| In the original Greek literally ‘rule by the
people’. In the Greek world, political organization was usually centered around
‘city states’ and male citizens had equal rights to participate in government. The
Greek concept of citizenship implied that citizens must become actively involved in
government, not just vote for representatives.
In modern usage the term has become narrowed to mean a system of government where
citizens have equal legal rights to vote in free elections.
Most studies of the origin of democracy focus on one or a number of important factors
and circumstances that seem to be associated with its emergence. This paper argues for a
more comprehensive approach that views all the contributing factors as expressions of a
more fundamental process of change in the society. It is this process that we must
understand, if society is to acquire the capability to promote the successful adoption of
democratic institutions in different social and cultural contexts.
A survey of nations that refer to themselves as ‘democratic’ makes it evident
that the term is applied to widely divergent forms of government. There is not and may
never be a single formula for what constitutes democracy. However, underlying these
different forms is a common principle. Democratic governments are those in which
fundamental human rights of individual citizens are protected by the collective and in
which the views of the population-at-large, not just a ruling elite, are reflected in the
actions of government.
The genesis of democracy can be traced back to the Greek city-state of Athens. The
democratic idea of a government responsible to the governed, of trial by jury and of civil
liberties of thought, speech, writing and worship have been stimulated by Greek history.
Emphasis on liberty and the studies related to man were the main tenets of ancient Greece.
It was their sense of liberty and independence, individual and collective, which inspired
them to accomplishments in philosophy, politics and science. The Greeks gave to mankind
the idea of politics as the business of citizens as against the arbitrary rule of the
despots.
The democracy propounded by the Greeks enjoyed a short span of life. The Romans, successor
to Greek ideas and institutions, at first seemed to embrace Athenian democratic
principles. The regime of the Romans was a mixture of kingship, aristocracy and democracy.
- Social Origins of Democracy - http://www.icpd.org/democracy/index.htm |