Democracy is a political ideology. It has been used worldwide. The Oromo, Iroquois, India, Sumer, and Athenians were democratic. Rome wasn't democratic, but it had a big impact on future democracies. There were democracies in several parts of Europe and some Islamic kingdoms were democratic. There several criticisms of democracy.
There are 2 kinds of democracies. The first one is a direct democracy. Citizens vote on each policy. Athens is a good example of this. Adult male citizens voted, but women and slaves couldn't. The last democracy is a representative democracy. Citizens elect officials that vote on policies 4 them. The U.S. is a good example of this. Citizens vote for officials in the 3 branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial). Democracy is simply the rule of the majority. Plato called democracy mob rule.
The Oromo created Gaddaa. It was a system of social stratification based on age. Each level lasted for 8 years. There were 3 forms of government. They are national, regional, and local. The national government is lead by Abbaa (president) and 2 deputies. The work with a council of leaders called Luba. The national government create laws, control the military, diplomacy, etc. Their governments had checks and balances. There were a legislative, executive, judicial branches. They had 5 different political parties. Maasai. Nuer, Kikuyu tribes have a similar system of social stratification as Gadaa.
Oromo women had a system similar to Gaddaa. It was Siqqee. Women had the power to bless and curse. Waaqa (God) created women to be revered and respected. If a man hurts a woman, he might have gotten beaten up, whipped, pinched, forced to walk on the rocky ground, his cow may have been taken from him, etc. Women stuck together and helped each other.
The Oromo had their own country b4 Abyssinia took it over. Abyssinia was able to take over Oromia because they got weapons from Europeans. A lot of Oromos were killed. Some of the Oromos were sold into slavery.
The Iroquois is a confederacy of 5 tribes. They are as followed: Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations. The confederacy was created in 1570. This confederacy was ruled by a congress. The delegates on the congress were men. They were selected by elderly women in the tribe. They had a constitution called the great law of peace. The U.S. Constitution was inspired by the Great Law of Peace. The founding fathers would go to Iroquois governmental meetings.
Democracy is mentioned in the Vedas. Indian republics are mentioned in Buddhist texts. Ancient Greeks came across several Indian democracies. Diodorus said Alexander seen Indian nations that were democratic and some ruled by kings. Indian republics eventually became monarchies.
In Bangladesh Gopala, I was elected by chiefs of tribes. He brought stability to the region. He ruled for 27 years. He was the first king of Pala Empire.
At first, Sumer was ruled by priests. During times of great upheaval, an assembly would elect a person to be king. Once the crisis was over they would step down. After while the people who selected to be king wouldn't step down and a monarchy was created.
All the free men could vote in Athens. Women, aliens, and slaves could not vote. Athens had a direct democracy. There weren't any representatives. Free men voted on every policy. Other Greek city-states were democratic as well. Athens had a very complex government with checks and balances.
The Rome was the first nation to have legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government clearly divided. There were 2 classes of people in Rome. Patricians were upper class and the plebeians were lower class. 10 plebeians were on the tribune. They had the power to veto (I forbid) in law passes by the senate. They vetoed laws they thought were bad for plebeians. They created rule of law. The laws applied to everyone regardless of class.
The Isle of Man has a parliament for over 1000 years!!!!!! Iceland has parliament called Althing. Farmers have selected the members of Althing 4 a long period of time. It is also over a millennium. One time in Sweden a king wanted to attack Norway, but the people were against it. Someone gave a speech about the political power coming from people. Warriors hit their swords on their shields. The king decided to not war with Norway. In Ireland, there were assemblies called Tuatha. it was composed of landowners and craftsmen. They voted on policies, elected kings, and decide to go to war. Guilds elected their leaders. There were city-states in Itlay ruled by guilds. Slavs had assemblies called veche. They had legislative and judicial power. The Basque were ruled by elizate. Elizate: farm owners would meet in churches and discuss problems and decide on solutions. England and Scotland have the Magna Carta. It limits the power of the king and habeas corpus. The English parliament was created in 1256.
6 men choose Uthman to be king because Umar told them too. He assembled them while he was dying. Ibadites of Oman had elections 4 their leaders.
Conclusion
Democracy has been around for millennia!!!! Many different groups of people have been democratic through history. Rome had a big impact on modern day democracy. Democracy is a good for a highly educated and informed populations. The U.S. should get rid of the electoral college so it can have a better democracy.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/democracy
Oromo Democracy
https://oromiaeconomist.wordpress.com/tag/siiqqee-ateetee-the-oromo-women-ancient-institution/
https://ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/
http://theiroquoisstory.weebly.com/iroquois-government.html
https://www.academia.edu/4267636/Democracy_in_Ancient_India
http://www.fathis.com/wendy-ann-blog/sumerian-government
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athenian_democracy
http://www.ancientfacts.net/ancient-romes-influence-government-democracy-today/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_democracy
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