From the Greek "rule of the many", describes some form of popular representation in the governance of a political or economic unit such as a nation state or a corporation. Democracy ranges from the more limited electoral representation to full voting participation on all issues before the ...
13
votes
3answers
213 views
What was Libya's form of direct democracy (Jamahiria) like in practice?
I've been following the recent events in Libya and I learned about the Green Book, which outlines Gaddafi's vision for a democratic socialism. Published in 1975, it proposed a form of direct democracy ...
9
votes
7answers
342 views
Has there ever been an attempted military takeover of a democracy in the western world?
Ignoring the Spanish 1981 and Greek 1967 coups. Are there any other examples of the military attempting (or even managing) to overthrow an elected government in an advanced democracy in the western ...
6
votes
3answers
3k views
Why are the democracies of France, Israel and India rated “Flawed Democracies”?
What does the term "Flawed Democracy" actually mean?
Why are some of the world's successful democracies like France, Israel and India rated "Flawed Democracies" by the Economist Intelligence Unit?
4
votes
2answers
97 views
What are major differences between a Caliphate and a modern Republic?
As far as I know, a Caliphate elects a leader for a lifetime term, rather than having regular elections.
Some caliphates choose their leader by a small group rather than have the masses choose, but ...
9
votes
5answers
1k views
Was democracy present in India before British colonization?
My friend claims that India had democracy before the British colonized it. I am skeptical and have failed to find any references to democracy in India within the last thousand years. I found one weak ...
13
votes
4answers
469 views
Do most of today's democratic nations with two-party system exhibit a civil war in recent past?
I was thinking about the two-party system in USA and comparing it to mostly multi-party systems in Europe and was wondering, if this national state of democracy is mainly caused by political decisions ...
7
votes
1answer
205 views
Did the Romans “copy” their political system from the Greeks?
This is an outgrowth of the discussion here. My sense is that the Romans developed their system autochthonously, probably with some influence from their Etruscan neigbours and one-time-overlords.
...
7
votes
1answer
144 views
How big were the biggest elections during the ancient era?
According to this question - Why did non-monarchic rule meet with so little success in ancient China?, elections in the ancient era were mostly conducted in city-states, due to feasibility, logistical ...
1
vote
4answers
331 views
Correlation between capitalism/democracy and communism/dictatorship?
Some people often equate capitalism with democracy and communism with dictatorship, is this necessarily true?
What are good examples and counter-examples of these associations?
Should kingdoms etc. ...
12
votes
2answers
374 views
What factors contributed to earlier democratic states failing?
Conventional wisdom says that democracy is the superior form of government.
If this is true, then factors might have contributed to earlier democratic states like Athens in 500 BCE and the Roman ...
2
votes
2answers
86 views
What were the origins of democracy?
I realize that many people say that Athens is where democracy started, but is there any solid proof that it was the first? On Wikipedia, it is stated that:
there is evidence to suggest that ...
19
votes
6answers
358 views
Besides Magna Carta and general decentralization, what specifically led to democratization in England?
In England, the gradual weakening of the central government (starting with the Magna Carta), and the gradual rights given to nobility slowly pushed England to a democratic form of government. Yet in ...
11
votes
5answers
305 views
Are modern handguns a major reason for democratization?
I had a history teacher who argued that a major reason for the fall of the feudal system, was that the knights lost their military superiority because of development in weapon technology (longbow, ...
3
votes
1answer
138 views
Did the Founding Fathers of the USA really make a distinction between a Republic and a Democracy (and despised the latter)?
I've come across this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-gEkKzRvbI
It makes a distinction between a Democracy (rule of majority) vs Republic (rule of law). It contests that a Republic is a state ...
8
votes
1answer
117 views
What is the reason for Burma/Myanmar's recent reforms?
In the last couple of days, the press has been granted much greater freedoms in Burma. They held elections last year and even released Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest (only a year or 2 after they ...
7
votes
4answers
251 views
Why, even, various developed countries faced Coup D'etat, Dictatorship and/or Civil War but India didn't?
Various countries even that have highly developed democracy, economy and knowledge-based society faced Coup D'etat, Dictatorship and/or Civil War.
India was an underdeveloped society, economy and had ...
7
votes
1answer
2k views
What specific changes were made to political ideologies around during and before World War I?
I'm studying the influence of democracy and the United States' advocacy of it during the early 20th century, and the effect that the Allied Powers' victory in World War I had in the shifting of ...
-5
votes
2answers
406 views
When did polygamy start becoming illegal? [closed]
Anyone knows when the greek/roman (or anyone else) start prohibiting polygamy and why?
10
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2answers
418 views
Which 11 countries were democratic in 1941?
Relistening to the BBC's History of Democracy broadcast in July 2011. The historian on the show talked about the low point for democracies being 1941 when there were just 11 parliamentary democracies ...
