Democracy originated in ancient Greece and Rome, where early experiments with democratic forms of government occurred. In Greece, all members had an equal share of power in decision making. Rome established a republic, where leaders were elected to represent the people. While Greece and Rome are often credited with establishing early democracies, some scholars believe other early civilizations may have developed proto-democratic systems as well. Today, democracy is characterized by all members having equal power and the ability for citizens to influence decisions through voting. It has become the most prevalent form of government globally in the 20th century.

1. ORIGINS OF
DEMOCRACY

2. Meaning of democracy
 A democracy is a political system, or a system of
decision-making within an institution or
organization or a country, in which all members
have an equal share of power. Modern
democracies are characterized by two capabilities
that differentiate them fundamentally from earlier
forms of government.

3. History of democracy
 Democracy in its earliest forms is generally
associated with the efforts of the ancient Greeks
and Romans, who were themselves considered the
founders of Western civilization by the 18th
century intellectuals who attempted to leverage
these early democratic experiments into a new
template for post-monarchical political
organization

4. Democracy in Ancient Greece

5. Democracy in Rome
Rome set up a
type of
democracy
called a
republic.
In a republic ,
leaders are
elected to
represent the
people

6. Proto-democratic societies
 In recent decades scholars have explored the
possibility that advancements toward democratic
government occurred somewhere else (i.e. other
than Greece) first, as Greece developed its
complex social and political institutions long after
the appearance of the earliest civilizations in
Egypt and the Near East

7. Democracy nowadays
 Democracy is the most successful political
idea of the 20th century for some countries.
 Democracies are on average richer than the
non-democracies, are less likely to go to war
and have a better record of fighting corruption
 More fundamentally, democracy lets people
speak their minds and shape their own and
their children’s futures