The Roots of Modern Democracy

Over the past three decades democracy has enjoyed a remarkable rise. In 1900 only 10 countries could be counted as democracies. By mid-century the number had increased to 30, and 25 years later it remained there. By 2005, however, 119 of the world’s 190 countries were democracies. How did this happen? The place to begin to answer that question is with a proper understanding of democracy itself.

For those who use the term -- and that includes almost everyone -- democracy is a single, integrated, readily identifiable political system. Yet historically democracy came about through the fusion of two political traditions that, until well into the 19th century, were not only distinct but were widely regarded as completely incompatible with each other.

The two political traditions are liberty, which is often called freedom, and popular sovereignty, or self-government. Liberty belongs to individuals, while popular sovereignty is a property of the community as a whole. Liberty involves what governments do or, more accurately, what they are forbidden to do to their citizens -- they are forbidden to abridge individual freedoms. Self-government, by contrast, has to do with the way those who govern are chosen -- they are chosen by all the people. Self-government therefore answers the question who governs, while liberty prescribes rules for how those who govern may do so, rules that impose limits on what they may do.

The two component parts of democracy have different histories. Liberty is the older of the two. It developed in three stages. Economic liberty, in the form of private property, dates in the Western European tradition from ancient Rome. Religious liberty in this tradition -- freedom of worship -- emerged largely from the split in Christian Europe caused by the Protestant Reformation of the 16th and 17th centuries. Political liberty came later than the other two -- 18th-century Britain was the first place where something resembling modern political liberty could be seen -- and it involves the absence of government control over speech, assembly, and political participation.

Until the second half of the 19th century, it was widely believed that popular sovereignty would crush liberty. If the people gained supreme power in the societies in which they lived, it was thought, they would seize the property of the affluent and enforce political and social conformity on everybody. By the 20th century, however, it was clear that liberty and popular sovereignty could coexist peacefully, as they now do in many countries around the world.

1. Find English equivalents for the following words and words combinations in the text:

- политическая система

- свобода (2 variants)

- суверенитет

- ограничивать свободу

- наоборот

- частная собственность

- свобода вероисповедания

- появляться

- верховная власть

- захватить

- богачи

- сосуществовать

Be sure to know how to pronounce them properly.

2. Make up a short essay (at least 6 sentences) on one of the following topics:

- What political tradition is more crucial in modern Russian society and why?

- Do you think that any political tradition is suppressed in modern Russian society and why?

Be sure to use at least 6 words of given vocabulary.

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