Democracy: Did you mean...?

Phocion (c. 402 – 318 BCE) was an Athenian statesman and military commander who, according to tradition, was made a general a staggering 45 times. A student of Plato and known as 'the Good', his political position was somewhat ambiguous...

EPISODE 1: THE REVOLUTION The first part tells the story of the troubled birth of the world's first democracy, ancient Athens, through the life of an Athenian nobleman, Cleisthenes. In the brutal world of the 5th century BC, the Athenians...

The Election of 1864 was one of the most important United States presidential elections of the 19th century. Occurring amidst the American Civil War (1861-1865), the election served as a referendum on the way that incumbent President Abraham...

The alliance system in Europe was one of the causes of the First World War (1914-18), although it did not make war inevitable. In the first decade of the 20th century, the Triple Entente powers of Great Britain, France, and Russia stood against...

The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (French: Declaration des Droits de l’Homme et du Citoyen) is a human rights document adopted in the early stages of the French Revolution (1789-1799). Inspired by Enlightenment Age principles...

The idea of natural rights is the concept used in philosophy and legal studies that a person has certain rights from birth and which, because they were not awarded by a particular state or legal authority, cannot be removed, that is, they...

Soviets, often called Soviets of Workers' Deputies, were worker councils first formed during the Russian Revolution of 1905 when a general strike was called against the Tsarist regime. Factory and other types of workers across the newly industrialised...

This text is part of an article series on the Delian League. The third phase of the Delian League begins with the Thirty Years Peace between Athens and Sparta and ends with the start of the Ten Years War (445/4 – 431/0 BCE). The First Peloponnesian...

The ancient Greeks kept themselves busy and there were plenty of chores, distractions and entertainments available to keep daily life varied. Shopping in the markets of the agora, performing jury service, watching sporting events or listening...

This infographic illustrates the government of the Roman Republic (c. 509–27 BCE), a political system that combined elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. Over nearly five centuries, the Republic developed institutions designed...