“Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…”

— Winston Churchill, Nov. 11th, 1947, House of Commons

Modern nations rely on political systems to bring order and stability to life. According to Pew Research (2019), approximately 57 per cent of the countries that are over 500,000 in population can be classified as democratic while 13 per cent can be classified as authoritarian. Whether a country is democratic or authoritarian is determined by how power is distributed within it, who holds authority and the role of citizens in decision-making. Authoritarian governments concentrate power into the hands of a small group or into the hands of a single ruler, whereas democratic governments disperse power to the hands of many people.

Democracy is a very old political system, and its invention is often attributed to the Greeks who lived between the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Scholars now recognize that democracy is much older than the Greek model. For example, Bower (2022) writes that “collective decision-making arrangement[s] that kept anyone from amassing too much power and wealth go back thousands, and probably tens of thousands of years in many parts of the world.” 

For example, archeologists have uncovered large structures, likely council meeting places, in Georgia’s Lake Oconee. Archeologists believe that these structures were where clan members gathered to make political decisions, for example, determining the distribution of food resources, deciding upon political alliances and settling territorial disputes. Bower further states that the discovery of “institutions such as these highlight a growing realization among archaeologists that early innovations in democratic rule emerged independently in many parts of the world.” As such, democracy, which emphasizes the roots of power being concentrated in the hands of many people, is a political model that has evolved and changed over millennia.

The word democracy derives from the Greek dēmokratia, consisting of demos, or the common people living in a geographical region, and kratos, which means to rule (democracy | Etymology of democracy by etymonline). The classical Greeks exercised democratic rule through the formation of an Assembly of Athenian citizens, specifically, males over the age of 18. In this Assembly, issues were discussed, debated and voted upon. As is the case in today’s democracies, if the majority voted in favour of a position, that position was adhered to.

The powers of the Assembly were significant, but not unlimited. According to Encyclopedia Brittanica, the agenda of the Assembly was set out by the Council of Five Hundred, comprised of representatives of 139 smaller territorial entities. This constrained what the Assembly could address. In addition, popular courts (dikasteria), made up of jurors chosen from pools of citizens over 30, were charged with interpreting and applying the laws passed by the Assembly. 

Democracy in Greece was successful for approximately 200 years, after which power was seized by a group called the Four Hundred who established an oligarchy (defined by power distribution to a few people). Democracy was re-established by overthrowing the Four Hundred approximately one year later, but successive wars lost to the Macedonians and Romans later extinguished Greek democracy as it was practiced between the 5th and 4th centuries BC.

The structures that originated in Greece with the Athenians are recognizable today. For example, in Canada free and fair elections are held on a regular basis, power is divided between national, provincial and municipal governments, and the legislative branch is balanced out with the judicial branch, which is designed to interpret and apply the law. Thus, power is distributed between the various branches of government and is checked by the judicial branch. 

While Canada’s population is too large to practice direct democracy where all members of society have a vote in legislative decision-making, we do have a representative democracy where citizens vote for representatives to reflect the interests of their community nationally, provincially or civically. In addition, citizens can communicate with their representatives to share their perspectives on issues and policy. In today’s context, citizens also include women, racialized and Indigenous individuals, making for a more inclusive model than the one implemented for the Greek Assembly.

Democracy, when it is well-executed, allows for people to have a voice in the affairs of their community, which consequently allows for social cohesion and individuals to feel a sense of belonging. As such, democracy makes sense on an intuitive level, but it is not easily realized. 

In today’s context, there are many challenges to democracy, including growing inequality, populism and debates over the value and structure of public institutions, including public education. Part of the antidote to these challenges is a well-educated population in which people are equipped to root out mistruths and solve problems creatively for the good of all citizens.