This document summarizes the origins and evolution of democratic forms of government from ancient Greece and Rome to their modern manifestations. It traces the development of representative democracy and outlines early influences on democratic thought from figures like John Locke, Montesquieu, and Voltaire. It also discusses important historical documents like the Magna Carta, Petition of Rights, and English Bill of Rights that enshrined rights and limited monarchal power. Finally, it outlines the emergence of democratic practices and institutions in early North American colonies like the Iroquois Confederacy, Virginia House of Burgesses, and Mayflower Compact.

2. DEMOCRACY OF ANCIENT
GREECE (ATHENS)
REPUBLIC OF ANCIENT
ITALY (ROME)
 Government by the people
 Direct democracy: All
eligible citizens participated
in government
 Requires an educated
citizenry
 Voters elect representatives
who speak and act for the
citizens in the business of
government
 Representatives are to work
for the common good
 “Representative democracy”
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world/

3. Magna Carta – June 15, 1215
- King cannot collect new
taxes without consent of the
Great Council (an advisory
board)
- King must pay for property,
not simply seize it
- King cannot sell, refuse, or
deny justice
- Citizens were guaranteed a
trial by jury of peers
- King’s power was limited
and it was emphasized that
he was not above the law
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4. Petition of Rights – 1628
- Parliament must give
approval for all new taxes
- Habeas corpus: No
imprisonment without
trial
- No quartering of soldiers
by the citizenry
- No martial law allowed in
times of peace
- An outline of basic rights
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5. English Bill of Rights - 1689
- Parliament chose the ruler,
who was subject to the law
- Parliament rulers had the
right to freely express
themselves
- Citizens could petition
government for relief of
injustices
- No excessive bail, or cruel
and unusual punishment
- Representative government
and the law outweighs
power of any monarch
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6. John Locke
- People are born with certain
rights: life, liberty, property
- “Social Contract Theory:”
People enter into contract
with the government. The
job of the govt. is to protect
people’s rights. If it fails to
do so, the contract is broken
and the people may change
or replace the govt.
Therefore, the govt. exists
only with the consent of the
governed.
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7. Montesquieu (French
philosopher)
- Recognized the need
for a balance of
power among
different branches of
govt., to avoid an
excess of power in
one particular branch
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8. Voltaire (French
philosopher)
- Religious toleration;
freedoms of practice
- Freedom of speech
- “I may detest what
you say, but will
defend to the death
your right to say it.”
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9. - Formed in 1570 as a loose alliance
between the six nations to protect
their way of life and hunting
grounds from outside threats
- Each nation sent 10 chiefs to act as
representatives at the Grand
Council
- The Council made decisions about
items that would affect the entire
Confederacy
- Each nation had an opportunity to
speak on the issue
- Nations also had independent rules and decisions that
the Council did not interfere with
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10. House of Burgesses
(Virginia 1619)
- First representative
body in Colonial
America
- A bicameral (two-
house) legislature
modeled after British
Parliament that could
raise taxes and make
laws; the governor
could veto any law
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11. Mayflower Compact
(November 1620)
- created by the Pilgrims
to agree that they
would be governed by a
government that they
created
- John Adams and many
historians have referred
to the Mayflower
Compact as the
foundation of the U.S.
Constitution written
more than 150 later
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12. - Colonies eventually adapted to a basic structure of
govt.
- Included a Royal Governor (appointed by Britain),
a council (appointed by the governor), and an
assembly (elected by the colonists)
- British Parliament agreed with these governments,
thus allowing many years of salutary neglect (the
English policy of interfering very little in colonial
affairs from about 1690 to 1760. During these years
the colonists were given a good deal of autonomy
in local matters, and the English king and
parliament rarely legislated constraints of any
kind. In turn, the colonists supported England.)

13. - These governments believed that their own
representatives could pass laws that affected
their colonies
- This belief kept the individual colonies from
joining together in a “common defense” as
suggested by Benjamin Franklin until the late
1760s
- This belief caused much of the turmoil leading
to the American Revolution (…but more on
this in Module 4!)