[glinert]

Americans like call themselves "father's of democracy" while they were in one sense, give example of others. More obscure example, better.

I think Vikings (who gave to English and initially Russians before MOngols) had very democratic principles in ways they ran society.

Song Dynasty China was very democratic and Han COnfucianism where government based on consent of governed example to.

[Todd D.]

Greece would probably be the most obvious example.

England under the Magna Carta, at least in theory, was a huge step as well.

[Captain Hat]

I'm not sure if confucianism is a good example. That idea was more or less devotion to the Empire and a commitment to rooting out corruption as opposed to democracy.

Greece, on the other hand, had an great system of democracy. The Roman Republic was good, too, however, the Roman Republic excluded a lot of the lower classes.

[QatzelOk]

If the idea of 'democracy' is to take power away from a small elite and redistribute it to everyone fairly equally, I think it may have been Marx who articulated it for the modern age.

All previous efforts were aimed at growing the elite, not real equality of power.

[Liberal]

Democracy is not american creation. The first form of democracy, participative democracy, is established in ancient Greece. We have democratic elements in many Cantones of Switzerland, among the Slav, German and Galic tribes etc...
The USA is the first democratic state with Federal form. Again, federalism itself is not american creation as well. It is based on the theory of the duch philosopher Johann Althusius who lived in the 17th century. His theory of federation was later used by the first European settlers in America.

[Attila The Nun]

If the idea of 'democracy' is to take power away from a small elite and redistribute it to everyone fairly equally, I think it may have been Marx who articulated it for the modern age.

All previous efforts were aimed at growing the elite, not real equality of power

Democracy was EXACTLY ABOUT DESTRIBUTING GOVERNMENT POWER AMONST THE PEOPLE. TO SAY THAT KARL MARX MADE IT IS ENTIRELY IGNORANT.

[Captain Hat]

The Ancient Greeks, the Swiss Cantons, and the Dutch United Provinces were all democracies. The United States became the first modern democracy in 1789.

[The Immortal Goon]

Iroquois Confederacy.

On June 11, 1776 - the Iroquois were invited to speak to the Continental Congress while they discussed the form of government to take.

Also, Marx and Engles studied the Iroquois quite a bit.

The Iroquois are not the oldest - this goes to the Greeks. However, their tribe still claims to be the "Oldest Living Participatory Democracy on Earth."

-TIG

[glinert]

Americans must remember, England, besides Denmark at time of your independence, was Europes freest land. England was not oppresor really.

Poland also had democracy where farm owners and big people met and discussed things.

[Liberal]

Americans must remember, England, besides Denmark at time of your independence, was Europes freest land. England was not oppresor really.

Poland also had democracy where farm owners and big people met and discussed things.

At the time of the American Independence England was a constitutional monarchy, in which the monarch was limited by the parliament. The Parliament was composed of reprtesentatives. Very few people had the right to vote or to be voted. So, in those terms, we cannot really speak of English democrtacy.

The case of Poland is simmular to the English one. It is not a democracy but a limitation of the powers of the monarch.

[Sid]

Poland was in fact a very aristocratic society which looked democratic simply because of the huge number of aristocrats.

Also, it wasn't "Greece" that was democratic, but specifically Athens, and even then only free men and not slaves. French and American Revolutionaries looked directly to Athens and the Roman Republic (and aslo to an extent oligarchic Sparta).

It's safe to say the Founding Fathers would have been neither ignorant or arrogant enough to call themselves the "father's of democracy."

[glinert]

I think whenever you have enough people invovled in government you will find democratic tendencies because more people you have involved in government more towards democracies you have. Even if these people aristocratic many of there opinions will reflect opinions of people.

[blackbeard]

Parliment came from England I do recall .

[Liberal]

Parliment came from England I do recall .

The Parliament of UK is a result of a transformation that lasted for several centuries. We all know about the Magnum concilium, Model Parliament, etc... and we all know that they represented only small percentage of the people.
And no, the Parliament existed in other parts of Europe as well. The Iustitia in Aragon, the Cortesas in other spanish kingdomes, the sabors and Skupsine of the Shouth Slavs etc...
So, the Parliament itself is not an English phenomena only.

[Platons Pomme]

Perhaps there's a confusion between modern representative democracy and democracy at its core?
Democracy:

A democracy is a form of government under which the power to alter the basic laws and forms of government lies with the voting citizenry, referred to as "the people", and all decisions are made by "the people".

Good ole wikipedia. There is no need for democracy to represent every member of society, but rather it must only represent whoever is termed as the 'people.' In Ancient Athens, this was an elite group of middle-aged men who were termed the élite, however this was democracy as "the people" chose the government. I'm sure Kim Jong-Il sees his country as entirely democratic, just take into account that he is the people!
Churchill probably put it best:

"Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried."

[DondonerKebab]

In Ancient Athens, this was an elite group of middle-aged men who were termed the élite, however this was democracy as "the people" chose the government.

Was it?

I always thought it was the case that, in ancient Athens, the government was the people, in the sense the nearly all offices of state (with the exception of military generals) were selected by lot.

[Platons Pomme]

Not exactly. The assembly of all Athenian male citizens voted on important decisions directly, however the lot was held for the head of the council of 50 and after holding that position once, it could never be held again.
What I meant by choosing the government was that it took an elaborate procedure for those not considered a citizen (such as a man born to an Athenian father, but a foreign mother) to be elected to the government and any citizen could exercise veto power against this. Sorry, assumed what I meant was self-evident.