the.com/democracy
a system where you trade kings for crowds and hope the crowd reads.
means A system of government in which power rests with the people, who rule either directly or through representatives they elect.
from From the Greek dēmokratia, stitched together from dēmos, 'the people,' and kratos, 'power' or 'rule' — literally 'people-power.' It was coined in ancient Athens, where dēmos meant not just 'the people' but specifically the common citizenry, as opposed to the few. The kratos half is a heavy word, the same muscle found in words like 'aristocracy' and 'autocracy' — it's the raw grip of rule, now handed to the many.
- word origin
- Greek: demos plus kratos, meaning people-power
- ancient draft
- Athens picked officials by lottery, not votes
- voter math
- women voted nowhere until 1893, New Zealand first
- fragile thing
- average lifespan of one is roughly two centuries
- churchill's jab
- worst system except all the others tried
athenian democracy — ancient greece, 5th century bc, first direct democracy with citizen voting assemblies
westminster system — uk parliament since 1689, parliamentary democracy model adopted by 50+ countries
indian democracy — world's largest democracy by population, 1.4 billion people, universal suffrage since 1950
swiss direct democracy — canton-level referendums and initiatives, citizens vote on laws 3-4 times yearly