2. 1. History of Democracy in 4 minutes...
How and where did democracy develop? This animated timeline
starts in ancient Greece, and winds through the Roman Empire,
Middle Ages, via the French Revolution to modern times.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbN9kx6YHQQ&feature=youtu.be
AND...
2. Tony Benn on democracy - 7 minutes...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KbDNSkSovQ
You can watch the entire parts on YouTube, if you are taken...
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3. Democracy as a Natural Order
“Democracy is any form of government in which the rules of
society are decided by the people who will be bound by them.”*
PEOPLE GOVERNING THEMSELVES
That was the original system of making decisions for society –
primitive democracy which exists for tens of thousands of years
before the rise of the state
When the state appears 5,000 years ago, it seeks to take the
decision-making power away from society
Then, democracy becomes a way of trying to restrain state power
and put the state under the people’s control
*Catherine Kellogg, Democratic Theory, in: Janine Brodie and Sandra Rein, Critical Concepts: An
Introduction to Politics, 3d edition.
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4. Three overlapping epochs in the historical development of democracy -
John Keane, ‘The Life and Death of Democracy’
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5. Phase One
Assembly Democracy – starting around 2,500 BCE, in lands now within the
territories of Iran, Iraq and Syria
“During the first phase of democracy the seeds of its basic institution –
self-government through an assembly of equals – were scattered across
many different soils and climes, ranging from the Indian subcontinent
and the prosperous Phoenician empire to the western shores of
provincial Europe. These popular assemblies took root, accompanied by
various ancillary institutional rules and customs, like written
constitutions, the payment of jurors and elected officials, the freedom to
speak in public, voting machines, voting by lot and trial before elected or
selected juries. There were efforts as well to stop bossy leaders in their
tracks, using such methods as the mandatory election of kings…”
The Life and Death of Democracy, p.xvi
Best-known example – Athens, 5th century BCE
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6. Athenian democracy
Direct democracy:
Citizens participated directly in initiating, deliberating, and passing of,
the legislation. The Assembly, no less than 6,000 strong out of 22,000
citizens of Athens, convened about every 10 days. Supreme power to
decide on every issue of state policy
Citizen juries:
Justice is responsibility of citizens - juries composed of 501-1001 citizens
Appointment of citizens to political office by lot
Citizen-soldiers: Every citizen had a duty to serve in the army
Ostracism: Problematic politicians could be kicked out of office by the people!
HOWEVER did all Athenians agree?
Why Socrates Hated Democracy? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLJBzhcSWTk&feature=youtu.be
We’re used to thinking hugely well of democracy. But interestingly,
one of the wisest people who ever lived, Socrates, had deep suspicions
of it. 6
7. Phase Two
Representative Democracy
Starts around 10th-12th centuries in Western Europe with the invention
of parliamentary assemblies
• Reaches its classic forms in the 18th century. Officially regarded as
normative today.
• Marquis d’Argenson, Foreign Minister of French King Louis XV, 1765:
“False democracy soon collapses into anarchy. It is government of the
multitude; such is a people in revolt, insolently scorning law and reason.
Its tyrannical despotism is obvious from the violence of its movements
and the uncertainty of its deliberations. In true democracy, one acts
through deputies, who are authorized by election; the mission of those
elected by the people and the authority that such officials carry
constitute the public power.”
Keane, p. xviii
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8. Phase Three
Monitory Democracy - term coined by John Keane
Started after World War II
Invention of about 100 power-monitoring devices which had never existed
before
Increase citizen ability to control the state which is organized on the basis
of representative democracy
Public integrity commissions
Judicial activism
Local courts
Workplace tribunals
Citizens assemblies
Think tanks
The Internet
Lobby Groups admidst others.
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9. The Classical Theory of Democracy
The triple meaning:
Democracy as source of state authority – power of the people
Democracy as the purpose of government – the common good
Democracy as a method of choosing political leaders – by the
people
Abraham Lincoln: “Government of the people, by the people, and
for the people” (1863)
Also from Lincoln (1861): “This country, with its institutions,
belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow
weary of the existing government, they can exercise their
constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to
dismember or overthrow it”.
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