Democracy is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as "a form of government in which the people have a say over how it is governed" and its literal definition is "people power" (Classical Greek). Frequent, open and fair elections are seen as the hallmarks of democracies, and often, the hallmarks of great societies. Democracy's roots, however, did not see elections as such an essential process. This form of government, regarded by many as the hallmark of a great civilisation, originates from 5th Century BC Athens. In Ancient Athens, anyone who was a free male, and was not foreign-born, was granted the right to attend an ecclesia or assembly, where they would have the chance to bring about public lawsuits and debate new laws. These assemblies occurred several times a month and of the approximately 30, 000 eligible, there were about 6,000 to every meeting. A government of 6,000, in which there was no structural debate would have made for ineffective governme...
Invention is drawn from ignorance.