Overview of and topical guide to democracy
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to democracy.
Democracy – form of government which allows people to participate equally—either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws.[1]
Nature of democracy
Democracy can be described as a(n):
- Institution – structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human community. Institutions are identified with a social purpose and permanence, transcending individual human lives and intentions, and with the making and enforcing of rules governing cooperative human behavior.[2]
Types of democracy
The main types of democracy include the following:
History of democracy
History of democracy – democracy can be traced back from the present day to classical Athens in the 6th century BCE.
- Athenian democracy – democracy in the Greek city-state of Athens developed around the fifth century BCE, making Athens one of the first known democracies in the world, comprising the city of Athens and the surrounding territory of Attica. It was a system of direct democracy, in which eligible citizens voted directly on legislation and executive bills.
- Solon (c. 638 – c. 558 BCE) – Athenian statesman, lawmaker, and poet. Legislated against political, economic, and moral decline in archaic Athens. His reforms failed in the short term, yet he is often credited with having laid the foundations for Athenian democracy.[5][6][7][8]
- Cleisthenes (born around 570 BCE) – father of Athenian democracy. He reformed the constitution of ancient Athens and set it on a democratic footing in 508/7 BCE.
- Ephialtes (died 461 BCE) – led the democratic revolution against the Athenian aristocracy, which exerted control through the Areopagus, the most powerful body in the state.[9] Ephialtes proposed a reduction of the Areopagus' powers, and the Ecclesia (the Athenian Assembly) adopted Ephialtes' proposal without opposition. This reform signaled the beginning of a new era of "radical democracy" for which Athens would become famous.
- Pericles – arguably the most prominent and influential Greek statesman. When Ephialtes was assassinated for overthrowing the elitist Council of the Aeropagus, his deputy Pericles stepped in. He was elected strategos (one of ten such posts) in 445 BCE, which he held continuously until his death in 429 BCE, always by election of the Athenian Assembly. The period during which he led Athens, roughly from 461 to 429 BCE, is known as the "Age of Pericles".
- Ostracism – procedure under the Athenian democracy in which any citizen could be expelled from the city-state of Athens for ten years.
- Areopagus – council of elders of Athens, similar to the Roman Senate. Like the Senate, its membership was restricted to those who had held high public office, in this case that of Archon.[10] In 594 BCE, the Areopagus agreed to hand over its functions to Solon for reform. Later, Ephialtes radically reduced its powers.
- Ecclesia – principal assembly of the democracy of ancient Athens during its "Golden Age" (480–404 BCE). It was the popular assembly, open to all male citizens with 2 years of military service. In 594 BCE, Solon allowed all Athenian citizens to participate, regardless of class, even the thetes (manual laborers).
- Federalist Papers –
- Potsdam Declaration –
- Third Wave Democracy –
Criticism of democracy
Criticism of democracy includes charges that democracy is either economically inefficient, politically idealistic, or morally corrupt.