A democratic social system is more prevalent in modern society than any other. Democracy has drawbacks, but at the moment, countries where government bodies are elected by voting and important government issues are resolved through referenda are the most free and developed, the level of well-being of the population in them is much higher than that in autocratic countries.
Democracy first arose in the Greek polis (city-state) of Athens in the classical period of ancient history on the wave of the development of society, culture and the arts. Aristocrats possessed an ever-lesser fullness of power, which gradually passed to the demos - the people. Gradually, participation in public administration became the responsibility of all citizens of the policy, except for women, slaves, strangers - Xeni and even immigrants - Meteks (as they would say now, persons with a residence permit).
Contrary to the initial idea, far from all Athens citizens could take part in the elections, because, firstly, not everyone was interested in government affairs, and secondly, some eligible people could not get to each vote from the city outskirts, wasting time and giving up household chores. However, this was envisaged, and the quorum was 6, 000 citizens, that is, no more than a quarter of all who had the right to vote, and this concerned only the most important issues. For less important discussions, no more than 2-3 thousand were gathered.
Gradually, the position of Athens among the Greek polis shook, and with it democracy. In 411 BC e. The 400 richest Athenian families took full control of Athens. Thus Athenian democracy perished and an oligarchy was born.
Around the same time as Athenian democracy, a form of democratic rule arose in Rome. At first, the Roman Republic was ruled only by patricians - the native Romans. However, gradually, the plebeians, that is, Roman commoners, achieved the same rights for themselves. As in Athens, women and slaves were deprived of the right to vote in Rome, but those officially residing in Rome had such a right.
The Democratic Roman Republic lasted much longer than Athens. Rome moved from a democratic form of government to a monarchical empire only after the assassination of Guy Julius Caesar, in whose honor the title of supreme ruler of the Empire - Caesar or Caesar - began to be called. Later, on behalf of Caesar, the word tsar was also spread among the eastern and southern Slavs.
On the territory of modern Russia, the first (and, in fact, the last until the collapse of the USSR) democratic formation was the Novgorod Republic. However, this was not democracy in the full sense of the word. The last word in any decision belonged to the prince, although he listened to the opinion of the national assembly - the veche. After the conquest of Novgorod by Moscow, any attempts at self-government were brutally suppressed.
