Ancient Greece is where the first form of direct democracy was developed. It was called demokratia, literally meaning "rule ...

Since Athens is considered the birthplace of democracy, the ancient Greek statesman Pericles must be considered its father.

Athenian democracy was direct in other ways too. Political decisions, such as whether to go to war, the election of military leaders or the nomination of magistrates, ...

The Greek philosopher Plato was suspicious of “democracy,” and for good reason. Read his famous analogy “Ship of Fools” (Ship of State), imagining a sea voyage where all of the travelers ...

In an interesting recent article in Foreign Affairs, Josiah Ober - a leading academic expert on ancient Greek democracy - argues that there is much we can learn from the Greek experience that ...

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Monday said the constitution should be revised to give Greeks "direct democracy", a say in electing the president and the right to hold referendums on laws.

However, past and present democratic practices can give us a glimpse of how direct democracy could look like on a larger scale. These practices include the Athenian Polis, the Paris Commune, The ...

Political scientist Josiah Ober argues that the successes of ancient Greek democracy can serve as a model for the democratic governments of today. But it may not be easy to apply ancient lessons ...

Alexis Tsipras says people should be allowed to elect the nation's president – who is currently chosen by parliament – if efforts by lawmakers fail ATHENS, Greece – Greek Prime Minister ...