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510 BCE
Ancient Greece
In Ancient Greece democracy required participation of the people. They established the Assembly, a body of citizens that made decisions and voted on issues that effected everyone, their decisions had to be approved by a group called the Council. By giving participating they were giving their consent for the government to operate. This part of democracy is called Consent of the Governed. -
500 BCE
Ancient Rome
In a Representative Government citizens elect representatives that make decisions for the people and are responsible to them. Rome was not a true representative democracy because not all of its important officials were elected, but the people could vote for some and vote out those they didn’t like. This aspect of democracy is still important today because we elect people in Congress and the President. -
Jan 2, 648
John Locke
A large aspect of Americas democracy is individual rights, because our democracy operates by majority rule, they are even more important. To protect the minority from being taken advantage of by the majority, the Founding Fathers attached to the end of the Constitution the Bill of Rights which lays out the rights of all American citizens. John Locke an English philosopher published a book in 648 CE about natural rights that inspired the Founding Fathers when writing the Bill of rights. -
Jan 1, 1100
Iroquois
They were a group of Native American Tribes formed an alliance to work together toward a common goal. Similarly when the Founding Fathers created the federal system to divide power between the states and national government, they also created the Constitution and national laws to keep the states together. -
Jan 1, 1215
Magna Carta
For thousands of years the laws only applied to the people and not to the kings or governments. Written by the English in 1215, the Magna Carta was one of the first documents that made the king subject to the law, he could do longer do what he wanted. This document set the stage for the idea in modern governments called Rule of Law that means no one is above the law, and even governments should be accountable to the law. -
Petition of Right
The Petition of Right is a major English constitutional document that sets out specific liberties of the subject that the king is prohibited from infringing. Petition of Right, 1628, a statement of civil liberties sent by the English Parliament to Charles I. Refusal by Parliament to finance the king's unpopular foreign policy had caused his government to exact forced loans and to quarter troops in subjects' houses as an economy measure. -
English Bill of Rights
The English Bill of Rights is an act that the Parliament of England passed on December 16, 1689. The Bill creates separation of powers, limits the powers of the king and queen, enhances the democratic election and bolsters freedom of speech. -
Montesquieu
Montesquieu was a French thinker, the first person to describe the system of Checks and Balances in detail. Checks and Balances are limits that keep the government’s power under control. The U.S. has two systems of checks and balances: our three branches of government (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial), and our federal system. -
Thomas Paine
England-born political philosopher and writer Thomas Paine helped shape many of the ideas that marked the Age of Revolution. His highly popular “Common Sense” was the first pamphlet to advocate American independence. After writing the “Crisis” papers during the American Revolution, Paine returned to Europe and offered his defense of the French Revolution with “The Rights of Man.”