How did democracy originate?
The term democracy was first used (in its ancient greek form) in Athens in the 5th century BC. That state is seen as the earliest case of a system corresponding to some of the modern notions of democracy. All the Athenians were free and could vote and speak in the Assembly; but the ancient Athenian voters did make decisions directly, rather than voting for representatives, as in a republic. Over time, the meaning of ‘democracy’ has changed, and the modern definition has largely evolved since the 18th century, alongside the successive introduction of “democratic” systems in many nations. According to Freedom House (a democracy research and support organization) there was not a single liberal democracy with universal suffrage in the world in 1900, but that today 120 (62%) of the world’s 192 nations are such democracies. So as you can see, in spite of being such an ancient practice it has evolved to be what we now regard as a democracy in almost 2500 years, and several things needed to ha
