History of democracy

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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.

Contents

[edit] Origins

[edit] Ancient Sumer

The Sumerian city states are believed to have had some form of Democratic setup initially. [1] They became monarchies over time.

[edit] Ancient India

Further information: Panchayat, Sangha, Gana and Maha Janapadas

One of the earliest instances of democracy in a civilization was found in 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) was the world's first republic. 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.[2] Another example was Gopala's rise to power by democratic election in Bengal, which was documented by the Tibetan historian Taranath.[3] [4]

[edit] Ancient Greece

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.
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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 democracies in ancient times; the word "democracy" (Greek: δημοκρατία - "rule by the people") was invented 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, and decisions in other cases by majority rule. The assembly of all male citizens in Athens 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, 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 Greece, 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 eztent to which it was a tourist exhibit, are debateable.

[edit] Roman Republic

For more details on this topic, see Roman Republic.

[edit] Birth of the Republic

The traditional founding of Rome was in 753 BC. The Etruscans, early Italian settlers comprised of city-states throughout central Italy ruled Rome for over a century; the traditional dates are 616 BC for the accession of the first Etruscan King, Tarquinius Priscus, and 510 BC for the expulsion of the last king, Tarquinius Superbus. The king was expelled by a group of aristocrats led by Lucius Junius Brutus. The Tarquins were expelled from Rome, and a constitution devised, whereby power rested in the hands of the Roman senate (the assembly of leading citizens), who delegated executive power in a pair of consuls who were elected from among their number to serve for one year.

The founding of the 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 internecine feuding of the leading families. Another was the struggle between the leading 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.

[edit] Fall of the Republic

The beginning of the end of the Republic came when the brothers Gracchus challenged the traditional constitutional order in the 130s and 120s BC. Though members of the aristocracy themselves, they sought to parcel out public land to the dispossessed Italian peasant farmers. Other measures followed, but many senators feared the Gracchi's policy and both brothers met violent deaths. The next champion of the people was the great general Gaius Marius, He departed from established practice by recruiting his soldiers not only from landed citizens but from landless citizens, including the growing urban proletariat. These were people when the wars were over looked to their commander for a more permanent reward in the shape of land of their own. Thus the situation developed where commanders and their armies banded together in pursuit of political objectives, the commanders seeking power and the soldiers rewards.

The temporary ascendancy achieved by Marius was eclipsed by that of Sulla in the 80s BC. Sulla marched on Rome after his command of the Roman invasion force that was to invade Pontus was transferred to Sulla's rival Marius. Leaving Rome damaged and terrorized, Sulla retook command of the Eastern army and after placing loyal puppets to the consul he marched for the conquest of Pontus. When Sulla returned to Rome, there was opposition to his rule by those loyal to Marius and his followers. Sulla, with the aid of a young Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) and Marcus Licinius Crassus, quelled the political opposition and had himself made dictator of Rome. Sulla was a staunch proponent of aristocratic privilege, and his short-lived monarchy saw the repeal of pro-popular legislation and condemnation, usually without trial, of thousands of his enemies to violent deaths and exile.

After Sulla's death, democracy was more or less restored under Pompey the Great. Despite his popularity he was faced with two astute political opponents: the immensely wealthy Crassus and Julius Caesar. Rather than coming to blows, the three men reached a political accommodation now known as the First Triumvirate. Caesar was awarded governor of two Gallic provinces (what is now modern day France). He embarked on a campaign of conquest, the Gallic War, which resulted in a huge accession of new territory and vast wealth not to mention an extremely battle hardened army after 8 years of fighting the Gauls. In 50 BC Caesar was recalled to Rome to disband his legions and was put on trial for his illegal war crimes. Caesar, not able to accept this insult after his fantastic conquest, crossed the Rubicon with his loyal Roman legions in 49 BC. Caesar was considered an enemy and traitor of Rome, and he was now matched against the Senate, led by Pompey the Great. This led to a violent Civil War between Caesar and the Republic. The senators and Pompey were no match for Caesar and his veteran legions and this culminated in the Battle of Pharsalus, where Caesar, although outnumbered, destroyed Pompey's legions. Pompey, who had fled to Egypt, was murdered and beheaded.

Finally, Caesar took supreme power and was appointed Dictator for life over the Roman Republic. Caesar's career was cut short by his assassination at Rome in 44 BC by Marcus Junius Brutus, the descendant of the Brutus who expelled the Etruscan King four and half centuries before. In 27 BC Octavian, Caesar's adoptive son, was granted the title Augustus by the Senate, making him the first official emperor of Rome. The Roman Republic of the senate and the people came to an end and thus began the age of the Emperors. The Roman Empire expanded and lasted until its fall in 476 AD.

[edit] Local popular institutions

Þorgnýr the Lawspeaker is teaching the Swedish king Olof Skötkonung that the power resides with the people, 1018, Uppsala, by C. Krogh
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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:

  • The panchayats in India
  • The German tribal system described by Tacitus in his Germania.
  • The Frankish custom of the Marzfeld or "March field".[5]
  • 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 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 a early form of democracy. The Alþing has run nearly continously to the present day. The Althing was preceded by less elaborate "things" (assemblies) all over Northern Europe.[6]
  • 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 he made sense.
  • The tuatha system in early medieval Ireland. Landowners and the masters of a profession or craft were members of a local assembly, known as a tuath. The members of a tuath were of common descent, although outsiders could be adopted. Each tuath 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 tuatha coexisted at any time throughout Ireland. Each tuath 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-states of medieval Italy, of which 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 legislature and judicial authority in the republics of Novgorod until 1478 and Pskov until 1510.
  • Rise of parliamentary bodies in other European countries.

[edit] Rise of democracy in modern national governments

[edit] Pre-Eighteenth century milestones

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:

[edit] Eighteenth and nineteenth century milestones

[edit] The 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.[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.

[edit] 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, the 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.

India became a democratic republic in 1950 on achieving independence from Great Britain. A process of decolonization created much political upheaval in Africa, with some countries experiencing often rapid changes to and from democratic and other forms of government. In Southeast Asia, political divisions in both Korea and Vietnam would escalate into wars with heavy involvement from the West, China and the Soviet Union.

Countries highlighted in blue are designated "Electoral Democracies" in Freedom House's 2006 survey Freedom in the World.
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Countries highlighted in blue are designated "Electoral Democracies" in Freedom House's 2006 survey Freedom in the World.

New waves of democracy swept across Europe in the 1970s and late 1980s, when representative governments were instituted in the nations of Southern, Central and Eastern Europe respectively.

Much of Latin America and Southeast Asia, Taiwan and South Korea and some Arab and African states—notably Lebanon and 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. [8] 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 indicitive of the expansion of democracy during the twentieth century.

[edit] Contemporary trends

[edit] See also

[edit] Ideas

[edit] Documents

[edit] People

[edit] Events

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Sumer and Akkad. The Sumerian City-States.
  2. ^ Democracy in Ancient India. Steve Muhlberger, Associate Professor of History, Nipissing University.
  3. ^ History of Buddhism in India, Translation: A. Shiefner.
  4. ^ The Age of Imperial Kanauj, History and Culture of Indian People, 1964, p 45, Dr R. C. Majumdar, Dr A. D. Pusalkar.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ Burnt Njal's saga, tr. Magnus Magnusson, introduction.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ Freedom House. 1999. "Democracy’s Century: A Survey of Global Political Change in the 20th Century."

[edit] 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)
  • Markoff, John, Waves of Democracy, 1996, ISBN 0-8039-9019-7
  • Muhlberger, Steve, Phil Paine, Democracy's Place in World History, Journal of World History, 4: 23-45; 1999
  • Putnam, Robert. Making Democracy Work Princeton University Press. (1993)
  • Rothbard, Murray N., For a New Liberty, 1973, online, last accessed on 24 May, 2005
  • 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

[edit] Further reading

[edit] External links

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