The birth of Democracy

Origins of Democracy

The word "democracy," as well as the concept it represents, can be traced back to the area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. The beginnings of democracy can be credited to the Greeks of the sixth century BC. The word comes from two Greek words: demos, meaning "the people," and kratein, meaning "to rule." These two words are joined together to form democracy, literally meaning "rule by the people" (Pious). The Greek system of government was perhaps closer to a true democracy or rule by the people than any other in history. The Greeks viewed dictatorship as the worst possible form of government, so their government evolved as the exact opposite. Their civilization was broken down into small city-states (never more than 10,000 citizens), and all the men voted on all issues of government. There were no representatives in the Greek system of government. Instead, they ruled themselves directly; each man was a lifelong member of the decision making body. This was almost a total democracy except for the fact that women and slaves (over 50% of the population) were not considered citizens and were not allowed to vote. Despite this, no other civilization has come as close to democracy as its creators, the Greeks, and many later civilizations have incorporated this Greek idea as part of the foundation for their government (Lee; Lefebvre).

Democracy is a system of government by which political sovereignty is retained by the people and exercised directly by citizens. In modern times it has also been used to refer to a constitutional republic where the people have a voice through their elected representatives. Even though there is no universally accepted definition of 'democracy', there are two principles that any definition of democracy. The first principle is that all members of the society have equal access to power and the second that all members enjoy universally recognized freedoms and liberties.

Democracy in the Middle Ages

Though democracy was not directly instituted in the Middle Ages, many democratic ideas were prevalent throughout the period. Because Christianity, which taught that men were created equal in the eyes of God, was deeply ingrained into the society of the Middle Ages, the democratic idea of equality was understood by many of the people.

Democracy in England

In 1215 AD, the Magna Carta opened the door to a more democratic system in England. Nobles forced King John to sign this "Great Charter" that created the English "Parliament" and the Bill of Rights (1689) to provide freedom of speech and banned cruelty or unusual punishment. These strengthened the Parliament and gave the people more rights to express themselves. The concept of democracy continued to be prevalent in Europe with the philosophies of an English philosopher, John Locke and a French philosopher named Jean Jacques Rousseau. Locke’s book, “Two Treatises” (published in 1690), stated that under the "social contract," the government's job was to protect "natural rights", which include the right to life, liberty, and the ownership of property. Rousseau expanded this idea with his book, The Social Contract, in 1762. In essence, these two philosophers said that the people should have input on how their government is run.

The Path to Modern Democracy

Revolutions began to spring up against monarchies and democratic governments began to develop. Before the end of the 19^th century, almost all of the Western European monarchies had adopted a constitution of limiting the power of the Royal Family and giving some power to the people. Parliamentary type representative legislatures were also developed in many of these countries, giving the people more power to rule (Pious).

With the growing success of democracy in the United States and in other countries throughout the world, democracy became more and more popular. By the 1950’s, almost every independent country on the planet had a government that embodied some of the principals and ideals put forth by democracy. The model nation for these principals became the United States (Pious; Sanford 20-27).

Democracy in America

Modern American democracy is in the form of a democratic republic. A representative democracy came about in the United States because the colonists were tired of taxation without representation and wanted a more fair system where the people had more say in the ruling of the country. They did not desire the Athenian form of democracy however; as they feared it would give the people too much power and would lend control of the government to the uneducated masses. What they came up with was a representative democracy where elected representatives were elected by the people, rule the government.

These representatives are elected with the idea that they will accurately represent their constituents, but in case some don’t, the U.S. government is divided into three branches to keep corruption in check. These three branches are the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. Not one branch contains absolute power; rather than each branch is balanced off while the others create a check and balance system to protect the principles of democracy. This system is no way perfect and this is why we must pursue a more perfect form of democracy and union between the citizens, states and country (Pious; Sanford 20-27).

There are several varieties of democracy, some of which provide better representation and more freedom for their citizens compared to the others. However, if democracy is not carefully legislated (to avoid an uneven distribution of political power) such as the separation of powers, a branch of the system is able to accumulate power in a way that is harmful to democracy itself. The "majority rule" is often described as a characteristic feature of democracy. Without the presence of a responsible government, the rights of a minority will be abused by the "tyranny of the majority". An essential process in representative democracies are competitive elections, that are fair both substantively and procedurally. Furthermore, freedom of political expression, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are essential so that citizens are informed and able to vote in their personal interests.