History of Democracy in the world
What is democracy?
Democracy is as we know it today as freedom a system of government in which the citizens exercise power directly or elect representatives from amongst themselves. The term democracy first appeared in ancient Greek political and philosophical thought in the city-state of Athens during classical antiquity. Even the word democracy comes from the ancient Greek language demos meaning people and Kratos meaning strength.
Athenians established what is generally held as the first democracy in 582 507 BC. PLAs Deniz is referred to as the father of Athenian democracy. Athenian democracy took the form of a direct democracy and it had two distinguish features. The random selection of ordinary citizens to fill the few existing government administrative and judicial offices and a Legislative Assembly consisting of all Athenian citizens.
All eligible citizens were allowed to speak in vote in the assembly which set the laws of the city state. However Athenian citizenship excluded women slaves foreigners. So it wasn't that free of wealth and vote as we know today but it was a good start speaking of ancient Rome, even though the Roman Republic contributed significantly to many aspects of democracy.
Only a minority of Romans were citizens with votes in elections for representatives, additionally the Roman model of governments inspired many political thinkers over the centuries and today's modern representative democracies imitate more than Roman in the Greek models because it was a state in which supreme power was held by the people and their elected representative and which had an elected or nominated leader.
Another example of the natives in North America which between around 1450 and 1640 mccr attic society before they came in contact with the Europeans. This indicates the forms of democracy may have been invented in other societies around the world. In medieval times most regions in Europe were ruled by clergy or feudal lords almost no democracy remained from the ancient Greeks or Romans.
The Parliament of England had its roots in the restrictions on the power of kings written into the Magna Carta in 1215 also the first English Parliament was created in 1265, starting separation of powers and state many laws and rules were made. After this event in the whole of Europe the power of Kings began to fade to local Nobles and afterwards to the people.
After some centuries the case of proclamations in 1610 in England decided that the king by his proclamation or other ways cannot change any part of the common law or statute law. All the customs of the realm and that the king hath no prerogative but that which the law of the land allows him the Virginia House of Burgess's established in 1619, was the first representative legislative body in the new world.
During a period of renewed interest in the Magna Carta the petition of right 1628 was passed by the Parliament of England. It established among other things. The illegality of taxation without parliamentary consent and arbitration imprisonment is critical historical juncture catalysed. The resurrection of democratic ideals and institutions the founding fathers of the United States rejected democracy as defined by the Greeks preferring instead a natural aristocracy and a Congress.
The Americans as with the British took their cue from the Roman Republic model where the people were not respected. Revolutions happened in 1789 to 1799. The French Revolution happened against the French monarchy. The people showed their power once again in 1833. The slavery abolition Act was passed which took effect across the British Empire following the French the revolutions of 1848.
Although in many instances forcefully put down did result in democratic constitutions in some other European countries. Black Africans were given the vote for the first time in southern Africa in 1853, in the British administer to Cape Province in 1870, in the United States of America. The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution prohibited voting rights discrimination on the basis of race colour or previous condition of slavery. New Zealand was the first nation to introduce universal suffrage by awarding the vote to women in 1893 which is interesting. If we think the women got their first right to vote just 125 years ago.
The first parliamentary system in the Middle East was created in Persia today Iran. The end of the First World War was a temporary victory for democracy in Europe. Many monarchies collapsed and Democratic Republic's were courageous even communism was created in 1917. Based on some ideas from the 19th century the Bolsheviks believe the communism is the true democracy promoting the culture of work between people proletarians also.
After World War one Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire collapsed giving the opportunity to oppress nations to be free in 1918. The United Kingdom granted the right to vote to and in 1928 granting women and men equal rights. In 1920 women got their right to vote in the United States and in 1944 in France. In 1924 granted full US citizenship to America's indigenous peoples called Indians. In effect 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 decolonisation happened after the war and many countries in Africa gained their freedom. The Iron Curtain persisted after World War 2 until 1990 when the communist block collapsed peacefully except Romanian. Where there was a revolution from 1789 to the present day. The world has seen a dramatic expansion of democracy especially from 1989. Even if today there are still countries where democracy is not fitting well.
Only Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Brunei and the Vatican officially admit to being undemocratic. So North Korea for example is a communist country from where people cannot go where they have limited rights but they call themselves a democracy as I mentioned earlier communism was interpreted as a democratic regime but where people don't have so many rights. So that's why North Korea's official name is the Democratic Republic of Korea.
In the Western world the term democracy is sometimes used as shorthand for liberal democracy. Majority rule is often listed as characteristic of democracy, hence democracy allows for political minorities to be oppressed by the tyranny of the majority in the absence of legal protections of individuals or group rights. This was the case of people in the former Soviet Union which weren't Russians. For example just 51% of the entire Soviet people were ethnically.
Russian today it's believed that the freedom of the world and the true democracy are in these states.
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