ""leagues"", such as the Aetolian League and the Achaean League. These were confederations that jointly handled the foreign and military affairs for the member cities. Their internal structure was democratic with respect to the member cities, that is, each city was had within the league weight roughly proportional to its size and"
"democracy and remains an important reference-point for democracy. Athens emerged in the 7th century BCE, like many other poleis, with a dominating powerful aristocracy. However, this domination led to exploitation, creating significant economic, political, and social problems. These problems exacerbated early in the 6th century; and, as """"the many were enslaved to few, the people rose against the notables"""". At the same time, a number of popular revolutions disrupted traditional aristocracies. This included Sparta in the second half of the 7th century BCE. The constitutional reforms implemented by Lycurgus in Sparta introduced a hoplite state that showed, in turn, how"
"Classical Athens The city of Athens (, ""Athênai"" ]; Modern Greek: Ἀθῆναι, ""Athínai"" ) during the classical period of Ancient Greece (508–322 BC) was the major urban center of the notable polis (city-state) of the same name, located in Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years, until 322 BC (aftermath of Lamian War). The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved"
"""Democracy 2500?: Questions and Challenges"", Kendal/Hunt Publishing Co., 1998 Demokratia Demokratia () is a direct democracy, as opposed to the modern representative democracy. It was used in ancient Greece, most notably Athens, and began its use around 500 BCE. In a participant government, citizens who wish to have a say in government can participate in it. Demokratia excluded women, foreigners, and slaves. It barred between 80 and 90 percent of the population from political rights. The word demokratia comes from δῆμος ""demos"" ""people"" and ""kratos"" ""power"": ""the people hold power."" ""Demos"", including the lower classes, had political equality and notwhile"
"sense of repressive autocracies), would at some point seize control and govern according to their own will; often a populist agenda would help sustain them in power. In a system wracked with class conflict, government by a 'strongman' was often the best solution. Athens fell under a tyranny in the second half of the 6th century. When this tyranny was ended, the Athenians founded the world's first democracy as a radical solution to prevent the aristocracy regaining power. A citizens' assembly (the ""Ecclesia""), for the discussion of city policy, had existed since the reforms of Draco in 621 BC; all"
"and aided by democrats, took over. Cleomenes intervened in 508 and 506 BC, but could not stop Cleisthenes, now supported by the Athenians. Through Cleisthenes' reforms, the people endowed their city with isonomic institutions — equal rights for all citizens (though only men were citizens)—and established ostracism. The isonomic and isegoric (equal freedom of speech) democracy was first organized into about 130 ""demes"", which became the basic civic element. The 10,000 citizens exercised their power as members of the assembly (ἐκκλησία, ""ekklesia""), headed by a council of 500 citizens chosen at random. The city's administrative geography was reworked, in order"
"democracy used today. In contrast, the Confederate States of America was an oligarchy. In order to help differentiate between oligarchies and democracies, Weart requires that the classification should not differ from how the people at the time viewed the differences, the oligarchic elite should live in constant fear of a rebellion, and for democracies a war should not have been prevented if everyone had the vote. For example, it was the Greeks who first created the concepts of democracy and oligarchy and they classified Athens as a democracy while Sparta was an oligarchy. There is no mention in the historical"
"have been adopted, by analogy, for the new form of government introduced by Athenian democrats. However, the word ""demarchy"" (δημαρχία) had already been taken and meant ""mayoralty"", the office or rank of a high municipal magistrate. (In present-day use, the term ""demarchy"" has acquired a new meaning.) It is unknown whether the word ""democracy"" was in existence when systems that came to be called democratic were first instituted. The word is attested in the works of Herodotus (""Histories"" 6.43), who wrote some of the earliest surviving Greek prose, but this might not have been before 440 or 430 BC. Around"
"Demokratia Demokratia () is a direct democracy, as opposed to the modern representative democracy. It was used in ancient Greece, most notably Athens, and began its use around 500 BCE. In a participant government, citizens who wish to have a say in government can participate in it. Demokratia excluded women, foreigners, and slaves. It barred between 80 and 90 percent of the population from political rights. The word demokratia comes from δῆμος ""demos"" ""people"" and ""kratos"" ""power"": ""the people hold power."" ""Demos"", including the lower classes, had political equality and notwhile respecting laws and institutions, was given full and absolute"
"Ancient Athens. Consensus-based decision making similar to deliberative democracy is characteristic of the hunter gather band societies thought to predominate in pre-historical times. As some of these societies became more complex with developments like division of labour, community-based decision making was displaced by various forms of authoritarian rule. The first example of democracy arose in Greece as Athenian democracy during the sixth century BC. Athenian democracy was both ""deliberative"" and largely ""direct"": some decisions were made by representatives but most were made by ″the people″ directly. Athenian democracy came to an end in 322BC. When democracy was revived as a"
"Athens; consequently the ""demos"" and ""polis"" became identical in Athens and the former word assumed preference to denote the whole polity. Popular government was first established in the wealthy and populous Greek cities in Ionia. From this history the word and concept of ""democracy"" is derived. This synoecism was one of the primary causes of the Kyklos in ancient Hellas. Synoecism also occurred in the history of Mantineia. In the fifth century, after its synoecism, it became a democracy; in the fourth century, it was again divided (""""dioikismos"""") and an oligarchy formed. Later, more political upheaval caused another synoecism, thus"
"first democracy in Athens. The island of Naxos, part of the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea, was also in this period affected by political turmoil. Naxos had been ruled by the tyrant Lygdamis, a protege of the Athenian tyrant Peisistratos, until around 524 BC, when he was overthrown by the Spartans. After this, a native aristocracy seems to have flourished, and Naxos became one of the most prosperous and powerful of the Aegean islands. Despite its success, Naxos was not immune to class tensions and internal strife, and shortly before 500 BC, the population seized power, expelling the aristocrats"
"Republic and the Roman Empire, and is regarded as the birthplace of Western civilization and by some as the first ever metropolis. It was first called ""The Eternal City"" (; ) by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the ""Caput Mundi"" (Capital of the World). After the fall of the Western Empire, which marked the beginning of the Middle Ages, Rome slowly fell under the political control of the Papacy, which had settled in the city since the 1st century AD,"
"and 416. Democracy was first established after a disastrous defeat by the Spartans at the battle of Sepeia in 494. So many Argives were killed in the battle that a revolution ensued, in which previously disenfranchised outsiders were included in the state for the first time. Argive democracy included an Assembly (called the ""aliaia""), a Council (the ""bola""), and another body called 'The Eighty,' whose precise responsibilities are obscure. Magistrates served six-month terms of office, with few exceptions, and were audited at the end of their terms. There is some evidence that ostracism was practiced. Under Roman rule, Argos was"
"gave rise to early Mediterranean cities. Early Iron Age Italy and Greece from around the 8th century BC gradually gave rise to historical Classical antiquity, whose beginning is sometimes dated to 776 BC, the year the first Olympic Games. Ancient Greece was the founding culture of Western civilisation. Western democratic and rationalist culture are often attributed to Ancient Greece. The Greeks city-state, the polis, was the fundamental political unit of classical Greece. In 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the world's first democratic system of government in Athens. The Greek political ideals were rediscovered in the late 18th century by European philosophers"
"to an end in 322 BC. When democracy was revived as a political system about 2000 years later, decisions were made by representatives rather than by the people themselves. A minor exception to this was the limited form of direct democracy which flourished in the Swiss Cantons from the later Middle Ages. An ephemerous but notorious instance, taking place in the Modern Age, was the Paris Commune of 1871, which married the universal political engagement of participatory democracy with a correspondent collective ownership and management of the means of production, which, like participatory democracy itself, was a demand of the"
"led to the emergence of increasingly larger and more complex civilizations, such as the first empires, which at times traded with one another, or fought for territory and resources. By around 500 BC, there were advanced civilizations in the Middle East, Iran, India, China, and Greece, at times expanding, at times entering into decline. In 221 BC, China became a single polity that would grow to spread its culture throughout East Asia, and it has remained the most populous nation in the world. The fundamentals of Western civilization were largely shaped in Ancient Greece, with the world's first democratic government"
"form of democracy was common from the time of its founding, and the concepts associated with representative democracy (and hence with a democratic republic) are suggested by John Adams (writing in 1784):No determinations are carried, it is true, in a simple representative democracy, but by consent of the majority or their representatives.Historically, some inconsistency around the term is frequent. China claims to be the oldest of Asia's democratic republics, though its recent history of democratic process is largely linked only to Taiwan. Likewise, Africa's oldest democratic republic, Liberia (formed in 1822), has had its political stability rocked by periodic violence"
"originated in city-states such as Classical Athens and the Roman Republic, where various schemes and degrees of enfranchisement of the free male population were observed before the form disappeared in the West at the beginning of late antiquity. The English word dates back to the 16th century, from the older Middle French and Middle Latin equivalents. According to American political scientist Larry Diamond, democracy consists of four key elements: a political system for choosing and replacing the government through free and fair elections; the active participation of the people, as citizens, in politics and civic life; protection of the human"
"also of interest because a portion of Ananda's ashes were enshrined in the town, the closest disciple of Lord Buddha. Ananda acted as the Buddha's personal attendant for twenty years and outlived him by several decades. Hajipur, earlier in British India was a small town in Muzaffarpur district situated on the confluence of the Ganges and Gandak. Hajipur figures conspicuously in the history of struggles between Akbar and the rebellious Afghan karrani rulers of Bengal. Hajipur (Vaishali) finds its origin way back in history from the Mahabharata period. It is the place where democracy found its origin around 600 BC."
"all Greek poleis, and also in Rome (then still a barely significant town). After the demise of kingship, the Greek city-states were initially most often led by nobility (aristocracy), after which their economic and military power base crumbled. Next, in almost all poleis tyrants usurped power for two generations (tyranny, 7th and especially 6th century BCE), after which gradually forms of governments led by the wealthy (oligarchy) or assemblies of free male citizens (democracy) emerged in Classical Greece (mainly after 500 BCE). Athenian democracy (6th century–322 BCE) is the best-known example of the latter form; classical Sparta (c. 550–371 BCE)"
"history. Far from world federation being a phenomenon of the 20th Century, among intellectuals around the world Dante, Penn, Paine, Kant, and K’ang emphasized the necessity of unity and peace of humankind. Thomas Jefferson founded democracy in the 1770s and after which the following events happened. Democracy, as the principle for legitimizing the government of the people, began to flourish in ancient Athens. It developed further in the city-states of the Swiss confederation and the town meetings in colonial New England. By the 1780s a democratic federation was created in the United States following the American Revolution, with Tom Paine,"
"wealth and were not as stratified as in the cities. The first democratically elected government was the House of Burgesses, which was first convened in 1619 by Governor George Yeardley in Virginia. The House of Burgesses, as with most colonial assemblies, was elected by free, white, landowning men. Both the southern colonies and those in the Chesapeake had a similar government: a governor and a council appointed by the crown, and an assembly or house of representatives that was elected by the people. The governor had the most power of any, his duties including judicial, religious, military, appointing officials, leader"
"philosophers become the rulers, there can be no civic peace or happiness. A number of Ancient Greek city-states such as Athens and Sparta have been classified as ""classical republics"", because they featured extensive participation by the citizens in legislation and political decision-making. Aristotle considered Carthage to have been a republic as it had a political system similar to that of some of the Greek cities, notably Sparta, but avoided some of the defects that affected them. Both Livy, a Roman historian, and Plutarch, who is noted for his biographies and moral essays, described how Rome had developed its legislation, notably"
"prevent Athens becoming a puppet of Sparta by whatever means necessary. However, as a result of this proposal, Cleisthenes and his family were exiled from Athens, in addition to other dissenting elements, by Isagoras. Having been promised democracy however, the Athenian people seized the moment and revolted, expelling Cleomenes and Isagoras. Cleisthenes was thus restored to Athens (507 BC), and at breakneck speed began to establish democratic government. The establishment of democracy revolutionised Athens, which henceforth became one of the leading cities in Greece. The new-found freedom and self-governance of the Athenians meant that they were thereafter exceptionally hostile to"