The Secret History of Democracy

Front Matter....Pages i-xi
Introduction: Democracy and History....Pages 1-16
Front Matter....Pages 17-17
What is so ‘Primitive’ about ‘Primitive Democracy’? Comparing the Ancient Middle East and Classical Athens....Pages 19-34
Before Athens: Early Popular Government in Phoenicia and Greek City-States....Pages 35-48
Republics and Quasi-Democratic Institutions in Ancient India....Pages 49-59
Digging for Democracy in China....Pages 60-75
Front Matter....Pages 77-77
Behind a Veil: Islam’s Democratic History....Pages 79-91
Ideals and Aspirations: Democracy and Law-Making in Medieval Iceland....Pages 92-104
Democratic Culture in the Early Venetian Republic....Pages 105-119
Front Matter....Pages 121-121
Africa’s Indigenous Democracies: The Baganda of Uganda....Pages 123-135
The Hunters Who Owned Themselves....Pages 136-147
Aboriginal Australia and Democracy: Old Traditions, New Challenges....Pages 148-161
The Pre-History of the Post-Apartheid Settlement: Non-Racial Democracy in South Africa’s Cape Colony, 1853–1936....Pages 162-174
Front Matter....Pages 175-175
Birthing Democracy: The Role of Women in the Democratic Discourse of the Middle East....Pages 177-190
The Streets of Iraq: Protests and Democracy after Saddam....Pages 191-203
Monitory Democracy? The Secret History of Democracy since 1945....Pages 204-218
Conclusion: Democratizing the History of Democracy....Pages 219-224
Back Matter....Pages 225-252